CHICAGO (WAND) - Governor JB Pritzker laid his plans to build a robust response to COVID-19.
He also announced where the state is with testing and hospital capacity for Illinois and how he expects capacity to meet the anticipated need in the coming weeks.
“We’re using a two-pronged approach to make sure a worst-case scenario does not become our reality,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “First, we put in place protective measures to suppress the spread, like our stay at home order, limits on gatherings and social distancing guidelines. Second, we are working to increase our health care capacity statewide so that when we do arrive at our next phase — which should not be our worst-case scenario but will be a point where hospitalizations significantly increase — we have the capacity to meet that need.”
The state has gone from testing 50 test a day in February to expanding to three labs and running 600 tests a day.
The Illinois National Guard has also opened the state's first drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites in Chicago. There have also been three mobile testing sites open in the Chicago area.
Pritzker said they are working daily to make more test available.
Hospitals across the state are meeting the current need and the state is building additional capacity to treat patients.
The current capacity of the state’s health care system as of is shown in the table below.
IDPH said with the current protections, in April there would need to be an additional 28,222 non-ICU beds, 9,407 ICU beds and 4,704 ventilators compared to current capacity without any protective measures.
In addition to those protective measures – which include the stay at home order, ban on gatherings exceeding 10 people, school closures and social distancing guidelines – the Governor has taken several steps to increase the capacity of the health care system:
- Triage centers: The Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) has deployed 49 tents to area hospitals to set up triage centers outside their facilities to evaluate potential COVID-19 patients. In total, 66 of the state’s over 200 hospitals are currently operating with this expanded capacity. IEMA is working with 26 additional hospitals across the state to open new triage centers.
- Repurposing old hospitals: IDPH, IEMA, the Illinois National Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are investigating closed hospitals that could temporarily reopen to support our COVID-19 response. In a worst-case scenario surge, the State would dedicate several dozen existing hospitals almost entirely to COVID-19 patients, moving non-COVID patients to other hospitals, including these re-outfitted locations.
- Expanding capacity in existing hospitals by acquiring critical equipment: The administration continues to scour the globe for essential medical equipment like ventilators, including working with scientists and experts in Illinois and beyond to pursue innovative options. The Governor also spoke with President Trump yesterday and informed him that Illinois needs millions of N95 masks and hundreds of ventilators. The President promised assistance, and yesterday afternoon, the White House notified IDPH that Illinois will be receiving 300 ventilators and 300,000 N95 masks from FEMA in the coming days.
