Gov. Pritzker: “COVID-19 now infecting the prison population”

Posted on March 30, 2020
Pritzker says – with coronavirus now infecting the prison population – he is trying to manage the numbers of those incarcerated. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Coronavirus is making its way through the Illinois prison system, including a Stateville inmate dying.

The state’s having to develop a lockdown procedure when a particular corrections facility is infected. “There are twelve men who were incarcerated at Stateville who are now hospitalized, several requiring ICU and ventilator support,” said Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “Congregant settings such as Stateville – any correctional center – pose unique challenges in stopping the spread of disease and protecting the health of individuals who live and work there.”

The Illinois totals are now 5,057 cases and 73 deaths.

Gov. Pritzker said Monday the first phase is underway to convert Chicago’s McCormick Place into a field hospital, with 500 beds being placed now. The total will be 3,000.

Pritzker also said in addition to shipping fewer materials than he asked for, the federal government shipped him the wrong masks — surgical, not N-59.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

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