Infant Among 13 New COVID-19 Deaths in Illinois

After testing positive for COVID-19, an infant in Chicago died on Saturday. Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the infant’s death during a press conference. The governor said an investigation is being conducted to determine if the infant had any underlying health conditions.

“I know how difficult this news can be, especially about this very young child,” the governor said. “Upon hearing it, I admit that I was immediately shaken. It’s appropriate for any of us to grieve today.”

“It’s especially sorrowful for the family of this very small child for the years stolen from this infant. We should grieve. We should grieve for a sense of normalcy we left behind just a few short weeks ago,” he added.

The infant and a state employee were among the thirteen new deaths in Illinois that were announced at the press conference on Saturday. The governor said the child was less than 1 year old.

Illinois governor says infant with coronavirus has died https://t.co/kGQafBpWty

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 28, 2020

“If you haven’t been paying attention, maybe this is your wake-up call,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.

“The vast, vast majority of people in Illinois are doing precisely what we asked them to do,” Pritzker said. “But it’s the others — the people who aren’t obeying the stay-at-home rule — who are putting everyone in danger. It doesn’t take that many people, frankly, to break the rules and cause danger to others.”

According to Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, the high risk for COVID-19 is still in elderly populations and people with preexisting conditions.

“It's very unusual to be seeing a case like this, so obviously we're doing a thorough investigation, working really with the family, our hearts go out to them, the pediatrician, the medical examiner, the CDC, really wanting to make sure we're doing confirmatory testing, looking at everything that's underlying it,” she said on “CBS This Morning.” “We're obviously concerned about it, but by and large, the main risk does remain in the older populations, the folks with the underlying medical conditions.”