Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during an interview on Tuesday that COVID-19 cases in Illinois likely won’t peak until mid-May.
Pritzker made the comment on Washington Post Live during an interview with reporter Robert Costa Tuesday morning after he said that Illinois has not peaked yet.
Illinois was the second state to implement the stay-at-home rule and Pritzker said people have been abiding by it for the most part. He said that has caused the peak to be pushed out from the middle to end of April until mid-May.
“So it’s been pushed out now, according to the models, to maybe mid-May, but at a lower level, and so we’re moving, inching toward that date,” Pritzker said.
He noted that people are staying indoors, wearing masks outside and washing their hands.
“We’ve had many fewer deaths than we anticipated, our hospitalization rate is somewhat stable, climbing a little bit but somewhat stabilizing, and of course our ventilator needs have gone down,” Pritzker said.
He attributes that to the state bending the curve and doctors using alternative therapies to try and keep patients off ventilators.
Pritzker has not said yet what he will do with the state’s stay-at-home order, which remains in effect until April 30.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced Monday the state’s COVID-19 total has reached 31,508 cases and 1,349 deaths. The number of people tested so far is at 148,358, data shows.