Governor Attends Coronavirus Memorial Service With Faith Leaders

CHICAGO — A memorial service is planned Thursday evening in Hyde Park for the more than 8,000 Illinois residents with the coronavirus who have died since the start of the pandemic.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and faith leaders in Chicago plan to honor those that have "lost their lives to COVID-19 and their families" starting at 6:30 p.m. at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. on the University of Chicago campus, according to the governor's office.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 8,115 residents with COVID-19 have died since March. As of Wednesday night, there were 360 Illinoisans hospitalized in intensive care units in the state with the coronavirus and, of those, 144 were hooked up to ventilators.

In Chicago, there have been 2,882 deaths attributed to the virus among nearly 71,000 detected infections through Aug. 29. One in 39 residents has contracted the virus and more than one out of every 1,000 Chicagoans has died.

The city has established an online memorial for residents who have died due to the coronavirus. Those who have lost someone to COVID-19 can submit a story about their loved one for inclusion.

RELATED: COVID-19 Spikes At Colleges, Sept. 3 Illinois Coronavirus Update

State public health officials this week responded to an update from the Centers for Disease Control that said 6 percent of deaths attributed to COVID-19 had no underlying conditions listed as contributing factors.

According to IDPH, people infected with the coronavirus who die from homicides, suicides or traffic crashes are excluded from from the state's fatality count.

Thursday's memorial comes a day after Pritzker announced new restrictions on the Metro East region that suspend indoor service at bars and restaurants and limit gatherings to a maximum of 25 people because their positivity rates have continued to exceed 8 percent.

The new measures bring the area, Region 4 in the governor's coronavirus resurgence mitigation plan, into line with the rules imposed on Will and Kankakee counties, or Region 7, last week.