Illinois officials on Monday warned that hospitals are filling up with COVID-19 patients and frontline health care workers are exhausted as virus-related deaths have gone up 260% since Oct. 1.
"We are in for a rough ride for the next three months or so," Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said at a media briefing. "Just how bumpy it really gets depends on each of us."
Gov. JB Pritzker noted the state is averaging 81 deaths a day from complications caused by coronavirus — a more than 250% increase from the beginning of October, when the figure was 23 deaths per day.
The state is currently averaging 5,200 hospitalized COVID patients, he said, about 400 more than at the peak of coronavirus infections earlier this year.
"The entire nation is seeing record highs in hospitalizations, more that at any prior time in this pandemic," Pritzker said. "That fact is more than a frightening backdrop because it means there are no health care workers to call in as reinforcements from other states."
Pritzker and Ezike urged Illinoisans to follow anti-COVID safeguards such as wearing masks in public. Residents are encouraged to stay home and avoid non-essential trips and visits.
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Monday reported 11,632 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus, including 37 deaths.
