STATE DEATH TOLL AT 9
Illinois surpasses 1,000 coronavirus cases; first-responders tested at Walmart locations
The tally of COVID-19 cases in Illinois surpassed 1,000 on Sunday, including an infant who recently tested positive for the virus.
Three more people have also died from the virus, and more deaths are expected, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said Sunday.
Ezike reported 296 new cases since Saturday’s briefing, bringing the statewide total to 1,049. Nine people have now died of the coronavirus in Illinois.
“Unfortunately, the number of cases will continue to increase, as will the number of deaths,” Ezike said, pleading for people to follow stay-at-home guidelines and social distancing measures. “Avoid becoming sick and infecting others.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker — having spent the morning in a contentious back-and-forth with President Donald Trump — said he refused to “spend more time on [Trump’s angry tweet] than it deserves.”
“I’m finding it hard to contain my anger with Donald Trump’s response to this national crisis,” Pritzker said of his complaint that the federal government has inadequately provided equipment for medical workers, noting that “Illinoisans of all political stripes are doing their part.”
“Republicans from all over the state have reached out to ask how they can help,” Pritzker said. “Even people who have had profound political differences with me have been among the first to text or call asking to help.”
Pritzker offered a glimpse of optimism, highlighting the many people, businesses and organizations that have volunteered time or resources to meet the state’s needs.
He thanked businesses like Koval Distillery in Ravenswood, which stopped making whiskey and gin in favor of hand sanitizer for medical workers. The company has already raised more than $17,000 to support its efforts.
As hospitals and medical centers have struggled with a depleting PPE supply, other businesses have started crafting face masks and other supplies for the state’s medical workers, Pritzker said.
He also highlighted animal shelters, which have seen an uptick in adoptions since the coronavirus crisis began, and restaurants and schools that are giving free meals to kids.
Celena Roldán, CEO of the American Red Cross of Illinois, said more than 6,000 blood drives — including 120 in Illinois — have been canceled across the country since the coronavirus pandemic began.
“This blood shortage can impact patients needing surgery, victims of car accidents or other emergencies, people with chronic conditions or cancer patients,” Roldán said.
She stressed that blood drives are still safe, and there is no evidence that respiratory viruses can be transmitted through blood donation or transfusion.
First responders, medical workers tested at Walmarts in Joliet, Northlake
Portions of two Chicago-area Walmart parking lots became makeshift drive-thru test sites for the novel coronavirus Sunday.
Tests at the Walmart locations in suburban Joliet and Northlake were reserved for first-responders and health care workers who have potentially been exposed to the COVID-19 disease.
Each site opened from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and had a limit of 150 tests each.
“These initial sites . . . will help us better understand the operational, public health and safety considerations associated with federal, state and local efforts to expand access to mobile testing,” said Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart.
Illinois Hospitals Association spokesman Danny Chun said it was impossible to know how many first responders and health care workers have been exposed to the coronavirus.
“We have 211 hospitals in the state. You’d have to know who’s been exposed to the disease and where people with COVID-19 have gone. Right now we don’t have the answer to that,” he said. “Bottom line, there aren’t enough tests.”
The Walmart locations are the company’s first to offer drive-thru testing for COVID-19 in the country. Walmart has not said how many more drive-thru testing sites it plans to open. The tests were administered by personnel with the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a Walmart spokesperson.
More than a week ago, President Donald Trump said a vast network of drive-thru testing for COVID-19 at pharmacies and big-box retailers nationwide was imminent but that has “so far failed to materialize,” the Associated Press reported Sunday.
Walgreens has also said it plans to open drive-thru testing sites in Illinois but the company has not specified when they will open or at which locations.
Illinois health officials reported an additional 296 confirmed cases of the coronavirus Sunday, putting the state’s total at 1,049 cases across 30 counties.