Illinois coronavirus death toll nears 1,000
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CHICAGO -- Illinois health officials on Wednesday announced 1,346 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the state’s case total to 24,593.
There are also another 80 deaths from the disease in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The state’s death toll is now 948 people.
The virus has been reported in at least 88 of the state's 102 counties. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.
Of the 80 new deaths announced Wednesday, the youngest is a teenage girl, while the oldest is a person in their 100s, IDPH said.
Also at the daily briefing, Governor JB Pritzker detailed the state’s budget struggles in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
Early Monday afternoon, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she believes the stay-at-home order issued by Governor Pritzker will extend past April 30 and into May.
“I think that’s going to be difficult for us to say April 30th everything [opens] up. I don’t expect that to happen. I think it will extend beyond that. And we are already in the process of thinking about even when we get to a point where we feel safe from a public health standpoint, what would be the sequencing of lifting that [stay-a-home order?] That’s a conversation of course we need to have with the governor and his team,” Lightfoot said.
Governor Pritzker said Sunday that he and his staff are working on figuring out when and how things will open back up, and when people will get back to work.
"The last thing we want is to open things up and have a big spike in infections," he said.
Pritzker said the state has set up a way to get in touch with a mental health professional if the COVID-19 pandemic is causing you anxiety. Just text "TALK" (or "HABLAR" for Spanish assistance) to 552020. You can also text the words "UNEMPLOYMENT," "FOOD" or SHELTER" to the same number for assistance.
The state is also launching a remote care program for COVID-19 patients whose symptoms are not severe. Healthcare workers will connect digitally with patients on a daily basis. And, depending on the severity of the situation, the state might provide kits with blood pressure cuffs and thermometers.
Illinois launches free mental health service
Gov. JB Pritzker said the state has set up a way to get in touch with a mental health professional if the COVID-19 pandemic is causing you anxiety. Just text "TALK" (or "HABLAR" for Spanish assistance) to 552020. You can also text the words "UNEMPLOYMENT," "FOOD" or SHELTER" to the same number for assistance.
Social distancing efforts have been making a difference in slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Across the country, there have been more than 580,000 confirmed cases with at least 23,000 dead.
The director of the CDC says infection rates are stabilizing and that some areas of the country might be able to open within the next few weeks.
"I think we've really stabilized across the country. We’re still seeing a small rate of increase, you know, in the range of 5 to 6 percent, as opposed to where we were before, when it was 20, 30 percent per day. But we're close. We’re stabilized and anticipate that we'll begin to see a decline in the days ahead, but we gotta just continue to take it day by day, and look at the data,” said CDC Director Robert Redfield.
Redfield says, however, that even in areas of the country that are opened up eventually, mitigation efforts and widespread testing will have to continue.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death.