By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker is now considering lifting his “stay home” order – if and when he does so – in parts of the state, rather than all at once.

“The idea of people going outside and wearing a mask on a property of theirs that might be 100 acres is much different from somebody on the North Side or West Side of Chicago on a sidewalk with hundreds of other people,” Pritzker said at Monday’s coronavirus briefing.

So he could open state commerce county-by-county?

“Or region-by-region. The important thing is that we want to keep people safe and also give them the ability to do as much as possible without spreading the virus.”

Pritzker also noted that the occupancy of Illinois hospital beds has lagged far beyond the models.

“Had we not established mitigation measures, by now we would have needed thousands of ventilators beyond our existing capacity.

“So, real progress has been made.”

Illinois now reports 31,508 coronavirus cases, including 1,349 deaths.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]