CHICAGO — Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker gave an update on the COVID-19 pandemic Saturday afternoon.
Click here to watch the full press conference.
The Illinois Department of Health announced 2,450 new cases, bringing the total to 58,505 cases.
An additional 105 people have died, bringing the total deaths to 2,559.
As of May 2, 299,896 people have been tested across the state.
Gov. Pritzker announced starting on May 1, everyone who is able to wear a face mask will be required to wear one when going out into public.
On April 25, Gov. Pritzker and Dr. Ngozi Ezike with the Illinois Department of Public Health cautioned against the ingesting, injecting or snorting of household cleaners, citing an increased amount of calls to the Illinois Poison Center.
The state saw a large increase in cases on April 24 because it administered its largest number of tests, officials said. Gov. Pritzker said the state met its goal of 10,000 COVID-19 tests per day.
"Testing is really key to everything else we need to do, to get Illinois moving again," he said.
Patients have ranged in age from younger than 1 to 99 years old, the Illinois Department of Public Health said.
Most of the cases and deaths have been in the Chicago area.
IDPH said the number of COVID-19 cases being reported is rising quickly partly because testing is becoming easier, but also because the virus is spreading across communities.
On April 23, Gov. Pritzker extended the stay-at-home order for Illinois through May 30. The new order also requires people over the age of 2 to wear facemasks when going out in public.
On April 17, he announced students will stay home from school through the rest of the school year.
On April 2, the state launched a new statewide initiative called “All in Illinois” to reinforce the state’s message during the coronavirus pandemic: stay home and stay safe.
As Illinois residents practice social distancing, the initiative is a way to “unite residents across the state and remind them we are all in this together.”
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