CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Illinois health officials announced Wednesday another 2,128 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, brining the state's total number of confirmed cases to 238,643.
Wednesday marks the ninth day Illinois has reported over 2,000 daily cases in the last month, and the 43rd consecutive day of cases over 1,000.
The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced 27 additional deaths from COVID-19, raising the state’s death toll to 8,091.
Illinois’ positivity rate is now 4.5%, health officials said.
As of Tuesday night, 1,596 Illinoisans were hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those, 347 were in the ICU and 142 were on ventilators.
"As we talk about COVID-19 in Illinois, about the outbreaks, positivity rates, and regions heading in a worrisome direction, please remember that what we are ultimately talking about is people. Public health's entire goal is to help people, prevent people from becoming ill, being hospitalized, placed on a ventilator, getting seriously ill, and even dying," said IDPH Assistant Director Amaal Tokars. "Everything we do is to help protect the health of families, friends and loved ones from COVID-19. When we start talking about mitigation efforts and what cities, counties, businesses, health officials, and others should be doing, which is all critical and has to be done, we can readily lose sight of why we are doing these things. It is to protect people from a potentially dangerous and even deadly disease."
The IDPH also reported Wednesday approximately 32,751 COVID-19 tests, "while all results have been reported out to those tested, we are experiencing a minor tech issue in the data processing system that we use to report out tests publicly, and that is why this number is somewhat lower than the 40,000 and 50,000 tests we have reported previously. This is being worked on with urgency, and we expect that this will be addressed very soon," Tokars said.
In regards to the upcoming holiday weekend, Tokars said, there are persons all over the state of Illinois that are dedicated to the service of public health, in every county across the state. "Listen to them. Help them help others. And as we gather, we know the hand washing, the masking up, and the social distancing are very necessary. So even our small, intimate family gatherings must look different than they did before, but [they> can be every bit as rewarding, as important, and as enjoyable. Help us help one another, and let us make sure that when we are in social gatherings that are not too large — especially if they are small gatherings indoors — that we are also remembering to infuse these principles of hand washing, masking up, and social distancing."
Dr. Nicholas Soulakis of Northwestern said Illinois is trending upwards in an increase of new cases, "which is to be expected given the easing of restrictions under Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan. Currently, counties large and small, urban and rural, are seeing rising numbers."
He said in the last month, 75 of 102 counties and five of 11 COVID regions have set new, seven-day maximums for confirmed, active infections. Thirty counties are currently at a warning level, and two regions are under enhanced mitigation efforts to interrupt the spread of COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic and up to this critical injuncture today, all 97 local health departments across the state investigate confirmed cases, which often result in identification of close contact...In the past 60 days, we have observed in excess of 1,400 cases and contacts associated with bars and restaurants.
"We observed in the past two weeks a single outbreak of at least 14 cases, most likely associated with student return to college campus and renewal of social activity," Dr. Soulakis said. "While two regions have enhanced mitigation measures, many communities across the state continue to provide safe, well-distanced dining experiences. However, as temperatures cool, we will lose the luxury of outdoor dining and well-spaced seating which make many of those dining experiences possible. Because bars and restaurants are for gathering, drinking and eating, people will remove masks and stay for enough time to enjoy their meal or refreshments. Now is a good time to think ahead and begin reinforcing prevention strategies to reduce, and eventually stop community transmission."
Governor Pritzker said two weeks ago today, Aug. 19, stricter mitigation requirements took affect in the Metro East region, which had surpassed an 8% positivity rate for three days in a row. Unfortunately, he said, that region continue to see positivity rates over 8%, with a current seven-day rolling average sitting at 9.6%; "so as I made clear last week, as of today, Metro East - Region 4, of our Restore Illinois plan, will operate under stricter mitigations. The same restrictions that Region 7 - Will and Kankakee counties - has faced since the middle of last week."
These stricter mitigations, Pritzer said, as recommended by doctors at IDPH, include the closure of all indoor bar service and indoor dining service; the closure of all bars, restaurants, gaming facilities, and casinos by 11 p.m.; a pause on any party bus services; and a new limit on gatherings to 25 individuals or 25 percent of overall room capacity.
"Let me be clear, these are not decisions that I make lightly, nor would I impose these restrictions without evidence of increasing spread of the virus in these areas. I want our businesses to be open, and I want our hospitality scene to thrive. I want to get people back to work and find new opportunities for themselves and their families, but the greatest hindrance to restoring our nation's economic vitality is the virus," Pritzker said. "Until we get it under control, either by people following the doctor-recommended mitigations or with an effective treatment or vaccine, we are going to be fighting for our economic recovery with one hand tied behind our back. We must slow the rate of infection all across our state."
The Governor said there are virus deniers, whose arguments "swung wildly" between this is a media hoax and "it's just a problem for old people." Now their argument has changed, he said, their new argument is "it's just new cases that are rising, not deaths, and the hospitals are fine so we don't have to worry."
Pritzker said, as the White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Tuesday, Florida, Texas, Arizona and other southern states thought their increasing infection rates were unimportant, and then, in no time at all, their hospitals were overrun.
"When that happens, a lot more people die. I won't let that happen here," he said. "And let me remind you, people are dying every day from this horrible virus, and thousands who have recovered are still suffering from life-threatening pulmonary and cardiac symptoms."
He said facts and science will continue to determine what efforts Illinois should make to protect its people.
Nine off the 11 regions have continued to see their positivity rates creep upward over the last two weeks, Pritzker said, with four seeing more than one full percentage point increase in positivity rate. Only two regions have seen an actual reduction in that same two week period, including the West-Cental Region (Region 3) and the East-Central Region (Region 6).
"It's time to mask up, Illinois. If we all do our parts: masks, distance, hand washing, getting tested, we can get through this and we can come out stronger on the other side," Pritzker said.
In terms of Labor Day weekend, Pritzker said he is very concerned, as he was for Fourth of July weekend, as he knows people will be gathering.
"We know much of the spread that is actually occurring in Illinois is actually happening in these setting. They are not public settings, they are often private settings, and people often let down their guard thinking 'well I am at home or I am at someone's home that I know.' The reality is you don't know where everybody who's there has been. And unless you maintain social distance and are mindful about wearing masks, the reality is there can be, and has been, significant amount of community spread as a result of those kinds of gatherings," he said.
Pritzker said pay "special attention" this weekend.
Governor Pritzker invited all Illinoisans to join him and multiple faith leaders, in a virtual memorial service Thursday night that honors those who have lost their lives to COVID-19. You can tune into the livestream on social media beginning at 6:30 p.m.