Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike speaks Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 about the state of the coronavirus in Illinois. (WTTW News)

Cases of COVID-19 are increasing “exponentially” across Illinois and the virus is so prevalent that there is nowhere residents can go without risking exposure, said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

With all 11 regions of Illinois under increased restrictions designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus for the first time since May, Ezike and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said there was only “grim” news to share about the fight against the coronavirus in Illinois.

“This amount of disease in our community, it’s hard to think you could go anywhere and not be exposed,” Ezike said, urging everyone to get tested regularly if they think they might have been exposed.

Deaths linked to the coronavirus in Illinois have nearly doubled to an average of 45 every day since the start of October, Pritzker said. In addition, the number of Illinoisans hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19 has more than doubled, he added.

Health officials reported 7,523 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and an additional 55 deaths, including a person in their 30s. There have been 437,556 cases and 9,933 deaths statewide since the pandemic began, according to IDPH data.

Ezike said the state was facing a “significant problem” in some regions of Illinois finding available beds for those sick with the virus.

“We're gonna need to come up with creative solutions,” Ezike said. “That is a very imminent issue, and we still need to work on the front end to try to limit the number of people who get sick.”

The state’s seven-day rolling average positivity rate is now 8.5%, according to state health officials. In Cook County, the average test positivity is 10.5% and in Chicago, the average test positivity is 10.4%, according to state health officials.

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