4 more COVID-19 deaths, 250 new cases in Illinois
Four more people have died from coronavirus in Illinois, bringing the total death toll in the state to 16 since the outbreak began.
An additional 250 people have contracted the virus, as well, bringing the total confirmed infected in the state to 1,535, state health officials announced Tuesday during Gov. J.B. Pritzker's daily news conference. Most of the infected patients are in Cook, DuPage and Lake counties, according to the state's coronavirus.illinois.gov website.
The deaths announced Tuesday include the first one in DuPage County, a woman in her 90s. Two Cook County residents in their 60s and a Chicago resident in his 50s also succumbed, state officials told reporters. The Chicago resident is the first person under age 60 to die from a coronavirus infection in Illinois, according to Dr. Ngozi Ezike, head of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Citing privacy laws, she said she could not disclose whether the four had other health conditions that put them at heightened risk.
Separately, the City of Aurora reported a 90-year-old man died Monday. It was not clear whether his death had yet been included in the state's totals.
Ezike said 16% of Illinois patients diagnosed with the infection have required hospitalization and 4% have required treatment in a hospital's intensive care unit.
"We see these sobering numbers and thank the governor for the aggressive steps he has taken to reduce these statistics," Ezike said of the stay-at-home edict Pritzker mandated last week.
Having enough space to treat coronavirus patients was top of mind for Pritzker Tuesday as he noted more than half of all beds at the state's 211 hospitals were occupied and nearly two-thirds of all ICU beds were already in use, though that's a decline from last week.
He said an influx of coronavirus patients could be housed at recently shuttered hospitals or hotels, which would be reopened and staffed with the help of Illinois National Guard personnel or recently retired health care workers.
Pritzker said since he put out a call days ago for retired physicians and nurses to volunteer and "join the fight," the state has received almost 200 applications from retired health care workers.
"Health care workers are being overworked, there's no doubt about it," he said. "We do need to give them a break."
Dr. Omar Lateef, CEO of Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, warned hospital personnel are also becoming victims of the virus.
"An entire workforce is getting cut in half in a day or two period," he said.
Pritzker added the state's greatest need is testing capability and personal protective equipment for health care workers. He said efforts to increase the state's testing capabilities are expected to double the roughly 2,000 daily tests the state is currently able to process.
Pritzker said he spoke with President Donald Trump Monday and asked for assistance from the federal government's stockpile of equipment.
"Of all the reasons the federal government exists, this is the most important and most basic," Pritzker said. "We need an allocation to the front lines of this war."
Following his conversation with the president, Pritzker said White House officials said the state will receive 300 additional ventilators and 300,000 N-95 medical masks.
Pritzker shot back at suggestions from some politicians that the stay-at-home order should be lifted to jump-start the nation's flagging economy, even if it results in additional deaths.
"I'm not willing to sacrifice anyone," Pritzker said. "There is no life in this state more or less precious; no person more or less worthy of saving. I want grandparents around to help raise their grandchildren. After this is over, I want people to spend years celebrating birthdays, wedding anniversaries and retirements."