CHICAGO — For the first time in three days, Illinois public health officials Thursday did not report a record number of deaths due to the new coronavirus over the previous 24 hours. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 66 people died and more than 1,300 new cases were detected over the prior day.
One month after issuing a disaster declaration, the first step before ordering the closure of schools, restaurants and non-essential businesses in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said it appears efforts across the state are succeeding and saving lives.
“Our rate of rise is looking less and less exponential. That indicates to us that we are, in fact, ‘bending the curve,'” Pritzker said at his daily news conference. “There is even some evidence that we may be moving toward a flatter curve, but we need to keep watching the data on a daily basis.”
Pritzker said he expects his stay-at-home order to remain in place through April 30 regardless. He said his administration would evaluate what restrictions would be lifted first.
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“We are not going to be truly able to begin to move on until we have testing — much greater testing — contact tracing and treatment,” he said.
Pritzker said organizers of summer events need to think seriously about canceling large events and festivals.
“Until we have a vaccine, which is months and months away, I would not risk having large groups of people getting together anywhere. I think that’s hard for everybody to hear but that’s just a fact,” he said. “Even with testing and tracing and treating, as is necessary for us to begin to make changes, it isn’t enough for me to say that it’s OK to have a big festival with a whole bunch of people gathering together.
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“We are headed in the right direction because of all the tremendous efforts by all of you,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. “All of these actions are making the difference, and we must continue to work together.”
Despite the stay-at-home order, Ezike said it was vitally important for people to seek medical attention when needed, especially when facing a worsening respiratory condition.
“While we need people to stay at home, we don’t want to learn about people who are dying at home from COVID-19 because of fears of being infected or being scared to seek out medical care. We want everyone to receive the care that they need. Our hospitals have the ability and will take care of you.”
Pritzker touted the success of the “All In Illinois” campaign and highlighted some of the individuals and organizations that have stepped up to provide support across the state during the coronavirus pandemic.
Southern Illinois communities launched the livestreamed benefit Marion United, raising nearly $200,000 from hundreds of donors.
Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness Center has developed a program to provide a safe place to quarantine for Department of Children and Family Services children who have been exposed to COVID-19.
Lakeview Pantry in Chicago is serving 82 percent more people than before the crisis and expanded capacity for online orders, and Bella Ease in Quincy is offering dinner and snacks to residents to supplement food provided by local public schools.
“It’s all of you, the families and individual residents of Illinois that are making the biggest difference in our fight against COVID-19,” Pritzker said. “Your individual decisions to help social distance, to not gather in groups, to wash your hands and to wear a mask outside have resulted in collective action that is saving people from getting sick and getting hospitalized.”
Pritzker also noted the Illinois Department of Aging has issued $7 million in grants for home delivered meals and processed over 1,000 new referrals a day, and centers for independent living have offered more workers training and supplies to keep Illinoisans with disabilities safe at home.
The state government is due to receive $2.7 billion in reimbursements from the federal government as part of the coronavirus economic relief package, according to the governor. Another $2.1 billion was allocated to local governments for various purposes, he said.
The governor acknowledged it would be a matter of weeks before the Illinois Department of Employment Security would be able to expand unemployment insurance benefits to independent contractors and self-employed people who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“We’ve hired the necessary personnel, we’ve hired the outside provider who can build the system for us,” Pritzker said. “We’ve hired the best. They’re working as expeditiously as they can. Every state has this challenge, so we’re going to do it as fast as we possibly can.”