Record 1,105 new COVID-19 cases, 18 deaths
The number of new Illinois cases almost doubled the previous one-day high set Thursday as guv considers extending stay-at-home order
Downtown Aurora is vacant in a photo taken last week. (Shutterstock)
By Ted Cox
The state reported more than 1,100 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday, almost doubling the previous one-day high, while 18 Illinoisans died from the coronavirus, also a new high, bringing the state toll to 65.
As of Monday morning, the state had 4,596 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 47 counties — almost half the state total of 102 — with Bond, Knox, Menard, and Montgomery the latest to report infections. The 1,105 new cases reported Sunday topped the 673 reported Thursday, the previous single-day high in the Illinois outbreak.
Over the weekend, the first Illinois infant died from the disease — a 9-month-old Chicago baby. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported that the deaths ranged up to a 99-year-old.
One sign of optimism came from CNBC’s Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who published data showing that, while Illinois infections were up, due in part to increased testing, the state’s hospitalizations for the virus were thus far relatively low at 65.
The New York Times reported Monday that the United States led the world in confirmed cases in the pandemic, with 142,000, topping Italy’s 98,000, although Italy still leads the world in coronavirus deaths, with almost 11,000. Globally, the pandemic has claimed 729,000 people, with almost 35,000 dead. New York City is currently the U.S. hot zone, with New York State reporting almost 60,000 infections and 960 deaths.
President Trump announced Sunday that he’d extend his national order calling for social distancing and limiting social gatherings until the end of April — an abrupt about-face after he suggested last week that he wanted U.S. citizens to return to socializing in time for Easter church services April 12.
On Monday, Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force told NBC’s “Today” show that “if we do things together well, almost perfectly, we could get in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 fatalities,” in a best-case scenario, but she added, “We’re not sure all of America is responding in a uniform way.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top expert on infectious diseases, confirmed the national toll could top 100,000.
On Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker blamed President Trump and the lackluster federal response to the pandemic for the “patchwork of rules” imposed state by state without leadership from the White House.
Pritzer said Sunday that testing for the coronavirus was key to detecting and limiting the spread of the disease, with the state up to testing 4,000 people a day, and with plans to expand that to 10,000 a day within 10 days. Thus far, the state has tested 27,762 people.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday that she expected the city’s stay-at-home order to be extended “deep into April,” while Pritzker maintained that for now he’d stick with the April 7 expiration date statewide. But the president’s extension of the national order sets the stage for Illinois to extend its as well. Lightfoot was scheduled to attend Pritzker’s daily coronavirus briefing Monday afternoon at the Thompson Center in Chicago.