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CHICAGO — A detainee at the Cook County Jail has died after testing positive for COVID-19.

Jeffery Pendleton, 59, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital Sunday, according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Pendleton was hospitalized March 30 after testing positive for the virus

“The official cause of death is pending autopsy, but preliminary reports indicate Pendleton died as the result of complications due to the virus,” the statement said.

If confirmed, Pendleton would be the first person in custody of the Cook County Department of Corrections to die of COVID-19.

Pendleton had been in jail since July 2018 on charges that included Armed Habitual Criminal, Armed Violence/Category II and other drug and weapons possession offenses. Pendleton had 15 previous convictions and was required to register as a sex offender following a 1997 conviction for Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault for which he was sentenced to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said as of Sunday, 220 detainees who have tested positive for COVID-19 were being treated and monitored by medical professionals for mild-to-moderate symptoms at the jail.

Pendleton was one of 14 being treated and monitored at hospitals due to the virus.

CHICAGO — Governor JB Pritzker continued to exchange strong words with President Donald Trump Monday after they clashed this weekend over the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past few weeks, Pritzker has been critical of the pace of federal guidelines and amount of support provided to states like Illinois, drawing criticism from the president in return.

“Pritzker, he’s always complaining… because he’s not able to do what you’re supposed to do as a governor. He has not performed well,” Trump said during a Sunday briefing. 

State health officials reported over 1,000 new confirmed cases and 33 additional coronavirus-related deaths in Illinois Monday, bringing the total number of deaths to more than 300.

White House officials said as of Monday the federal government has provided, “critical resources and support” to state-led efforts, pointing to $115.3 million in aid from FEMA and supplies provided to Illinois from the National Strategic Reserves.

They said the state has received 367,700 N-95 masks, 875,000 surgical masks and 300 ventilators, with an additional 172,200 N-95 masks and 150 ventilators given separately to Chicago.

While acknowledging the work of the Army Corps of Engineers to build additional hospital capacity in the state, Pritzker said Monday that supplies provided by the federal government will only last a handful of days because it’s going fast.

Pritzker said health care workers are expected to need up 1.5 million N-95 masks and 25 million gloves every 10 days to care for infected patients.

“To anyone who wants a response to some of the blame-shifting coming out of the White House, all I have to say is – look at the numbers,” Pritzker said.

Later in the day during his own news conference, Trump downplayed Pritzker’s concerns about the response so far.

“Even Governor Pritzker from Illinois is happy, of course he might not be happy when he talks to the press, but he’s happy,” Trump said.

CHICAGO — State health officials reported over 1,000 new confirmed cases and 33 additional coronavirus-related deaths in Illinois Monday, bringing the total number of deaths to more than 300.

According to the latest statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health, there are now 12,262 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 307 related deaths in the state. Of those with confirmed cases, 3,680 are hospitalized and 1,166 are in intensive care. Nearly 63,000 have been tested.

IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said 70 percent of those who have died from the disease had underlying conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease.

Ezike also advised people to cover their face when heading out of their homes, and warned residents against congregating outside as the weather warms this week.

“I assure you if people congregate tomorrow, we will set the state back in the fight against COVID-19,” Ezike said.

The latest deaths include 22 people Cook County, eight people in Will County, two people in Lake County and one person in DeKalb County. Jefferson and Wabash counties reported their first cases.

As of Friday, Illinois had increased the number of hospital beds statewide to 28,000 and 2,680 intensive care beds are now ready for an influx of patients.

While Illinois tries to get what it needs to fight the coronavirus, Governor JB Pritzker continued to exchange strong words with President Donald Trump Monday.

Earlier Monday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new measures to address disparities in the impact of COVID-19 on minority communities.

While African-Americans make up 30 percent of Chicago’s population, Lightfoot said, 72 percent of COVID-19 related deaths in the city were black residents.

Lightfoot also joined athletes from the city’s professional sports teams to launch a new campaign encouraging people to stay at home. The city is also sharing the latest data on the spread of the virus through a new online portal.

