Illinois labs ran 19,417 coronavirus tests during a 24-hour period from Saturday to Sunday – a state record that nearly doubles the 10,000 per day goal Gov. J.B. Pritzker set in early April that took nearly all of last month to reach.

“Don’t make us treat you like a criminal,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Saturday, “but if you act like a criminal and you violate the law and you refuse to do what is necessary to save lives in this city during a pandemic we will take you to jail, period.”

The steady rise of cases is “really is a function of doing more tests,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Saturday as labs processed 15,208 specimens in a single day – more than double the tests that were being processed a month ago.

The FDA said in a statement that Gilead Science’s intravenous drug would be specifically indicated for hospitalized patients with “severe disease,” such as those experiencing breathing problems requiring supplemental oxygen or ventilators.

“Today, we are pleased to report that the curve is flattening, and our local hospitals and health care systems continue to operate with capacity,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a joint statement.

The operation will begin with a slow rollout, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that at its peak, there could be about 30 workers per 100,000 Illinois residents – a total of more than 3,800. The governor estimated the cost could reach $80 million.

Several hundred protesters swarmed the Thompson Center in the Loop and the Capitol in Springfield on Friday, calling for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to end the stay-at-home order he says is necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The decision to cancel the season was made with the “health and safety of the festival’s artists, staff and neighbors,” in mind, Ravinia’s President and CEO Welz Kauffman said in a statement.

The rate of new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections has continued to slow during the past two weeks, representing “major progress,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

The city of Gary has struggled mightily, even in economic good times. The COVID-19 pandemic and statewide shutdown have only exacerbated existing problems. 

A day before a modified stay-at-home order takes effect in Illinois, officials used their daily press briefing to discuss efforts to ramp up coronavirus testing across the state, and to urge residents to stay home and wash their hands frequently.

The nation’s top infectious disease expert said Thursday that new cases of the coronavirus are a certainty as states begin to roll back restrictions. 

The layoffs amount to 1 in 6 American workers and encompass more people than the entire population of Texas, or more people than live in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans say they highly trust the information that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is providing about the virus, 66% trust their doctor or health care provider, and 52% said the same about their state or local government, according to a recent poll.

The number of detainees within the Cook County Jail is reaching historic lows during the COVID-19 pandemic. But as that number drops, the number of those being held on electronic monitoring devices has steadily risen.

Custodial workers are on the front lines of the coronavirus, but some of them say they’re not being treated as such. We speak with two workers who have more than 40 years of combined experience at Stroger Hospital.