Illinois health officials recommend staying at home as coronavirus pandemic worsens
Public health officials recommended on Wednesday that Illinoisans stay at home as much as possible as the state recorded the highest COVID-19 daily death count since May.
The metro-east region reported the highest hospitalizations since spring and set a record for the number of COVID-19 tests coming back positive. The seven-day rolling average postivity rate was 13.4% Wednesday.
Illinois Department of Public Health reported 145 people died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Health officials also reported 12,657 new cases out of 93,464 tests. There have been a total of 523,840 cases, including 10,434 deaths, in Illinois since the pandemic began.
On May 13, Illinois saw 192 deaths.
To help slow the spread, IDPH recommended the following steps for the next three weeks:
- Work from home if possible: IDPH asks employers to accommodate work-from-home options “so businesses and schools can remain open.”
- Participate in essential activities only: Leave home only for necessary and essential activities such as work that cannot be done at home, COVID-19 testing, seeking medical care, visiting the pharmacy and buying groceries.
- Limit travel and gatherings: Gathering and travel presents a high risk of spreading the infection. Even small gatherings that mix households or traveling to areas with high coronvairus rates can be dangerous.
As of Tuesday night, 5,042 people were hospitalizated with COVID-19 in Illinois, 951 of those were in intensive care units, and 404 were on ventilators.
The Illinois General Assembly canceled its fall veto session planned for later this month and early December because of concerns about an increasing number of cases and deaths.
