April 28th, 2020- Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that he was opposed to opening the state on a regional basis. Some downstate lawmakers and business owners have been calling for the stay-at-home order to be lifted to allow businesses to open up because of the low numbers of COVID-19 cases in some counties. At his daily briefing Monday, Pritzker presented figures to back his argument.
“The top two rates of death per capita being in Jasper County and Monroe County,” said Pritzker. “That means you are more likely to die of COVID-19 if you live in either of those two counties than if you live in Chicago or Cook County.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,980 new coronavirus cases and 50 additional deaths, the lowest number of deaths in several days.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Illinois was getting close to the peak in cases.
“We are growing so slowly in the numbers in terms of the rate of rise that we think we are coming upon it very shortly,” Ezike said.
Statewide, public health officials have reported a total of 45,883 cases, including 1,983 deaths in 96 of the state’s 102 counties.
