Illinois reported more than 1,400 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the state's total number of cases since the pandemic began to more than 10,000.
In all, the state has now confirmed 10,357 cases in 68 of the state's 102 counties. Jasper, Lee, Mason and Pike counties all reported their first cases of the virus on Saturday.
In addition to the updated case numbers, state officials reported 33 additional deaths, bringing the state's total to 243 since the pandemic began.
At least 23 of those deaths were reported in Cook County, including a man in his 20's and a man in his 30's.
DuPage, Jackson, Kane, Kankakee, Lake and Will counties also reported deaths on Saturday.
Pritzker said Thursday he expected Illinois cases will peak in the later part of April. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has warned the city could see upwards of 40,000 hospitalizations and U.S. health experts worry Cook County could become one of the nation's next hotspots.
"Just because you hit a peak doesn't mean you're going to fall precipitously to zero," Pritzker said. "Once we get to that peak we're all gonna be praying that we come off that peak quickly, but we might not...we might be flattened at that peak."
Already, the state is bringing back online once-shuttered hospitals and has transformed Chicago's McCormick Place convention center into an alternate care facility for patients with mild symptoms.
Pritzker's Friday briefing was held from inside the convention center-turned-hospital, which already had hundreds of beds prepared for patients.
