Illinois moved past 13,000 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, just eight days after marking 12,000 deaths.
The numbers illustrate just how bad the pandemic has gotten here. Illinois has recorded more coronavirus deaths than any other state in the last seven days, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only Illinois and Texas have more than 1,000 deaths in last seven days.
Included in that total are the 208 deaths that the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Saturday. That brings the state’s total to 13,179 deaths since the pandemic began in March. Illinois hit 10,000 deaths just a month ago.
Also Saturday, Illinois health officials reported 9,887 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19.
Sandoval, who was cooperating with federal authorities, was in the hospital before his death, said attorney Dylan Smith, who added that he spoke with the former lawmaker’s family.
In the Chicago area, that includes Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties. It also includes Kankakee County but not McHenry.
First, though, the Pfizer vaccine needs emergency use authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration, which could come as soon as Thursday. If that happens, Illinois expects to receive its first shipment sometime during the week of Dec. 13.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Maria Lopez, wife of beloved 911 dispatcher Lupe Lopez, also dies of COVID-related issues. ‘They fought to stay here with us,’ daughter says
The adult children of 911 dispatcher Lupe Lopez, who died last month of COVID-19, thought their mother, Maria, 56, was going to pull through the virus and rejoin them at home. But overnight Saturday, she was pronounced dead at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, said daughter Erica.
“It’s a sad ending to a beautiful love story,” Erica Lopez said Saturday afternoon from her parents’ home. “I accepted it. I love God. I am not angry with him. I am angry at the selfish person who did not wear a mask and infected my father.”
The couple first battled their COVID-19 infection together at home, until it worsened and they had to be hospitalized. Erica, who is the oldest of the couple’s three children, said they are cleaning up their parents’ home before they make arrangements for Maria’s funeral.
“It looks like ground zero from the front to back. Medicine bottles everywhere, tissue. It really shows how hard they fought to stay here with us. My dad really fought to make sure my mother beat this virus,” Erica Lopez said.
Report: Singer Jeremih released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital after undergoing COVID-19 treatment
Chicago singer Jeremih has been released from the hospital after undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
According to ABC 7 Chicago, Jeremih was discharged from Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Friday night, accompanied by his mother.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank God and the incredible team of doctors and nurses at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for saving my life,” Jeremih told ABC 7 Chicago. “I will be forever grateful.”
Testing bipartisanship, Biden urges Congress to compromise on COVID-19 pandemic relief bill
President-elect Joe Biden is trying to help break a monthslong deadlock in Congress over a new installment of pandemic relief, testing his aspiration to preside over a new era of bipartisan cooperation in Washington, even before he takes office.
Biden seized Friday on a grim new report on unemployment to amplify his call for Congress to act on a bipartisan $900-billion relief bill that emerged this week — half the size of a package that Democrats wanted but twice as much as Republicans have proposed.
“If we don’t act now, the future will be very bleak,” Biden said, speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. “Americans need help and they need it now, and they’ll need more to come early next year. But I must tell you, I am encouraged by the bipartisan efforts in the Senate around a $900-billion package of relief.”
Illinois surpasses 13,000 COVID-19 deaths, just eight days after reaching 12,000
Illinois moved past 13,000 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, just eight days after marking 12,000 deaths.
The numbers illustrate just how bad the pandemic has gotten here. Illinois has recorded more coronavirus deaths than any other state in the last seven days, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only Illinois and Texas have more than 1,000 deaths in last seven days.
9,887 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 208 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Saturday announced 9,887 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 208 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 779,975 and the statewide death toll to 13,179 since the start of the pandemic.
Ex-state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who pleaded guilty to political corruption, dies from COVID-19, attorney says
Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who pleaded guilty in January to political corruption, has died from COVID-19 complications, his attorney said Saturday.
Sandoval, who was cooperating with federal authorities, was in the hospital before his death, said attorney Dylan Smith, who added that he spoke with the former lawmaker’s family.
“I was very proud to have represented Martin Sandoval. While he may have strayed from the standard he set for himself, he was making a genuine effort to make amends for his mistakes through his cooperation with the government and its ongoing investigation,” Smith said.
“(Sandoval) was someone of considerable ability who had done a great deal of good in his life,” Smith added.
Sandoval, the former Senate Transportation Committee chairman, pleaded guilty to bribery and tax charges in a 27-page plea agreement that laid bare a striking level of greed, even in a state accustomed to elected officials going off to prison for trading political power for cash.
CDC says people should wear masks indoors as COVID-19 infections spread at record levels in United States
Americans should be wearing a mask indoors whenever they’re outside their own home, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending, as coronavirus infections continue to spread at record levels in the United States — reaching a new daily high of nearly 228,000 cases on Friday.
The 227,885 cases eclipse the previous high of more than 217,000 on Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.