Over 1,000 New Coronavirus Cases Confirmed, 33 Deaths In Illinois

CHICAGO — Public health officials announced 1,006 additional cases of the new coronavirus and 33 deaths Monday. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there have been at least 12,262 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 307 deaths in Illinois.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state has only received a fraction of the personal protective equipment, such as masks, gloves and gowns, that his office had requested from the federal government's strategic national stockpile.

"Here's the good news: We haven't trusted what we were told by the White House," Pritzker said. "Instead, members of my governor's office, IDPH and IEMA have been working tirelessly to pursue all other routes to acquire additional PPE for the fight against COVID-19 in Illinois. We continue to source and ship as much PPE as we can from all over the world, bringing it to Illinois by whatever means necessary."

Pritzker said the state ordered 22 million disposable general use masks, over 19 million gloves, over 14 million KN95 masks, nearly 10 million N95 masks, 7 million surgical masks, over 5 million face shields and over 3 million gowns.

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"This is an ongoing, around-the-clock process of scouring the globe to identify what PPE is available, reaching out to the producer with a better price and a faster payment than our competitors, overcoming the machinations of shipping across the world during a worldwide pandemic and attempting to leave nothing to chance in all of that process," the governor said.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said health care providers have needed to begin rationing protective equipment to ensure they do not run out of supplies. The shortages are posing a "tremendous challenge" to medical professionals.

In addition, Ezike warned people not to gather outside as the weather warms in the coming days.

"Please stay home. I assure you if people congregate tomorrow, we will set the state back in our fight against COVID-19," Ezike said. "You don't want to be the one who spreads this virus to a health care worker."

Ezike said the state would begin disclosing ZIP codes that have five or more detected cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus. She said it should be assumed that the virus has spread to every ZIP code in the state.

According to the health department director, at least 70 percent of people whose deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 infections have had chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease that have contributed to their deaths.

Pritzker said COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the black population in the Chicago area due to pre-existing, underlying conditions and historically poor health care due to years of disinvestment in communities of color. He said his administration was working to counter that trend by reopening shuttered hospitals and through public health messaging efforts.

As of Monday, 73 of the state's 103 counties had reported confirmed coronavirus cases, with Jefferson and Wabash counties reporting their first cases in the prior 24 hours.

More: Over 70 Percent Of Chicago Coronavirus Deaths Are African Americans