On Tuesday Dec. 8, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 7,910 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 for a total of 804,174 cases. 145 new deaths were reported for a total of 13,487 fatalities and 95,825 tests have been reported in the previous 24 hours.

In Will County, there have been 43,578 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 17.4% of tests returning positive. There have also been 590 deaths and the county has been placed as 5th in terms of casualties.

In Naperville, there have been a total of 24,214 people tested with 1,602 of those cases reported to be positive. The statewide positivity rate for the past seven days is 11.8% with Illinois now averaging 152 COVID-19 deaths per day.

On Monday Dec. 7, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker addressed the increase of casualties. He said that Illinois is entering what could be “the most crucial month of this entire pandemic” and that the increase of COVID-19 casualties “might define the holiday season.” Concerns of the IDPH attribute to Pritzker’s claim as the IDPH warns that traditional gatherings for Thanksgiving and December holidays carry the risk of spreading the virus. Pritzker continues on saying “it’s likely too early for us to have yet seen the bulk of Thanksgiving-related hospitalizations.”

In the same press conference, information was given about the distribution of the Pfizer vaccine. As of Dec. 10, the Pfizer vaccine has received federal approval and confirmed that Illinois will receive 109,000 doses in the first shipment. IDPH director, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, explained that the first shipment of vaccines will be received directly by the IDPH and then sent to the 50 counties with the highest death rates per capita. Will County is one of the 50 counties receiving the vaccine. 

Some controversy was sparked over the distribution of the vaccine as one reporter from John O’Connor’s Associated Press asked why the vaccine wouldn’t be distributed based on hospitalization rates. She mentioned that smaller counties such as Champaign and Peoria aren’t one of the 50 counties but are “where the sick people get treated.” Ezike assured that “the initial plan” was to give vaccines to “the top counties that have suffered the most with COVID.” It was decided to give top priority to front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities in order to reduce casualties.

Pritzker claims that the federal government will provide the vaccines for free, but there is “potentially a fee” based on whether or not a person is insured. Despite this, he goes on to say that “everyone needs to get vaccinated even if they can’t afford that fee.”

Ezike says that it is “essential that we implement all of our public health strategies at both the community and the individual level.” These guidelines include wearing face masks, social distancing and limiting in-person contact. By following these guidelines, Ezike affirms that normalcy “will come sooner as we continue to maintain our mitigation efforts.”

Monday’s press conference can be found at https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/news along with daily press briefings on COVID-19 and vaccination plans. 

Other COVID updates can be found on the Chicago Tribune’s site, https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-covid-19-pandemic-chicago-illinois-news-20201209-qbawxmsi5fcutooxzs5zbmhjzi-story.html.

Statistics can be found on IDPH’s website, https://www.dph.illinois.gov/.