New coronavirus cases reported in St. Clair and Clinton counties
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Illinois public health officials announced Wednesday additional coronavirus cases in St. Clair and Clinton counties for a total of three cases in each county.
The third case in St. Clair County is a man in his 50s, according to the county Health Department. St. Clair County officials have tested 31 people with 18 negative results, 10 pending results and the three positive results.
On March 15, officials confirmed the first case in Clinton County, a woman in her 60s, followed by two additional cases within three days: a man in his 60s and woman in her 20s. None had traveled internationally.
There were 128 new cases statewide, bringing the total to 288 in 17 counties. New cases were reported in Madison and Kendall counties. The Madison County case had been announced Tuesday night by county health officials.
There has been one death from the virus, a woman in her 60s in Chicago.
At a long-term care facility in DuPage County, an additional 20 people tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to 42 cases.
On Wednesday morning in Belleville, Gov. J.B. Pritzker told reporters he is prepared to order travel and quarantine restrictions in Illinois to limit the spread of coronavirus if scientific guidance recommends it.
Those nations, where COVID-19 spread rapidly, have placed severe restrictions on travel and quarantined residents to their homes.
In Illinois, state and county governments, as well as businesses, have taken precautions to try to prevent the spread of the disease. Some stores have temporarily closed. Other businesses have limited public access.
Also on Wednesday, Pritzker stopped in Murphysboro, where no COVID-19 case have been confirmed.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director to the Illinois Department of Public Health attended a news conference with Pritzker and urged kids who are home from school to not meet up for “play dates” because that would negate the whole idea of banning groups of people from forming and the closures of the state’s schools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Ezike urged Illinoisans to “stay home as much as possible.”
Pritzker also urged everyone to stay home. He said if you feel sick, assume you have the coronavirus.
“We should look at the mistakes made in Europe,” he said “We want to avoid what happened in Italy.”
“We will get through this,” he said.
Pritzker has ordered all bars and restaurants in the state to close until March 30 to slow the spread of the virus. Drive-through windows and curbside pick-up are both allowed. Schools are also closed through March 30.
The state published a new coronavirus website at http://coronavirus.illinois.gov/ with information for citizens about cases in their areas.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 2:58 PM.
