Illinois COVID-19: IL again breaks COVID-19 daily record with 10,376 new cases, 49 deaths
Gov. JB Pritzker in isolation after possible COVID-19 exposure, office says
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois officials announced a record 10,376 new COVID-19 cases and 49 additional deaths Friday.
The death toll in Illinois has now crossed 10,000, with a total of 10,079 deaths, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported. The total number of cases has now reached 465,540 total cases.
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The number of new cases reported Friday is the highest reported in a single day, breaking the previous record of 9,935 set the day before.
Friday, IDPH announced they will now report both confirmed cases and probable cases. As a part of this, they released all current probable cases, including those from previous days. 10,376 is number of new cases for today. An additional 7,376 are probable cases from previous days, for an announced total of 18,049.
Over a 24-hour period, officials said the state processed 98,401 specimens for a total 8,215,129.
The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from Oct. 30, 2020 - Nov. 5, 2020, is 11.1%.
Governor JB Pritzker is in isolation after a possible COVID-19 exposure, his office said. The exposure happened at a meeting in a large conference room in the Governor's Office on Monday, his office said.
Gov. Pritzker was tested Friday, and is in isolation pending his test results. He learned about the exposure shortly after his Friday afternoon briefing.
The governor was meeting with the Illinois Restaurant Association, one of whom has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in quarantine.
President and CEO Sam Toia said they took all the CDC recommended precautions during the meeting; everyone wore masks, they practiced social distancing, and hand sanitizer was provided on all the tables.
In a statement, Toia said, "Today, one of our meeting attendees tested positive for COVID-19, and we immediately notified all parties involved."
As of Thursday night, 4,090 were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 786 in the ICU and 339 patients on ventilators.
Hospitals brace for surge in admissions
Across the state, hospital admissions have increased dramatically. In fact, every region in the Chicago area has seen hospital admissions double or more than triple in the past 30 days.
At Rush University System for Health, the ER has a dedicated pod to treat patients with COVID-19 symptoms, and their pavilion near the ER is now in use as patients wait for care so they can remain socially distanced.
Senior Vice President of Hospital Operations Angelique Richard said they still have more capacity to treat both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, as they can convert other parts of the hospital into negative pressure areas.
The increase in coronavirus cases is being felt everywhere. UIC reports the hospital is very busy and every ICU bed is occupied, but the hospital has not gone into surge overflow.
Numbers like these, Pritzker said, suggest the resurgence mitigations are not working or are simply not being followed enough to be effective.
Pritzker admonished municipalities that are not enforcing the indoor dining ban amid reports that a large number of bars and restaurants have continued to ignore the restrictions.
"When one of them gets a citation, others hear about it. When five of them get a citation, all of them hear about it," Pritzker said. "They know that if there was enforcement, if there were actual consequences for their actions at the local level, and they're supposed to enforce state laws. And when they don't enforce them, people die."
The governor was asked what kind of stricter measures he is considering. He said some of the elements of Phase 3 or even Phase 2 would be on the table. But at this time, he said he's not considering a full stay-at-home order.
Testing demand grows, and testing supplies run out
Long lines for COVID-19 testing have been reported in Chicago, as well as Waukegan, Arlington Heights, Aurora, Wheaton and South Holland.
In Arlington Heights, lines of cars stretched at least a mile long with hundreds waiting for a COVID-19 test.
"We have doubled the numbers that we had in previous months. We are talking about 1,061 per day," said Aris Garcia, site manager at the testing facility. "We are open at 8, but people line up at 6:30."
Partnered with IDPH, the testing site is now one of the busiest in Cook County.
"People are getting sick, more people are worried, and of course, a lot of people want to go back to work and schools need the negative tests to go back to their lives," Garcia said.
Garcia remains confident they have enough tests; thousands on hand a plenty more in storage. But it's a different story at other county-run testing sites. DuPage County hit their daily limit of 600 tests within hours of opening this week.
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In Will County, testing sites closed early, reaching their daily limit in just minutes.
"A lot of people want and need to get tested, so you do not want to wait until the middle of the day or the morning. Get there early and be ready to go," said Steve Brady, Will County Health Department.
DCHD announced Friday upcoming mobile testing opportunities.
The IDPH will manage the site, which will be at Churchville Middle School, 155 E. Victory Parkway in Elmhurst, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and at Glendale Heights Aquatics Center, 240 Civic Center Plaza in Glendale Heights, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Nov. 19.
After election rallies, in-person voting and protests, officials are encouraging more people to get tested.
"Wait approximately one week after the high risk exposure, because it takes several days after exposure for a test to be positive if in fact you've contracted the virus," said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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The deaths reported Friday were:
- Carroll County: 1 female 90s
- Champaign County: 1 female 70s
- Coles County: 1 male 70s
- Cook County: 1 female 60s, 2 males 60s, 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s, 4 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
- DuPage County: 1 female 60s
- Edgar County: 1 male 80s
- Fayette County: 1 male 90s
- Ford County: 1 female 90s
- Jackson County: 1 male 60s
- Kendall County: 1 male 80s
- Knox County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- Macon County: 1 male 80s
- Macoupin County: 1 male 70s
- Marion County: 2 females 80s
- Mason County: 1 female 90s
- Monroe County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 100+
- Peoria County: 1 male 60s
- Piatt County: 1 male 80s
- Pike County: 1 male 80s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 90s
- Sangamon County: 1 male 60s
- Shelby County: 1 male 80s
- St. Clair County: 1 female 90s
- Tazewell County: 1 male 70s
- Vermilion County: 1 male 70s
- Wayne County: 1 female 70s
- Whiteside County: 1 male 50s, 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
- Will County: 1 male 90s
