CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The city’s top health official offered a sobering statistic Thursday as coronavirus cases again surge across Chicago.
“If you get 10 people together, there is a one in three chance that someone in that randomly selected group of 10 Chicagoans has COVID-19, right now,” Dr. Allison Arwady said as city officials discussed the latest statistics.
With COVID metrics spiking in Chicago and across the state, the Illinois Public Health Department director urged residents to rethink their Thanksgiving plans.
“Let’s be clear,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. “Travel will increase your chance of contracting and spreading COVID-19 — as will going to a crowded event; as will having multiple people in your home for Thanksgiving.”
Ezike said outside the home, just about all places have become a high-risk environment. Earlier this week, she suggested everyone should get tested for coronavirus, now that the state is in a second wave of the disease.
Illinois reported a daily high number of coronavirus cases Thursday: 9,935. There were 97 deaths from COVID-19, which brings the state’s total of coronavirus-related deaths to 10,030.
The statewide positivity rate is more than 10%.
Health authorities have urged people to keep socially distant and wear masks in public to help stem the spread of the virus. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker does not rule out further restrictions across the state, even as indoor dining and bar service has been halted.
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