- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Another 32 people have died from coronavirus in Illinois, the state reported Friday.
Among the victims were nine people in Cook County. At least 8,273 people have died from the virus in Illinois.
Another 2,145 cases were reported, as well, bringing the total number of confirmed cases up to 257,788. The state’s positivity rate rose slightly to 3.9 percent.
As of Thursday night, 1,619 people were hospitalized with coronavirus in Illinois, including 359 people in the ICU and 155 people using ventilators.
In Chicago, an average of 303 cases are being reported and two people dying per day from COVID-19. The city’s positivity rate is at 5 percent.
At least 2,899 people have died from coronavirus in Chicago, and there have been 74,193 confirmed cases.
Earlier this week, Gov. JB Pritzker warned Illinois’ continued, slow rise in cases is not good.
“When the numbers start to go up … well, it was only a small amount for an extended period of time that ultimately led Texas and Arizona and Florida to be in the terrible situations they were just a month ago and before,” the governor said at a Thursday press conference. “We don’t want to get there.”
Pritzker and Dr. Ngozi Ezike, head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, again urged Illinoisans to wear masks, practice social distancing and wash their hands frequently.
Ezike said if people wore masks in public at near-universal levels — combined with health steps like washing hands — it could effectively end community spread of the virus.
And the sooner people are following those safety guidelines, the sooner the pandemic will be over, Ezike said.
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