CHICAGO — One more person in Illinois has died because of the coronavirus, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Saturday afternoon.
The victim was a Cook County resident in his 70s.
In a press conference on Saturday, Gov. Pritzker urged any former healthcare professional, such as physicians and nurses, who recently left the field or retired to come back to work.
He called it a "call to action" and said he would renew the licenses of any healthcare professional who came back to work.
On Friday, the governor issued a statewide "stay-at-home" order to go into effect on Saturday. Residents will still be able to go to grocery stores and pharmacies under the order.
In all, six people who had coronavirus have died in Illinois. The first death was announced Tuesday. That person was a Chicago resident in her 60s who tested positive for the virus earlier in the month and had contact with a known COVID-19 patient.
The state confirmed there are 168 new cases of COVID-19 across Illinois on Saturday, bringing the total to 753 cases. The state health department has an updated map with county-by-county numbers of cases available online here.
Patients have ranged in age from 9 to 99 years old, IDPH said.
Cases in the Metro East include:
- Clinton: 3
- Madison: 1
- St. Clair: 3
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. So far, 6247 people have been tested in Illinois as of Saturday afternoon.
Friday morning, School District U-46 in Cook County announced a student who attends the Independence Center for Early Learning tested positive for the coronavirus.
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