Illinois’ stay-at-home order will be extended until April 30

Associated Press

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks April 9 at the Thompson Center in Chicago during the daily update on the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

By Northern Star Staff

Governor J.B. Pritzker will issue an executive order Wednesday to extend Illinois’ Disaster Proclamation, the stay-at-home order and the suspension of on-site learning at schools until April 30, Pritzker said at his 2:30 p.m. news conference.

“If we can end these orders earlier, I’ll be the first one to tell you when we can start to make strides toward normalcy again,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker said he does not know when this immediate crisis will pass.

“As of March 30, our preliminary reports from hospitals statewide show just 41% of our adult ICU beds are empty,” Pritzker said. “Staffed and ready for immediate patient use, a 2% point decrease from the moment-in-time numbers that I ran you through last week. 68% of our ventilators are available, a 4% point drop in a week.”

Pritzker said they are still in their capacity, and are working everyday to acquire more ventilators and increase their capacity.

As of today, there are 9,994 cases of COVID-19 across 54 counties in Illinois, Pritzker said.