State hits new high with 125 COVID-19 deaths
Pritzker allies with other Midwestern guvs to coordinate ‘our path back to normal,’ with expanded testing key
Gov. Pritzker presses the need for expanded COVID-19 testing at the daily coronavirus briefing Thursday in Chicago. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
The state recorded a new single-day high with 125 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, as Gov. Pritzker announced a bipartisan alliance with other Midwestern governors stretching from Minnesota to Kentucky in dealing with the coronavirus.
Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced at the daily coronavirus briefing in Chicago that the statewide death toll had reached 1,072. Some 1,140 new COVID-19 cases brought the state total to 25,733.
“While the numbers are disheartening, I don’t want people to despair,” Ezike said. “This is a marathon. We have to keep pace. We can’t get ahead of ourselves … but running together we will still beat this COVID-19.”
Ezike and Pritzker both emphasized the importance of expanded testing for the virus, with Ezike citing the latest medical findings that those who contract it are most contagious the day they first show symptoms — or perhaps even a day or two ahead of that.
“This is why widespread testing is so important,” she said. “We need to know who may be infected as soon as we can, before they come into contact with any other people, especially the most vulnerable.”
Part of the reason for the spike in deaths was the way COVID-19 has afflicted nursing homes, like Symphony of Joliet in Will County, where 22 residents and a staffer have died. “We have some aggressive measures we are employing,” Ezike said. State officials are working to “test all of the staff that work at these settings,” with the intent to “identify the carriers.”
She added, “We will need to know both who has the virus now, as well as who has had the virus in the past. … Until we have a vaccine, testing is the key to obtaining the health information necessary to help prevent the spread as well as to help us safely reopen the state and return to work.”
“We’re trying to ramp up testing significantly,” Pritzker said. “I want tests available to everyone.”
The governor reported that Thermo Fisher Scientific, which had provided the state with a handful of high-volume RNA extractors that initially produced invalid results, had worked to resolve the issue, and the testing devices “are now up and running with reliable results,” and processing thousands of tests a day. Pritzker said there were new state testing sites across Chicago, the collar counties, Peoria, and southern Illinois, with a comprehensive list available on the state’s coronavirus website. A third state drive-through testing site had opened in Markham in the southern suburbs, targeting the African-American community there, which has been hard hit by the virus, and is processing 600 tests a day. same as the other two drive-through locations.
Dr. Stephen Weber of University of Chicago Medicine attended the briefing and said it was teaming with Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey to expand testing on the South Side and the southern suburbs. Jordan Powell of the Illinois Primary Health Care Association said it was testing everyone possible in central and southern Illinois, regardless of whether they’re covered by insurance or a U.S. citizen. David Ernesto Munar of Howard Brown Health in Chicago said it was opening a COVID case station in the Little Village neighborhood, with other facilities in Englewood, Hyde Park, and Rogers Park. Howard Brown was also lending its expertise on tracing infections, culled from decades dealing with sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS.
Pritzker has said tracing infections will be a key element to what he called “our path back to normal,” while emphasizing that testing is “an important first step to get there.”
The governor announced an alliance Thursday with his counterparts Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Eric Holcomb of Indiana, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky in confronting the virus and coordinating a return to what’s been called “the new normal.” They issued a joint statement saying: “We are doing everything we can to protect the people of our states and slow the spread of COVID-19, and we are eager to work together to mitigate the economic crisis this virus has caused in our region. Here in the Midwest, we are bound by our commitment to our people and the community. We recognize that our economies are all reliant on each other, and we must work together to safely reopen them so hardworking people can get back to work and businesses can get back on their feet.”
They said they “will work in close coordination to reopen our economies in a way that prioritizes our workers’ health. We look forward to working with experts and taking a fact-based, data-driven approach to reopening our economy in a way that protect families from the spread of COVID-19.” They committed to the idea that “our No. 1 priority when analyzing when best to reopen our economy is the health and safety of our citizens. We will make decisions based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor, and education.”
Pritzker said they have “similar criteria” in determining how and when to end stay-at-home orders and other restrictions, and intend to “share those best ideas” in “protecting workers and customers.”
According to Pritzker, “Iowa chose not to be part of this,” as its governor has yet to impose a stay-at-home order. He again blamed President Trump for what has become a piecemeal approach among the states, saying, “The federal government chose, the White House chose not to take the lead here.” The Midwest alliance, then, is a way to provide some sort of regional continuity, following similar state alliances in the Northeast and on the West Coast.
Pritzker warned residents to be leery of scams related to COVID-19, such as bogus personal protective equipment like masks, and to report any such scams to Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
On a day the U.S. Labor Department reported Illinois had logged 141,000 new unemployment claims last week, down 60,000 from 201,000 the previous week, Pritzker recommitted to expanding benefits to so-called gig workers as soon as possible, the week of May 11, saying, “We’ll make sure everyone has access to the benefits.”