A third case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Kane County, state officials said Saturday.
“As we expected, we are beginning to identify cases of COVID-19 outside of the Chicago area,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a news release. “Over the past several days, we have announced aggressive measures to reduce and slow the spread of the virus in Illinois. These are not easy decisions to make and we are not taking them lightly, but we believe these actions will help limit the spread of the virus in our communities and keep our residents safe.”
The number of confirmed cases may increase as more testing is completed.
“We are starting to receive results from commercial laboratory testing,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in the release. “With these additional results, we expect the number of identified cases to increase dramatically all across the state. It is vitally important that we implement social distancing measures, such as staying home and cancelling large events. These are actions that can reduce the number of infections that occur in the community, and ultimately alleviate the strain on our health care systems.”
As Pritzker announced that starting Tuesday, public and private schools, as well as dine-in restaurant and bars would be closing for two weeks, a number of public facilities are following similar measures.
The Batavia and Geneva public libraries are closed to the public until further notice. The Sugar Grove Public Library is closed until at least Friday, March 27; all public programs, meetings and events are canceled through Tuesday, March 31.
The Kane County Chronicle has a list of cancellations and closures due to coronavirus, including local park districts, museums, churches and community meetings.
Information on preparedness measures for schools, workplaces and communities is available at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website. There is also a hotline for general questions about COVID-19: 1-800-889-3931, or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Alerts Sign-up