CHICAGO (WSIL) -- Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has issued a disaster proclamation in response to COVID-19.
Issuing a disaster proclamation is the method of declaring a state of emergency in the state of Illinois.
In a statement Monday, Gov. Pritzker said the declaration would give the state additional federal resources. The governor's office says the proclamation would also:
� Allows federal reimbursement for state response costs
� Allows use of State Disaster Relief Fund, covering direct state costs and reimbursements to Illinois National Guard and mutual aid groups
� Allows use of the state’s mutual aid network, groups of public safety response professionals � including hundreds of health care providers and management professionals, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians and disaster response professionals � that are available to deploy to areas of shortage
� Authorizes the Governor to activate Illinois National Guard reservists, some of whom may be doctors and nurses
� Allows expedited procurement should it be necessary
� Authorizes additional executive authorities to protect public health and safety
“As we’ve said from the beginning, the state of Illinois will use every tool at our disposal to respond to this virus, and this is the next step in that commitment,� said Governor JB Pritzker. “We stand ready to put the full weight of state government in preparation for a full-fledged response when needed and will continue to update the public regularly, responsibly and honestly as the situation evolves.�
On Monday, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Chicago Department of Public Health announced four new COVID-19 cases in Illinois, bringing the total to 11.
Two of the new cases, a woman in her 50s and a woman in her 70s, are both family members to the sixth case, a woman in her 50s who acquired the virus on a cruise ship and is an employee at Jacqueline B. Vaughn Occupational High School in Chicago.
The third new case is a woman in her 50s from California who traveled to Illinois. The fourth most recent case is a woman in her 70s who returned earlier this month from an Egyptian cruise.
All four of the new cases are in isolation and said to be in good condition.
The Illinois Department of Public Health is testing for COVID-19 at its labs in Chicago, Springfield and Carbondale. State officials also expect commercial testing to begin this week.
In addition, a sample of patients who present with flu-like symptoms are being tested at 15 hospitals statewide: seven hospitals in Cook County, three hospitals in other areas of northern Illinois, three hospitals in central Illinois and two hospitals in southern Illinois to monitor for the presence of the virus.
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