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Pritzker, Preckwinkle quarantine while cases continue to surge

Government officials quarantine. Cook County officials announced on Sunday that a member of county board President Toni Preckwinkle’s staff tested positive for COVID-19. Preckwinkle reportedly was experiencing no symptoms but as a precautionary measure, she will self-isolate until her test results are available.

On Friday, the governor’s office announced that Gov. J.B. Pritzker was isolating pending test results after a possible exposure to COVID-19 during “an external meeting with the Governor that took place on Monday in a large conference room in the Governor’s Office.”  This is the second time Pritzker has gone into quarantine in recent weeks. 

Records pile up. After setting new records for new cases three days running, the state got somewhat of a reprieve on Sunday and Monday, with 10,009 and 10,573 new cases respectively. That’s still about 250% higher than the record day during the spring peak in mid-May. 

The current record is 12,438 cases, set on Saturday.

Other recent milestones. Homewood reached 600 cases on Friday. Suburban Cook County set a record, 1,330 new cases, on Oct. 31. 

Death rates rise. While case numbers and hospitalizations are skyrocketing well beyond the levels of the spring peak, the numbers of deaths have risen but have not yet reached the spring levels. 

The state recorded 97 deaths on Nov. 5, the worst day since June 4. The record, 192, occurred on May 13. 

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