Report: Majority of Illinois’ COVID-19 deaths continue to be at long-term care facilities

A majority of COVID-19 deaths in Illinois continue to be linked to long-term care facilities, according to the latest state data.

As of Friday, 3,053 deaths have been reported among those facilities’ residents and workers. That accounted for 52.7 percent of the state’s 5,795 COVID-related deaths reported that day.

The percentage of deaths linked to long-term care facilities remains the same from last week.

At least 18,337 long-term care facility residents or workers have tested positive for COVID-19.

The information follows data put out last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that found Illinois nursing homes’ averaged 34.7 deaths per 1,000 residents, the 14th highest rate in the nation. New Jersey was highest with 178.3 deaths per 1,000 residents.

The data also found that Illinois nursing homes averaged 142.9 COVID-19 cases per 1,000 residents, the 11th highest in the nation. New Jersey was highest with 446.1 cases per 1,000 residents.

Illinois officials reported 115 more COVID-19 related deaths over the weekend, bringing the state’s total death count to 5,904. An additional 1,842 total cases were reported, bringing the state’s total to 127,757 in 101 counties.

Friday also saw Illinois cross 1 million total processed COVID-19 tests. A total of 41,855 tests were processed over the weekend, bring the total number of completed tests to 1,042,774.

“This milestone is the result of the incredible work of so many people behind the scenes in state government, in our National Guard, in our public and private hospital and healthcare systems all around the state – people who were willing to battle it out to build out a testing infrastructure that is accurate, efficient and accessible,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement. “And we’re still building – but I’m very proud to be one of the earliest states to hit this landmark.”

The state announced last week that any Illinois resident can now be tested for COVID-19 at any of the state’s 11 testing sites, regardless of symptoms.

Addressing reporters on Friday, Pritzker declined to say whether he anticipates any delays or setbacks with Illinois moving to phase four of its reopening plan, despite large gatherings and protests over the past week. He said they will have a better idea within the next few weeks whether there will be a spike in COVID-19 cases.

“Where you really will see it is two to three weeks… so look at the hospitalization numbers,” Pritzker said. “That’s where you’ll start to see either movement or not. And then we can either develop some confidence about the outcome for phase three or some concern.”

Pritzker previously said June 26 is the earliest day the four regions of Illinois’ reopening plan may enter phase four.

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