Pritzker urges precautions, prayers as Illinois’ total virus cases top 200,000

More than 200,000 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 over the last five months in Illinois — about 1.6% of the state’s population — as health officials on Thursday announced the latest batch of 1,834 new coronavirus cases.

Since early March, a total of 200,427 people have been confirmed to be carrying the virus, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The state has about 12.7 million residents.

Health officials also announced 24 more residents with COVID-19 have died, raising the state death toll to 7,696. About 95% of the state’s coronavirus patients have recovered.

The case tally has ballooned over the last month mostly due to outbreaks among young people, according to health officials, and the “insidious virus” is still trending upward, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a news conference in downstate Bloomington.

After a devastating peak in mid-May, daily caseloads bottomed out at an average of about 682 per day over the last two weeks of June. The rate is more than double that figure over the last two weeks, as the state has seen about 1,681 new cases per day.

“I’m deeply concerned about the direction the numbers are going in the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.

“Distancing, masking, washing your hands, just following some basic rules — we can get through this,” the Democratic governor said. “We all should pray for those who are developing those [coronavirus vaccines], and in the meantime, let’s just be kind to each other and stay healthy by following the mitigation rules.”