Illinois COVID-19: IL reports 1,709 new coronavirus cases, 13 deaths
Illinois high school sports: Student-athletes, parents announce upcoming class-action lawsuit regarding fall athletics
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois public health officials announced 1,709 new cases of COVID-19 and 13 additional deaths Monday.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Illinois now stands at 289,639 with 8,614 deaths, the IDPH reported.
As of Sunday night, 1,491 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with 346 patients in the ICU and 135 on ventilators.
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Over a 24-hour period, officials said the state processed 41,142 specimens for a total of 5,520,652. The seven-day positivity rate from September 21 - September 27 is 3.7%.
The deaths include:
-Coles County: 1 female 80s
-Cook County: 1 male 30s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 2 males 80s
-Crawford County: 1 male 70s
-DeWitt County: 1 male 80s
-Madison County: 1 female 80s
-Marion County: 1 male 80s
-Richland County: 1 female 90s
Student-athletes and their parents said Sunday they are filing a class-action lawsuit regarding the cancellation of fall sports this week.
In the suit, they plan to seek a temporary restraining order against the state's order to cancel fall sports.
They gathered Sunday morning in the Gold Coast, in front of Gov. JB Pritzker's Chicago home, to discuss their plans and said the suit would be filed Monday.
Seventeen Illinois counties are considered to be at warning level for COVID-19, including Bond, Boone, Cass, Christian, Clinton, Crawford, DeWitt, Fayette, Grundy, Hamilton, Macon, Menard, Peoria, Putnam, Washington, Wayne and Winnebago.
Although the reasons for counties reaching a warning level varies, some of the common factors for an increase in cases and outbreaks are associated with university and college parties as well as college sports teams, large gatherings and events, bars and clubs, weddings and funerals, long-term care facilities, correctional centers, schools and cases among the community at large, the state said.
Public health officials are reportedly observing people not social distancing, gathering in large groups and not using face coverings. Some communities lack access to convenient testing before people become symptomatic. In some counties, local law enforcement and states' attorneys are not enforcing important mitigation measures like social distancing and the wearing of face coverings. Additionally, some people refuse to participate in contact tracing and are not providing information on close contacts or answering the phone, the state said.
