8 more die in Illinois from COVID-19, cases tally rises to 5,057

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McCormick Place transformed into hospital to help with COVID-19 treatment

The Illinois National Guard is working to re-open two hospitals to help house patients during a surge of COVID-19 cases.

State health officials on Monday announced that eight more people have died of COVID-19, bringing Illinois’ death toll to 73.

Another 461 have also tested positive for the coronavirus, raising the total number of cases to 5,057, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The new batch of cases is a steep drop from Sunday’s 1,105 reported cases, which was the largest single-day count the state has seen.

The new deaths include four people in Cook County: a man in his 50s, a man in his 60s, a woman in her 60s and a woman in her 70s.

Other deaths include a DuPage County man in his 60s, a Kendall County woman in her 60s, and a man in his 50s and a man in his 60s from Will County.

Health officials also announced the first prisoner death from COVID-19 in Stateville Correctional Center.

There are also a dozen more prisoners at Stateville who are hospitalized, several of them on ventilators, according to the health department. There are now 77 prisoners with symptoms isolated at the prison. Eleven members of the staff are also isolated.