Surge of COVID-19 cases stresses Illinois healthcare

–Capitol News Illinois As the omicron variant surges across the state, last week Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that hos- pitalizations are about as high as they were last winter before vaccines were widely available. About 85 percent of those hos- pitalized with COVID-19 across

the state are unvaccinated.

“It is frustrating and tragic that two years into the pan- demic, with multiple widely available and free, life-saving vaccines, that we are once again in this horrible position,” Pritz- ker said during a news confer-

ence in Chicago.

The Illinois Public Health

Department reported 6,294 people we...