43 more die in Illinois from coronavirus as state case tally surpasses 20,000

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Sunday another 43 deaths and 1,672 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, bringing the statewide total to more than 20,000 confirmed cases since the epidemic first hit in late January.

In total, 20,852 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Illinois, and 720 of them have died. The virus has spread to 86 of the state’s 102 counties, and about 100,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Illinois.

On Friday, 7,956 tests were administered throughout the state, Pritzker said. That’s closer to the goal of 10,000 tests per day that experts say would be needed to get an accurate understand of the virus’ spread throughout Illinois - and the highest number of tests administered in a single day.

“That is great news on the testing front,” Pritzker said. “I’ve spoken before about a stabilizing or bending of the curve, and today is another piece of evidence that it might be happening.”

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/essential-coronavirus-news/2020/4/12/21218128/coronavirus-chicago-updates-live-blog-illinois-2020