ILLINOIS (WAND) - Gov. JB Pritzker said COVID-19 deaths in Illinois could end up dwarfing peaks seen in the initial spring wave.  

The governor said without additional mitigations, models project between 17,000 and 45,000 more Illinois deaths between Wednesday and March 1, 2021. He said this can't be allowed to happen. 

COVID-19 deaths have reached 0.7 times the spring peak as of Wednesday and Pritzker said here have been more than 1,000 deaths from the virus in the last two weeks. On Wednesday, COVID-19 had claimed a total of 11,014 lives in Illinois.

According to Pritzker, COVID-19 is now the third-leading cause of death in Illinois, behind only heart disease and cancer. 

Dr. Ngozi Ezike expressed frustration with members of the public who seem to believe COVID-19 is a hoax or not real. Everyone's actions affect others, she said. 

"If you really want to give thanks this Thanksgiving, give the gift of life and (don't) put someone life in danger," Ezike said. 

Pritzker talked about how health care workers who were lauded as heroes in the spring have recently been "verbally assaulted" by the public. He reminded the public that these heroes have been working long hours and sometimes double shifts to keep others safe. 

He asked for people to say thank you to health care workers and find a way to do something special for them if possible.Â