Illinois COVID-19 cases rose by 11,028 and 166 deaths Saturday as Governor JB Pritzker warns residents to stay at home as much as possible.
CHICAGO (WLS) — Gov. JB Pritzker warned that Illinois could be on the verge of having to shut down again as state public health officials reported 11,028 new COVID-19 confirmed and probable cases, and 166 deaths Saturday. There was a delay in death data reporting on November 13,2020. Therefore,66 deaths that occurred yesterday are being reported with today’s total, Dr. Ngozi Ezike explained during Friday’s COVID-19 briefing. The total number of cases in Illinois now stands at 562,985, with a total of 10,670 deaths. Over a 24-hour period, officials said the state processed 114,370, setting a one-day record for the state. In total there have been 8,986,010 specimens tested since the start of the pandemic in Illinois. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from November 7,2020 – November 13,2020 is 14.7%. As of Friday night,1,018 patients were in the ICU with COVID-19 and 499 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The sharp rise in hospitalizations has lead to a different kind of COVID fatigue.“Our healthcare workers are tired. This COVID fatigue is real, and as we’ve seen a significant spike over the past few weeks, as you make rounds around the hospital, people are struggling,“ said Dr. Sanjeeb Khatua, executive vice president of Edward-Elmhurst Health. Illinois has the highest number of COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic, and beds are filling up. Suburban Cook, Kane and DuPage counties now have 19% of their non-ICU beds available, below the critical 20% threshold, which is seen as a red light. In Will and Kankakee counties, just 12% of ICU beds are open.“We are seeing capacity decrease everywhere,“ said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. „100%,200%,300% increases depending on where you are, so everybody’s capacity is being threatened.““No measure that we can do at the state level is going to have, going to allow us to have enough beds. And so the power, everybody is saying what are we going to do? What are you going to do? Individuals need to take the responsibility to control this virus,“ she added.“As our numbers continue to rise, as the community spread continues to increase, we can anticipate that it’s going to be harder and harder to staff as people get sicker and sicker from COVID,“ Khatua said. Gov. Pritzker threatened that if things don’t improve across the state, another lockdown may be the only option left, and said that the state has reached „crisis“ level. Illinois is seeing projections that are worse than what it saw this spring, Pritzker said. The state is better prepared with stockpiles of PPE, better testing and overflow capacity plans for hospitals. But even still, some form of a mandatory stay-at-home order is not off the table, he said.
