19 more people die of COVID-19 in Illinois
In this photo illustration a coronavirus (2019-nCoV) positive blood sample is displayed on February 14, 2020 in Ankara, Turkey. (Aytac Unal / Anadolu Agency)
CHICAGO - Illinois health officials on Monday said another 19 people have died from the coronavirus, raising the state’s death toll to 6,326.
There are also another 473 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide count to 133,016 cases, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
All 19 deaths reported in the last day were in Cook County, IDPH said. The fatalities range in age from a man in his 50s to five women in their 90s.
As state officials announced the new coronavirus numbers, the University of Illinois at Chicago announced that next month, it will begin testing a potential vaccine for COVID-19. The university said it expects to enroll next month, with expectations of enrolling at least 1,000 local participants in the clinical trial.
According to university officials, the vaccine was developed by biotech company Moderna, and the trial is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Associated Press contributed to this report.