The number of confirmed cases of Evanston residents having COVID-19 grew to 103 as of 3 p.m. today, April 3, according to information provided by the City of Evanston. This is an increase of 8 cases since yesterday, April 2. The accompanying chart (in the rotating chart box) shows the trend starting on March 25. The first confirmed case of an Evanston resident was reported on March 13.
In the last five days, the increases have been 3, 10, 8, 8 and 6 cases. The second chart in the rotating chart box shows the average daily increase in COVID-19 cases in Evanston starting on March 25 and also the five-day CAGR, which is the average increase in the last five days.
For Chicago, the COVID-19 cases grew from 3,279 yesterday to 3,815 today, the cases grew in Cook County from 5,575 to 6,111, and the cases in Illinois grew from 7,695 to 8,904. A total of 48,048 people in Illinois have been tested for COVID-19. The trends are shown in the third chart in the rotating chart box.
The number of deaths due to COVID-19 are expected to peak in Illinois in the next three to four weeks.
Governor Pritzker has provided updates on efforts to increase the number of beds available to care for the expected influx of COVID-19 patients. Construction is underway at McCormick Place to add 3,000 beds, with the first 500 ready this week. Three hospitals in the Chicago area that were recently closed will be reopened by the end of this month to help with the expected influx: the former Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin; MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, and Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park. Another facility may be opened in Central Illinois.
Locally, NorthShore University HealthSystem is temporarily converting Glenbrook Hospital, 2100 Pfingsten Road in Glenview, into NorthShore’s fever and respiratory infection hospital where NorthShore will preferentially admit patients with likely Covid-19 infection. As needed, NorthShore will also admit those patents to Evanston Hospital, 2650 Ridge Ave., depending on the volume and capacity at Glenbrook Hospital.
Gov. Pritzker signed an executive order protecting hospitals, health care workers and volunteers from lawsuits if they are assisting in the State’s efforts to deal with the crisis, unless they have engaged in gross negligence or willful misconduct.
The Evanston RoundTable has established a section in its online newspaper where all articles relating to COVID-19 are collected. The articles may be accessed by clicking on COVID-19 in the top navigation bar. There is a drop-down section that contains articles posted by the RoundTable. The second drop down section is a mini-CDC site that is contains CDC’s updates.
The RoundTable thanks Karen Larkin for her assistance in providing data for this article.