CHICAGO - Thursday, May 27th, 2020, 75 days after his emergency declaration shutting down the state of Illinois to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Governor JB Pritzker focused his attention on residents living in long-term nursing facilities.
75 days into the COVID-19 health care crisis, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) filed emergency rules mandating long-term care facilities comply with infection control practices, including testing all residents and staff for COVID-19. The IDPH will require each facility "to develop and implement a testing plan to better protect vulnerable residents and ensure no facility is shirking its responsibilities for those in their care."
Nearly three months into the world-paralyzing crisis, long-term care facilitie became a priority to state health officials.
According to the IDPH's own website, there have been 14,862 confirmed COVID-19 cases among long-term residents and staff statewide, with 2,402 tragically dying from COVID-19. (The latest stats were posted May 23)
As of Friday afternoon, Illinois is reporting 117,455 COVID-19 cases, including 5,270 deaths.
That means that nearly 46% of Illinois COVID-19 deaths were among long-term care residents.
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