Outside the city, construction workers began converting the shuttered Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park into a treatment center for COVID-19 patients. Also, the family of a suburban Walmart worker who died from COVID-19 filed suit against the company for gross negligence Monday.

In Indiana, health officials said Monday the state’s death toll is up to 139 as the number of confirmed cases approaches 5,000. More than half of the 536 new cases were reported in central Indiana, with the most in Marion County, which is home to Indianapolis.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued an executive order to delay Tuesday’s presidential primary in the state for two months because of the coronavirus pandemic, likely leading to a court challenge from Republicans in the GOP-controlled legislature.

In Washington, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams offered a stark warning about the surge of coronavirus deaths the nation is facing. More than 9,600 people have died of the virus in the United States, and it leads the world in confirmed infections at more than 337,000.

Medical researchers around the country are beginning trials of infusing blood from COVID-19 survivors, hoping antibodies present in their plasma can help the sick and dying fight the disease.

At Rush Medical Center in Chicago, 61-year-old Barbara Ellis-Steele said she wants to use her hard-won immunity to help others.

The widow and grandmother of three says she woke up in her Englewood home March 10 with a throat as dry as the desert. 

After drinking a whole bottle of Gatorade and going back to sleep, she said there was more cause for concern when she woke the next morning.

“I started getting headaches, and pain shooting through my back and shoulder, but then when It started shooting up and down my leg – I said, this sounds like the stuff that they’re talking about,” Ellis-Steele said.

Initially, she took over-the-counter medicines like Flonaze and Mucinex to help keep mucus from building up.

“I started getting heavier and heavier symptoms. Then come the cold chills, the coughing.” Ellis-Steele said. “I started getting so, so weak. It was like death was coming over me. I couldn’t do the fighting that I was doing anymore. I didn’t have the strength.” 

By March 14, she had her family drive her to Rush Medical Center, where she was immediately quarantined and a COVID-19 test came back positive.

After 14 days of self-quarantine, plenty of rest, and a lot of citrus, the retired security worker said she feels much better.

“I ate about 40 oranges through this period. Every time I had an uncomfortable symptom, I ate an orange,” Ellis-Steele said. “I feel strong as a mule.”

She’s sharing her story to let people know it’s possible to recover, but as a survivor of the disease, she also wants to share something more important: her blood.

According to health officials, a donor’s plasma contains antibodies that can attack the virus and speed their recovery.

The FDA announced last week that the Mayo Clinic is leading the plasma research effort, testing the blood from those who have recovered from COVID-19.

During a national trial, blood plasma taken from people who have recovered from the coronavirus will be used to treat patients who are struggling with life-threatening symptoms.

After experiencing the disease firsthand,  Ellis-Steele said she hopes to help other infected people recover.

“Unless you’ve seen somebody suffer through this and feel like they were grasping their last day of life, when you’ve gone through that you know how important it is to help anybody you can to prevent it,” Ellis-Steele said.

Ellis-Steele said she couldn’t have gotten through the worst of the symptoms without her family and neighbors helping out. Since she left the hospital, she said her doctors at Rush still call in to check on her every day.

CHICAGO — Chicago is launching a health campaign focused on the city’s black and brown communities as data shows a disproportionate number of African American residents have died of COVID-19 complications.

“This is a call to action moment for all of us,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a news conference Monday. “When we talk about equity and inclusion, they’re not just nice notions — they’re an imperative that we must embrace as a city”

Joining Lightfoot at her news conference, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady shared some staggering statistics.

African Americans, who make up 30% of Chicago’s population, make up 52% of COVID-19 cases citywide and 72% of deaths, Arwady said. For more Chicago COVID-19 statistics, go to chicago.gov/coronavirus.

Lightfoot noted that unequal access to health care in Chicago’s black and brown communities has persisted for decades. Some medical conditions including diabetes and heart disease also remain more prevalent among black adults in the U.S.

Lightfoot said Chicago can’t “erase decades of health disparities in a few days or a week.”

“But we have to impress upon people in these communities that there are things that they can do, there are tools at their disposal that they can do to help themselves,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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