- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Twenty-three more people died from coronavirus throughout the state in the past day, pushing the total of those who have died from the disease in Chicago past 2,500.
In total, 658 people tested positive for the disease in the past 24 hours, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Fourteen of those who died in the past day lived in Chicago, according to the data. In the city, 2,505 people are confirmed to have died from complications of COVID-19.
Overall, 6,647 Illinois have died from the disease during the pandemic; 136,762 people have tested positive.
Chicago and the state largely have avoided the spikes recorded in many other states. But the city is preparing to resume indoor dining in restaurants and bars with capacity limits on Friday, even though the state’s top doctors say they’re not even doing outdoor dining at this stage and restaurant workers have shared concerns about their safety.
The mayor has pushed the state to allow indoor dining for weeks, despite being even more strict with other parts of Chicago’s reopening than the state has been. In fact, Chicago likely won’t enter its own form of Phase 4 until July 1, the city’s public health commissioner previously announced.
Outdoor seating should remain the priority “for safe dining and drinking,” city officials said.
Other states have seen increases in COVID-19 cases after indoor dining and bars reopened. Medical experts point to the lack of face coverings and social distancing leading to these spikes in Florida and Oklahoma.
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