State officials announce 1,598 new cases of COVID-19, one-day high in July

Posted on July 22, 2020

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Even though Illinois’ coronavirus numbers are a fraction of those in Arizona, Florida, and Texas, Gov. Pritzker says a rise is a rise. He announced 1,598 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, a one-day high for July in Illinois.

“The best doctors in our state, who are some of the best in the nation and the world, tell me that a gradually rising positivity rate is exactly when the exponential factors can take over,” Pritzker said at a news conference Wednesday. “You can go from three percent positivity to Arizona’s 23 percent positivity in the blink of an eye.”

And Pritzker has a word for those who still won’t wear a mask.

“It demonstrates a callous disregard for the people in your community and in your county and in our state and our nation,” he said. “The enemy is not your mask. If you’re not wearing a mask in public, you are endangering everyone around you; so the enemy is you.”

That remark will probably earn him few friends Saturday, when the Million Unmasked March hits downtown Springfield.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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