Rockford's Independent Newspaper

Illinois surpasses 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19

By Jim Hagerty
Reporter

CHICAGO – There are 1,672 new cases of COVID-19, and 43 more people have died from complications of the disease, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Sunday, April 12.

Illinois has now seen 20,852 people test positive for COVID-19 since the outbreak was considered a pandemic last month. The state’s death toll is currently 720, including seven Winnebago County residents.

And while the number of positive tests has continued to climb, Pritzker said Sunday’s data may indicate the curve is flattening and that Illinois is close to a peak in new in infections, something he hopes will ultimately lead to fewer hospitalizations and fatalities.

“I pray as we move forward that these trends continue, and if they do, it will be because of all of you adhering to our stay-at-home order,” the governor said.

Pritzker issued a two-week stay-at-home order March 17, then extended it through April 30. He said he monitors things every day but has not decided when Illinoisans will be free to move about.

“The question is, ‘How do you operate society when we’ve started to bring down the level of infection and make sure that people are able to begin to go back to work in various industries?'” Pritzker said. “I am talking to industry leaders about that. I am talking to economists about that. I am also, very importantly, listening to the scientists and the doctors to make sure we do this right. Because what we don’t want, the last thing we want, is to open things up and then have a big spike in infections and all the spikes that come with that, including a spike in deaths.”

What will undoubtedly play into whether Illinois will begin to open back up on May 1 is the situation in Cook County, where more than 14,000 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus. Thirty deaths were reported in the county Sunday: a man in his 40s, three women in their 50s, two men in their 50s, a woman in her 60s, three men in their 60s, a woman in her 70s, five men in their 70s, four women in their 80s, seven men in their 80s, three women in their 90s and two men in their 90s.

DuPage County fatalities included a woman in her 80s and man in his 90s, along with a woman in her 80s from from Kane County.

Lake County logged two deaths Sunday, two men in their 70s and a man in his 90s.

Three Will County men, one in his 30s, one in his 60s and another in his 90s, have died while St. Clair County reported the death of a woman in her 70s.

Infections have now been confirmed in 86 of Illinois’ 102 counties.

Officials also believe many people have already had the disease and recovered without knowing it. They were either asymptomatic or believed they had the flu or other respiratory issues.

For all personal protective equipment (PPE) donations, email PPE.donations@illinois.gov. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.

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