Illinois passes testing milestone

Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday that Illinois has surpassed New York among the country’s most populous states for the number of COVID-19 tests processed per capita over the past week.

A total of 621,684 tests have been completed in Illinois, with 18,443 being completed over the past 24 hours.

Pritzker said it represents the “significant measurable progress” the state has made over the past several weeks to better track the spread of the virus.

“Today we reached another major milestone,” he said.

Pritzker also said the state’s four regions remain on track to enter phase three of Illinois’ reopening plan at the end of the month. That phase would allow manufacturing, offices, retail, barbershops and salons to reopen to the public with certain restrictions.

He said the administration will be releasing guidance in the coming days on how those businesses may reopen.

There were 146 more deaths reported Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 4,379. There were 1,545 new cases of COVID-19 announced Tuesday, bringing the total to 98,030 positive tests in 100 counties.

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