SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois has set a new daily record for new confirmed COVID-19 cases, the governor and health officials announced during Friday afternoon’s daily briefing.
Over the last 24 hours, Illinois has learned of another 10,376 new COVID-19 cases among residents in the state. The total of coronavirus cases in Illinois now stands at 465,540. As of Friday, the total number reported by the health department includes probable cases, with the department said is a case that "meets clinical criteria and is epidemiologically linked, or has a positive antigen test." As of Friday, there were 7,673 probable cases,
On Friday, the state health department also reported 98,401 additional tests had been performed over the last day, setting a new daily record of tests. In all, there have been 8.2 million COVID-19 tests given in the state.
An additional 49 residents died because of COVID-19, the state reported Friday afternoon. In all, 10,079 Illinoisans have lost their lives due to the virus.
With the surge in cases, the state urged residents to help with the efforts to slow the spread. Specifically, people are asked to answer the phone if a contact tracer reaches out. The caller information will show up as “IL COVID HELP”.
“Just like wearing a mask, answering a contact tracer’s call is a way to help keep your family safe and protect your community – and that’s going to be even more important with community transmission as high as it is,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.
Watch the governor's full Friday briefing in the video player below:
The governor explained that the work done by the contact tracers helps local communities identify the most common outbreak and exposure areas across the state.
“This information, in addition to broader scientific research on COVID-19, not only guides our mitigation efforts but should serve as a resource to residents as they work to keep themselves and their families safe,” Pritzker said.
The Illinois Department of Public Health said most local health departments are contacting more than 90% of cases in their jurisdictions.
Beginning Friday, the state will start releasing new data on outbreaks and exposure locations by “setting type”, like college campuses, group homes and bars.
Outbreaks are defined as five or more cases linked to a specific setting during a 14-day period. Exposure data is gathered by contract tracers who ask COVID-19 patients to recall the places and businesses they visited in the previous two weeks.
Illinois said the place residents are most likely to be exposed to COVID-19 is at restaurants and bars, which is consistent with trends across the country. Schools and workplaces also are high on the list.
In Region 3 – which includes Calhoun, Jersey, Green, Macoupin, Montgomery and Pike counties – the highest COVID-19 exposure risks are at community events, places of worship and schools.
In Region 4 – which includes Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties – the highest exposure risks are at schools, group homes, places of worship and hospitals.
The outbreak locations and exposure risk data can be found on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s website here.
