State reports 2,049 new COVID-19 cases, 98 more deaths

Gov. JB Pritzker announced the opening of two state-run COVID-19 drive-thru testing locations in northern Illinois Wednesday, which are available for any resident experiencing symptoms related to the novel coronavirus.
Those two facilities, at the Chicago Premium Outlets Shopping Mall in Aurora and the University of Illinois’ College of Medicine in Rockford, bring the state’s total drive-thru locations to five. When fully up and running, officials will be able to administer a total of 2,900 tests per day.
Increased testing is an important goal for the state, Pritzker said, because it is one benchmark needed to fully address COVID-19’s impact on Illinois.
“We need to make testing more available and convenient for more people,” he said.
The state has tested 164,346 people for the virus, an increase of 9,349 from the previous day. Pritzker has said, however, the number reported daily fluctuates as private labs, state labs and hospitals report results on different timelines.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, there were 2,049 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 98 lives lost due to the virus over the last 24 hours.
In total, 35,108 residents have contracted COVID-19, and 1,565 have died as the virus has reached 96 of the state’s 102 counties thus far.
Pritzker said to help health care workers protect themselves while treating ill patients, the state sent out more than 15 million items of personal protective equipment, including gowns, gloves and masks.
As of Tuesday, the state spent $179.96 million on COVID-19 related expenses, according to data provided by the comptroller’s office.
Wednesday is also Earth Day, which marks the beginning of the modern environmental movement, according to the holiday’s webpage. The governor encouraged Illinoisans to participate from home through digital teach-ins, for example.
“No doubt this is a very different Earth Day than what we’re used to, but this pandemic has put us all face-to-face with how essential it is to have a holistic view of international public health,” Pritzker said.