WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS “WE’RE NOT GOING TO CONTROL THE PANDEMIC”; ILLINOIS REPORTS ANOTHER 4,000 CASES

Illinois health officials on Sunday announced 4,062 new COVID-19 cases and an additional 24 virus-related deaths.

The new infections found among the latest batch of 72,097 tests processed statewide in the last day keeps Illinois’ sevenday positivity rate at 6.1% — a troubling sign the state is heading in the wrong direction in its fight against the coronavirus as that number, which indicates how rapidly the virus is spreading, hadn’t topped 6% in over four months.

Sunday marked the 12th day this month Illinois had a 3,000plus caseload and comes one day after the state announced an alarming, record-breaking batch of 6,161 new infections.

With cases surging — about 21.6% of the state’s 374,254 total cases were recorded this month — Illinois is starting to latch down with tighter restrictions to try to halt the rise in COVID-19 cases.

Public health officials on Friday said half of the state’s 102 counties have hit their designated coronavirus “warning level.” As a result, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has imposed indoor dining bans at bars and restaurants in four of the state’s 11 regions, including many of Chicago’s south and west suburbs. Other regions are facing possible business restrictions within the next week, as some are on pace to rise to the 8% positivity threshold.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also reimposed restrictions on bars, restaurants and non-essential businesses in Chicago. As of Friday, all non-essential city businesses have a 10 p.m. curfew, and indoor service is prohibited at drinking establishments that don’t have food licenses.