State COVID toll tops 5,000 with 160 new deaths
Pritzker touts expansion of contact tracing in East St. Louis, St. Clair County
Gov. Pritzker reports the statewide COVID-19 death toll has topped 5,000 at the daily coronavirus briefing in East St. Louis. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
The Illinois COVID-19 toll passed 5,000 Wednesday with the announcement of 160 new deaths.
Conducting his daily coronavirus briefing at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation in East St. Louis, Gov. Pritzker announced 160 new deaths attributed to COVID-19, snapping a streak of days under 100 extending back to last week, and bringing the statewide toll to 5,083.
“They had whole lives that were cut short because COVID-19 knows no boundaries and only seeks to destroy,” Pritzker said. “We can never forget that.”
On the same day, the overall U.S. toll topped 100,000.
Some 1,111 newly confirmed cases brought the state total to 113,386, but Pritzker pointed out the 17,149 tests conducted produced a one-day positivity rate of just 6.5 percent. The seven-day positivity rate was 8.6 percent.
The entire state remains on course to move on to the third phase of the Restore Illinois plan on Friday.
Pritzer was at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, location of the state’s drive-through coronavirus testing site in the Metro East area, to tout a grant allowing the region to become one of the first in the state to expand contact tracing, a key part of the efforts to halt the pandemic and ease coronavirus restrictions. St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern said it would “make this operation move on to the next phase, which is contain COVID.”
“We need to do a robust job of contact tracing,” said Elizabeth Patton-Whiteside, chief executive officer of the East Side Health District, which is joining in the effort. She said the area had reported 19 coronavirus deaths, adding, “For a community of our size, that is a great dent in our community.”
“For a community of our size, that is a great dent in our community.”
East Side Health District CEO Elizabeth Patton-Whiteside on 19 coronavirus deaths in the East St. Louis area. (Illinois.gov)
“This is not going to be a short-term endeavor,” Pritzer said of contact tracing in Metro East. “East St. Louis is a community that’s been forgotten, frankly,” he added, and not just in the pandemic. “I’m thinking of the economics of this area.”
Pritzker took pains to express sympathy for the family of George Floyd, the African-American man killed this week by Minneapolis police officers who were then fired, as well as others who’ve faced racism, including Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and New York City birdwatcher Christian Cooper, who took video of a woman threatening him with police persecution when he challenged her to keep her dog on a leash in Central Park — like the Floyd death, an incident that produced footage that went viral on the news and social media.
Calling them “vile, horrid acts,” Pritzker said they force U.S. citizens to “truly contend with the racism that permeates our society — and to root it out.”
He said, “We must actually do something to change that reality,” adding that even in a time of cultural stress like a pandemic “people of color have this extra burden to bear.” He labeled it “a call to action for all people of Illinois,” beginning on this day with expanded contact tracing in East St. Louis.