The Daily Illini COVID-19 updates for May 8: Illinois tests 20,000 residents for virus in single day

By Ethan Simmons, News Editor

Illinois surpassed 20,000 coronavirus tests in a 24-hour period for the first time on Friday. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has mentioned increased testing as a necessary benchmark in his Restore Illinois plan, but experts say the state has a long way to go.

A recent study by Harvard University and STAT, an online medical publication, said Illinois would have to surpass 64,000 daily tests before Pritzker relaxes the stay-at-home order.

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District announced 18 more cases of the coronavirus in Champaign County on Friday, pushing the countywide total to 254 cases.

Of the 254 cases, 125 are active, 123 have recovered and six have died. Six people with active cases are currently hospitalized. Fewer than 5% of Champaign County’s 4,817 tests have proved positive.

County health officials recommend anyone with symptoms — fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, fatigue and loss of taste or smell — to get tested.

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About 8.9% of the United States’ 303,275 new coronavirus tests proved positive on Friday, while around 14% of Illinois’ 20,671 new tests proved positive.

Confirmed cases of coronavirus as of May 8, 11 p.m. CDT 

Numbers in (+) indicate increases from the previous day. 

World: 3,939,119 cases (+92,258); 274,917 deaths (+5,333); 1,322,289 recoveries (+36,482)

United States: 1,283,929 cases (+26,957); 77,180 deaths (+1,510); 198,993 recoveries (+3,930) with 8,408,788 tested (+303,275)

Illinois: 73,760 cases (+2,887); 3,241 deaths (+130) with 399,714 tested (+20,671)

Chicago: 29,535 cases (+1,094); 1,248 deaths (+64)

Champaign County: 254 cases (+18); 6 deaths; 123 recoveries with 5,128 tested (+311)

Numbers from Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 Mapcoronavirus.illinois.gov and c-uphd.org

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