CHICAGO — Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker gave an update on the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday afternoon.
Click here to watch the full press conference.
Illinois reported 2,122 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 176 new deaths.
There have been 65,962 total confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,838 deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Health. A total of 346,286 tests have been performed.
On May 5, Gov. Pritzker announced a five-phase, regional plan for reopening the state.
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 large increase in cases on Friday was due to the state administering its largest number of tests, officials said. Gov. JB 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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