The coronavirus outbreak could have caused Illinois hospitals to run out of beds about a week from now if the current stay-at-home order were not in place, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday, citing state projections.
Had the state not taken protective measures, Illinois hospitals would have needed, in the worst-case scenario, 837 more intensive care beds and 2,511 more beds of other types than they currently have, according to the governor’s office. In about two weeks, Illinois would have needed 9,407 additional intensive care beds plus 28,222 more.
“That’s untenable,” Pritzker said.
He said he was offering the numbers at his daily news briefing to help Illinois residents understand the gravity of the situation and why he’s ordered most people to stay home as a way of reducing the spread of the highly contagious new coronavirus.