UPDATED: Monday's coronavirus updates | Champaign County reports first death, seven new cases

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Champaign County Health District: COVID-19 information

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A male in his 80s with underlying health conditions is the first Champaign County resident to die from COVID-19, Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde announced Monday afternoon in a video.

“Our public health recommendations remain the same in light of this sobering news,” Pryde said in the video. “We encourage everyone to stay home as much as possible, and if you do not have to go out, please do not. Social distancing is key to slowing the spread of COVID-19.”

No further information was provided immediately about the county's first fatality.

Champaign County reported seven new cases in all Monday, raising its total to 63. Of those, 22 have been deemed "recovered" by CUPHD.

At Monday’s daily briefing in Chicago, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said at least 70 percent of those who’ve lost their lives had an underlying condition, with the most common being hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

IDPH announced 1,006 new cases and 33 additional deaths Monday, bringing the totals to 12,262 and 307.

Pryde’s announcement came minutes before the mid-afternoon release of updated state figures, which did not reflect the Champaign County fatality.

Among the 33 deaths reported by IDPH:

— Cook County: 1 male in his 30s, 2 males in their 40s, 1 female in her 50s, 2 males in their 50s, 5 females in their 60s, 1 male in his 60s, 5 females in their 70s, 2 males in their 70s, 1 female in her 80s and 2 males in their 80s.

— DeKalb County: 1 male in his 50s.

— Lake County: 2 males in their 80s.

— Will County: 1 male in his 40s, 1 male in his 50s, 2 males in their 70s, 2 females in their 80s and 2 males in their 80s.

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AROUND THE AREA

— Ford County announced a second positive case — a man in his 80s.

The county’s public health department said 27 tests have been completed and sent to the Illinois Department of Public Health State Lab. Fifteen have been negative; the county is still awaiting the results of 10 others.

— There are two new cases in Piatt County, bringing the total to three, according to the DeWitt-Piatt Bi-County Health Department.

A fourth Piatt County case, involving a Michigan man, will be counted in Michigan.

One of the two new cases in Piatt County is a 47-year-old woman currently in Chicago, and the other is a 32-year-old female health care worker who works at a hospital in Urbana and is recovering at home, according to the health department.

— There were no new cases in Vermilion County Monday.

— Douglas County now has 10 confirmed cases.

The 10th case is a man in his 60s, the Douglas County Health Department announced Monday.

Douglas' 10 cases are the second-most of any area county, trailing only Champaign, which had 56 (including 17 recovered patients) going into Monday.

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PROM CALLED OFF AT RANTOUL

Just in from Community Media Group’s Rantoul Press:

The Rantoul Township High School prom is the latest social activity to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Principal Todd Wilson announced the prom, which had been scheduled for April 25, had been canceled.

In a statement, he said: “Unfortunately, we have come to the point where we have to make a decision about our prom. The 2020 RTHS prom has been canceled. After exploring several options, we regret that this decision has to be made, but it is what is best for the safety of our students.”

Wilson said he is not aware of any other occasion when prom has been canceled at the school.

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UI CANCELS SUMMER CAMPS, EVENTS

The University of Illinois has canceled all summer camps scheduled to begin prior to July 10, administrators said Monday.

The news comes after a prior announcement from UI Extension calling off all of its camps through at least July 31.

“We have waited as long as possible to make this decision, and we know it will have impacts on families throughout the state and beyond, as well as businesses that provide support and services to our university community year after year. But the safety and well-being of our Illinois family and our guests is always our number one priority,” President Robert Jones and Provost Andreas Cangellaris wrote in a joint letter.

Also, all events scheduled to take place on campus have been canceled “until further notice.” Earlier, UI leaders called off all events through March 16, the end of the semester, including commencement ceremonies.

Examples of affected events include conferences, tournaments, weddings and concerts, the UI said.

Administrators cited directives from the state — including the stay-at-home order, which was extended through the end of April — as the reason behind their decisions.

“Once the stay-at-home directive is lifted, any summer events must comply with social distancing and crowd limits as directed by the governor’s office. When this happens, we will provide more information about summer events protocols,” Jones and Cangellaris wrote.

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CAR & BIKE SHOW CALLED OFF

Another addition to the lengthy closings and cancellations list: The Danville American Legion has called off its 12th annual Post 210 Car & Bike Show, scheduled for May 16.

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COMPTROLLER WARNS VENDORS OF PAYMENT DELAY

Just in from our news partners at Capitol News Illinois:

The Illinois comptroller’s office borrowed $105 million from various funds in March, in large part so it could make bigger-than-normal payments to hospitals as they brace for the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak later this month.

But Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is advising all state vendors that there will likely be payment delays in April, in part because the tax filing deadline for both state and federal taxes has been pushed back to July 15.

The inter-fund borrowing was noted last week in the state’s monthly revenue report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

The comptroller’s office has authority to engage in such borrowing to meet short-term cash flow needs of the general revenue fund.

That report noted that total tax receipts in March, at $3.4 billion, was about what was expected, and 3.3 percent above the same month last year. But it also noted that the impact of the economic slowdown brought on by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order and closure of nonessential businesses had not yet shown up in the revenue numbers.

Mendoza’s spokesman, Abdon Pallasch, said in an interview Monday that some of the borrowing in March had been planned earlier but that “a large part” of the borrowing in March was to help provide hospitals with cash as they treat a growing number of COVID-19 patients.

The state has a backlog of past-due bills totaling $7.8 billion, down significantly from the peak of $16.7 billion reported in November 2017. But Mendoza advised all state vendors last week to expect further payment delays in April because of the expected delay in tax filings.

The state would normally bring in about $1 billion in revenue during April, Mendoza’s office said.

“In addition to the deferred revenues from the filing extension, it has not yet been determined what additional negative fiscal impact reduced economic activity related to this pandemic will have on our state revenues going forward,” Mendoza’s office said in a statement.

According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the COVID-19 outbreak is expected to peak in Illinois around April 15. The institute projects the state will have enough hospital beds to handle the surge, but it will like face a shortage of 722 intensive care unit beds at the peak.