Illinois COVID-19 Update

May 1, 2020

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 3,137 new COVID-19 cases and 105 deaths. The total number of cases in the state is 56,055 in 97 counties, with a total of 2,457 deaths. IDPH says that in the past 24 hours, 14,821 specimens have been processed. IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike, M.D., said that in the past 24 hours, COVID-19 hospitalizations decreased from 4,953 to 4,900.Of that figure, 1,263 patients are in ICU with 777 patients on ventilators.

At today’s daily press briefing, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced Illinois’ new acting chief epidemiologist is Dr. Wayne Duffus, who comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is charged with developing contact tracing for the state’s COVID-19 patients.

Today, Gov. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that due to the flattening of the curve and that local hospitals and healthcare systems continue to operate with capacity, the McCormick Place alternate care facility will stop operating in its clinical needs testing phase. The unit with the negative pressure tents will remain assembled to continue upholding the facility’s original mission, as the city and state monitor hospital capacity when elective surgeries begin again.