CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Although Friday saw the highest single-day total for new coronavirus cases, it came with good news: Illinois is flattening the curve for the virus.
This means the McCormick Place Care Facility, which began construction at the end of March and was designed as an overflow hospital built out of caution for the virus peak, is no longer needed.
Mayor Lightfoot and Gov. Pritzker announced Friday afternoon that the makeshift care facility will be phased out in the coming weeks. The $70 million project was finished ahead of schedule on April 10 and began accepting patients in an effort to ease hospital stress.
"Today, we are pleased to report that the curve is flattening, and our local hospitals and healthcare systems continue to operate with capacity, therefore, the McCormick Place ACF will stop operating in its clinical needs testing phase," read a joint press release from Lightfoot and Pritzker. "All patients currently receiving care at McCormick will continue to receive outstanding medical care for the duration of their illness and plans for deconstruction are currently underway."
The city added that McCormick's unit with the negative pressure tents will remain assembled to continue upholding the facility's original mission, as the city and state monitor hospital capacity when elective surgeries start again.
"We thank all our dedicated partners for their hard work and partnership in creating one of the nation's best operating and largest Alternate Care Facilities," the statement continued. "While this marks a critical moment and a large step forward in our collective fight against COVID-19, we must stay the course until data shows further progress in a reduction of new cases and as widespread testing comes online."
Nurses who were to be sent to the facility will be moved to other places, like hard-hit nursing homes, the governor said earlier this week. And while there is no exact number of patients currently under care at the facility, Pritzker said the team put down only 1,000 of the originally scheduled 3,000 beds.
