CHICAGO — Dr. Ngozi Ezike with the Illinois Department of Public Health announced the COVID-19 numbers reported on Tuesday are lower because medical facilities did receive a day off over the weekend.
1,178 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Illinois, adding up to 113,195 in total.
39 additional deaths were reported, including a Peoria County woman in her 70s. The death total related to the virus is 4,923.
Ezike said Illinois is on a downward trend, and it is up to the citizens. Remdesivir is the drug that is being administered to hospitals across the state.
Around five patients per hospital can be treated with the drug, according to Ezike. Additional shipments were expected next week.
Ezike said until there is a cure or vaccine, residents must practice safe health measures.
She added a total of 780 deaths was reported for the week ending May 16, which represented the first week since testing began there were fewer deaths than the previous week.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said all four regions of the state continued meeting the three metrics necessary to move to phase three of Restore Illinois, those metrics being positivity rate below 20%, stable hospitalizations, and hospital bed availability above 14%.
Pritzker said after the statewide positivity rate reached 23% in April, it has dwindled to 9.2% for the last seven days.
COVID-related hospitalizations have dropped to a six-week low, with almost 1,200 more beds now available.
“You see the same trends playing out everywhere,” he said.
“The fact we’ve seen these numbers trend in a good direction, even after we opened things up in phase two, demonstrates the importance of everyday actions. Remember one of the biggest mitigation measures was put into place the same moment we opened things up: we required face coverings.
“Along with social distancing, face coverings can make all the difference in protecting each other.”
