By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Illinois state health officials and Cook County officials announced Saturday that one Illinois patient has tested positive for COVID-19. The tests conducted in Illinois resulted in presumptive positives for COVID-19. The positive test results will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lab.

Image/Robert Herriman

The patient is hospitalized in isolation and CDC protocols have been implemented.

Public health officials are working to identify and actively monitor individuals who were in contact with the patient in an effort to reduce the risk of additional transmission. The state of Illinois will request CDC deploy a team to Illinois to support these efforts.

Governor JB Pritzker has requested that hospitals across the state implement additional testing to improve surveillance for COVID-19. Illinois was the first state to provide COVID-19 testing and Gov. Pritzker announced two more IDPH labs in central and southern Illinois that will be able to test specimens next week.

Illinois has had two previously confirmed cases of COVID-19 (HERE and HERE) and both patients made a full recovery.

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Symptoms reported among patients have included mild to severe respiratory illness with fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Right now, because the virus has not been found to be spreading widely in the U.S., risk to the general public remains low. Public health officials are encouraging the public to not alter their daily routines and remain vigilant about keeping germs from spreading, by covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands with warm soap and water, and staying home when sick.