Illinois announces 60 more coronavirus deaths as Lightfoot weighs moving back start of Chicago’s Phase 3

Illinois has suffered another 60 deaths from COVID-19, health officials announced Sunday, increasing the state’s pandemic death toll to 5,390.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also confirmed another 1,343 new cases of coronavirus among the 21,154 new tests they processed.

That brings the state’s case total to 120,260, although most have recovered. Nearly 900,000 tests have been processed so far.

COVID-19 has been found in 101 of the state’s 102 counties; Scott County, just west of Springfield, is the only one without any reported cases.

More than half of all deadly cases in the state have originated in nursing homes, and the majority of victims have been older, but Sunday’s announced deaths included three Cook County women in their 30s.

Sunday’s update comes as officials at the local and national levels worry the massive George Floyd protests held Saturday, which drew thousands into Chicago and other cities, might eventually lead to another coronavirus case spike.

Most of Illinois moved to the third stage of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan on Friday, and Chicago is currently scheduled to do so Wednesday, based on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s prior direction.

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But Lightfoot said during a press conference Sunday, at which she condemned the violence and property damage that occurred after initially peaceful protests, she hasn’t “made a determination yet” whether that progression will still happen on time.

Sunday represented another day with a low positivity rate, roughly in line with the state’s 7% rate over the past week.

In order to enter the fourth phase of Pritzker’s reopening plan, Illinois must continue to improve in its infection, testing and hospitalization rates. The earliest that phase could begin is June 26.