Pritzker: COVID-related hospitalizations at a six-week low

State officials said Tuesday that COVID-19 metrics remain positive as all state regions remain on track to partially reopen this Friday.

Gov. JB Pritzker said that current hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are at a six-week low, with 3,788 hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms as of Tuesday.

Thirty-eight percent of Illinois’ 33,343 hospital beds are available, as are 38 percent of the state’s 1,401 ICU beds and 69 percent of its 5,756 ventilators.

The percentage of COVID-19 tests returning positive results statewide has also dropped, from a high of 23 percent in late April to 9.2 percent over the past seven days, Pritzker said.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said that the week ending May 16 resulted in 780 total deaths, the first time the number of total deaths declined from week to week.

“I am hopeful that this fact is the beginning of a downward trend,” she said. “But of course, that also depends on all of us and making sure that we’re doing all we can to decrease the transmission of this virus.”

State officials reported 39 more COVID-19 related deaths on Tuesday, bringing the state’s total death count to 4,923. An additional 1,178 cases were reported, bringing the state’s total to 113,195 in 100 counties.

An additional 17,230 tests have been processed. There have now been 786,794 completed tests.

Ezike said the low numbers across the board can be attributed to the weekend, when labs are slower to report.

“We will see the numbers pick up again tomorrow,” she said.

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