CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday delayed the deadline for filing state income tax returns by three months as officials reported the state’s largest one-day jump in COVID-19 infections since the first case was reported in late January.
Pritzker said he was extending the tax deadline to July 15 “to soften the immediate economic impact of this moment.”
It’s the same delay from the traditional April 15 due date announced last week for federal income-tax returns. The move earned praise from Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady of Bloomington, whose Republican caucus sought the relief in a letter to Pritzker.
Illinois officials reported 330 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total so far to at least 1,865. The state’s death toll from the virus rose to 19, up three from a day earlier.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
The deaths in Illinois include a 90-year-old woman who lived at a suburban Chicago nursing home where dozens of residents and staffers tested positive for the virus.
The death at Chateau Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Willowbrook comes as a top official at the facility denied a contention made by a former certified nursing assistant that she had quit her job because there was not enough protective gear or appropriate cleaning supplies.
“I took pictures of our supply of gloves and masks and gowns and goggles and face shields and hand sanitizers and there is no shortage,” Ron Nunziato, CEO of Extended Care Living LLC, which manages the facility, told the Chicago Tribune.
But Tonya Davis said she left her job after she was unable to get even the most basic supplies. “They didn’t (give) me anything, really,” she told the paper. “Just gloves. My face mask, I got at another facility.”
Davis said she tested negative for the virus.
On March 14, a day after the DuPage County facility announced that it would not allow visitors, Pritzker announced a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the facility. Days later, the governor announced there were 22 confirmed cases of the virus, and the number has since increased to 47 cases - 33 residents and 14 staff members.
Meanwhile, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges have been working to get some Cook County Jail detainees released and away from people who may be carrying the virus. The sheriff who runs the jail said late Tuesday that he was taking steps to address concerns raised by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and others about the possibility that the process may risk the infection of people outside the jail.
In a news release, Sheriff Tom Dart’s office said all people being released are having their temperature taken to “make sure no release is leaving with flu-like symptoms.” Also, the jail is working with various health departments to find appropriate housing for anyone ordered released who has symptoms, he said.
The comments from Dart come after a judge called for the review of thousands of criminal cases in the hopes of reducing the jail population to help prevent the virus’ spread.
Dart’s office said 17 detainees, four correctional staff and one police officer with the department have tested positive for the virus. Two detainees tested negative, and 31 other tests results were pending.
It was not immediately clear exactly how many detainees have been released under the new process, but on Wednesday the jail held 5,306 detainees, compared with 5,427 on Monday.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.