One-day record puts COVID count past 400K

Only west-central region remains in Phase 4, and it’s likely to face renewed restrictions next week

Gov. Pritzker defended bans on indoor restaurant and bar service extending across almost the entire state, saying, “Every day we now see these (COVID) numbers going through the roof.” (Illinois.gov)

By Ted Cox

A one-day record in newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 announced Friday pushed the state’s total past 400,000.

The news came as, one by one, each of the state’s 11 regions in the plan to Restore Illinois has faced renewed restrictions the last few weeks, with the dominoes falling in recent days. In Region 11, Chicago, bars and restaurants were denied indoor service, effective Friday. That was to be followed in the same mitigation measures by Region 9, Lake and McHenry counties, effective Saturday, and Region 3, western Illinois including Springfield and Quincy, effective Sunday. Newly announced on Friday, Region 6, east-central Illinois including Champaign-Urbana, Charleston, and Danville, will face a ban on indoor service on Monday.

Only Region 2, west-central Illinois including the Quad Cities and Galesburg, remained fully in Phase 4 of the plan to Restore Illinois, but Gov. Pritzker warned Friday that its testing positivity rate had topped 8 percent and it too could face a ban on indoor service and a limit on gatherings to 25 people or 25 percent of an area’s capacity next week.

“Barring an unlikely reversal of that trend, two more days at or above that 8 percent intervention threshold will bring Region 2 into mitigations in the coming days,” Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus briefing at the Thompson Center in Chicago. “Once again, this is a problem that is affecting the entire state.”

That said, and even as France and Germany announced renewed lockdowns as COVID cases spiked in Europe, Pritzker resisted imposing a statewide stay-at-home order as in the spring, saying, “It’s not something I’m considering.”

But he was adamant about the renewed restrictions on bars and restaurants, saying there is “ample evidence … bars and restaurants are more dangerous for spread” of the coronavirus.

Pritzker and Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike also discouraged Halloween celebrations this weekend. While trick-or-treating is allowed, under recommendations that social distancing should be maintained and candy should be left on a sanitized surface such as a table if possible, they counseled against Halloween parties whether for children or adults.

“The safest way to do Halloween this year, of course, is virtually and from home,” Pritzker said. “In the end, whatever fun you choose, please remember this virus does not make exceptions for holidays or because you want to take a break from it.”

“Indoor Halloween parties are just not likely to be safe,” Ezike added.

“Indoor Halloween parties are just not likely to be safe.”

Dr. Ngozi Ezike (Illinois.gov)

She reported 6,943 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a new one-day record, pushing the state total to 402,401, while 36 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus took the statewide toll to 9,711. The state also reported a record 95,111 tests conducted in a day, but Ezike added, “What those results show are grim,” with the statewide testing positivity rate rising to 7.3 percent. Her department put 49 counties on a formal warning list for rising infections, down two from 51 last week. The new list included Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, DeKalb, Douglas, DuPage, Effingham, Ford, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Henderson, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kendall, Knox, Lee, Macon, Marion, McHenry, Mercer, Morgan, Ogle, Perry, Pike, Randolph, Rock Island, Saline, Sangamon, Shelby, Stephenson, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, and Winnebago counties.

“The numbers are all going in the wrong direction again,” Ezike said.

More than 3,000 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, and according to Ezike much of the state was nearing limits on hospital capacity. The northeast corner of the state, including Chicago and the suburbs, was well below the hospitalization numbers reported this spring, during the first outbreak, but the rest of the state was facing new peaks and could see bed shortages “in as short as two to four weeks.” Ezike warned, “We are not at the peak now.”

“Every day we now see these numbers going through the roof,” Pritzker said. While he praised bars and restaurants for generally going “a good job” in trying to observe mitigation efforts, he said, “It makes no sense” to allow indoor service while the virus is surging.

“Please support your local bars and restaurants” in whatever ways possible, Pritzker said, through outdoor service or pickups or deliveries. “We do want them to do as well as they can possibly do at this time.”

Pritzker insisted that vigilance now would soon pay dividends and see indoor service restored, as was previously the case in the Metro East area and Region 7, Will and Kankakee counties. “We have got to bring down those numbers so we can restore the businesses, restore the education,” he said. Keeping schools and businesses open remained a paramount concern.

“People are dying. Period,” Pritzker said. “This is extremely dangerous. This is an extremely dangerous time.”

Doing a variation on the three W’s — wear a mask, wash hands, watch social distancing — he advised Illinoisans to “mask up, wash up, back up, and sleeve up” for a flu shot.