Illinois COVID-19 deaths surpass 4,000, infections eclipse 90,000 mark
Illinois passed two grim milestones in its ongoing battle to slow the spread of the coronavirus Friday.
State health officials announced more than 4,000 residents have now died from the disease, while more than 90,000 have been infected.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said 130 people had succumbed to COVID-19 in the past day, while an additional 2,432 have tested positive for the disease.
That brings the state's death toll to 4,058 since the outbreak began, with 90,369 total infection cases.
But the state's infection rate is at its lowest point since mid-March, and the number of Illinoisans hospitalized with COVID-19 infections is also at one the lowest levels the state has seen since the outbreak began.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state has emphasized increasing testing capacity in recent weeks.
At the beginning of May, the state was averaging less than 14,000 tests a week. On Friday, the state had averaged almost 20,000 daily tests for the week. The statewide infection rate has also seen a steady decline as more people are tested.
The state received results from 26,565 tests Friday, putting the state's daily infection rate at 9.2%.
"The great news is that the state's (infection) rate is coming down," Pritzker said. "The (infection) rate is one of the metrics that we're using to determine whether regions are eligible to move into Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan in the weeks ahead."
Right now, all four of the state's regions are on pace to move into the less restrictive phase.
Currently, symptomatic individuals, people who have had contact with someone who is infected, and all front-line and essential workers are eligible to receive testing, he said. He urged all who fit the categories to get tested.
"Testing is fundamental in our ability to reopen the economy while controlling the spread of the virus," Pritzker said.
Ezike noted the state has authorized mandatory testing for another group of residents: pregnant women.
"We have already implemented universal screening for women in labor," Ezike said. "First of all, many of the symptoms associated with labor can mimic or cover symptoms of COVID-19."
New mothers with coronavirus may also be at a greater risk of post-birth complications, she said. The new mandated screenings has shown as much as 12% of pregnant women may have the disease.
"A new mom should know if she is at risk of passing the disease to her child," Ezike said.
Meanwhile, Cook County is now home to the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases of any county in the country, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Medical Center in Maryland.
Cook County is the second most populated county in the country.
According to IDPH, Chicago and suburban Cook County have 59,905 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Los Angeles County, the most-populated county in the country, has 35,329 confirmed cases, according to health officials there. That gives L.A. County the seventh most cases of any county in the country.