It's been exactly two years since the first COVID case was detected in Illinois

CHICAGO - On Jan. 24. 2020, coronavirus came to Illinois.

It was on that day that COVID was detected in a Chicago resident in her 60s who had returned from Wuhan, China, 11 days earlier.

The second and third confirmed cases came on Jan. 30, 2020, when a man in his 60s and the spouse of the first case tested positive.

Since then, more than 30,000 Illinois residents have died from COVID-19. On Monday, the Illinois Department of Health repeated their advice that vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and others.

"We have learned a great deal in the two years since the first case was reported in Illinois and we continue to learn as this virus and its variants are constantly changing.  We now have safe and effective vaccines; we have oral antiviral and monoclonal antibody treatments; and we know that proper masking, testing, and isolation and quarantine can help slow the spread of the virus," said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike in a press release.

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