Gov. JB Pritzker and Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced on Thursday three more COVID-19-related deaths in the state: a Will County resident in his 50s, a Cook County resident in her 80s and a Florida resident who was visiting Sangamon County, bringing the total number of deaths to four in Illinois.
“My heart goes out to the family and the friends of these patients,” Pritzker said. “And I feel like I could speak for all of Illinois, when I say, we offer them our collective strength at this time. May their memories be for a blessing.
“These moments will not get easier, nor should they. We’ve all lost something today.”
There are currently 422 cases in 22 counties in Illinois. According to NBC there are 13,017 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States and 185 deaths.
During a March 19 press conference, Pritzker said that it is his priority to make sure that the elderly in Illinois feel as safe and secure as possible.
“During this time, our social distancing efforts are the most important thing that we can do to protect our seniors and to support our health care workers,” Pritzker said.
He talked to grocery store owners throughout the state to encourage them to provide a time for those who are elderly or at-risk to shop in a safe environment. Locally, Schnucks (not yet Mahomet IGA) and St. Joseph IGA are doing that.
“We want to make sure that our seniors aren’t afraid to go out and to get the food and medicine that they need,” Pritzker said.
“We want our seniors to know that we’re taking special care to keep them safe and to do everything that we can to help them through this very challenging time. We’re also working hard to ensure that all our residents are able to get as many of the health care services that they need, even from the safety of their own homes.”
Pritzker is signing an Executive order to significantly expand telemedicine for both Medicaid and those who are private insurance.
“This will allow more providers to get reimbursed for these services and allow patients more flexibility and safety in getting the medical guidance and care that they need,” he said.
Pritzker also encouraged doctors to register with the State of Illinois Rapid Electronic Notification System (SIREN) system.
“If you’re a doctor, take it upon yourself to sign up for our emergency notification tool, sending your name and email to dph.siren.illinois.gov.”
Pritzker said that 1,000 patients are being tested each day in Illinois, and in the next couple days 2,000 patients a day will be able to be tested.
He sent a nod to the healthcare professionals that are putting themselves at risk in order to help those who have been affected by COVID-19.
“They deserve all the acts of kindness that we can muster,” Pritzker said. “So, your friend the doctor, your neighbor the nurse, see if they could use a helping hand. I promise you that it will mean more to them than you could ever know.”
At this moment, small businesses throughout the nation are also hurting because of restrictions put on the way they operate so that the spread of COVID-19 is reduced.
“The root of that pain isn’t going to go away anytime soon,” Pritzker said.
To relieve some of that pain, Pritzker is offering a two-month delay in sales tax payments to the state and to local jurisdictions alongside waiving late filing fees and interest starting March 20 to 20,000 small and medium sized bars and restaurants.
Small businesses are also eligible to apply for low interest Coronavirus Disaster Assistance loans of up to $2 million.
“I want to thank our federal officials, especially Senator Durbin and Senator Duckworth for helping to push this through the Congress for us,” he said.
Loan information can be found at disasterloan.sba.gov.
