BOURBONNAIS – Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned state residents of ‘drastically increasing’ case numbers Thursday afternoon, hours after the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced nearly 10,000 new cases for the day, eclipsing 10,000 deaths in the pandemic.
“We have got to get these rates of community transmission down, and the only way that is going to happen is if Mayors, and City Counsels, and County Boards across this state, stand up and say ‘this needs to change’,” Pritzker warned Thursday. “Far too many local governments across the state are failing to enforce any mitigation measures, allowing this continued rise in positivity to balloon out of control.”
In Kankakee County, spreads of community transmission became apparent Thursday as a number of schools in the area issued remote learning notices. At Olivet Nazarene University, President John Bowling warned students of ‘another major spike’ headed to the community.
“I can tell you that these numbers are drastically increasing,” Pritzker warned Thursday. “I can tell you that until I’m blue in the face. But if local leaders don’t step up, if high-risk industries don’t act accordingly, if families don’t put off that gathering or dinner party, if people don’t wear a mask. We’re heading down a very dark, dark path towards where we were last spring. Let’s not let that happen.”
In advance of potential holiday travel, IDPH released travel guidance for the holidays, available on its website here along with a global map for holiday travelers.
“Visiting counties, states, or other countries where there are fewer cases of COVID-19 might be a little less risky than visiting locations where there are higher rates, but there is still a risk and just even the risk of just the traveling process,” IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike warned Thursday. “There is significant potential for harm and death. Let’s be very plain. And it’s not just to yourself for the people that feel nothing could ever happen to them, but its to other members of your family, and other people that you might not even know that you could unwillingly spread the virus to.”
Earlier this week, the U.S. hit a new single-day record, reporting over 100,000 cases across the country in a single day.
From October 31st to November 2nd, 1,595 newly reported cases have been made in Region 7, averaging over 500 new cases per day for the dates in the area.
The rolling seven-day positivity rate in Region 7 was 13.4% on Thursday, with both Kankakee and Will County in double-digit positivity. It marked the 8th straight day of a positivity rate in double digits locally. Thursday, Kankakee last reported an 11.7% rolling positivity rate, with Will reporting a 13.9% rolling positivity rate.
Illinois officials are not considering another stay-at-home order at this time. The last time a stay-at-home order was put in place, it took nearly six weeks for the curve to bend in Illinois.
