The city of Chicago has reached a bleak milestone of 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on social media Monday.
"These are more than just data points, they're our parents, grandparents, children, friends and loved ones who touched the lives of countless individuals across our city, all of whom are grieving now," Lightfoot said on Twitter.
Despite crossing the 1,000-death threshold, in a call with reporters Monday, the mayor and Chicago's top health official stated that the city has seen some "slight process" in flattening the curve regarding the coronavirus death rate in Chicago.
Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said about a month ago, deaths in the city doubled every three to four days.
"We're now at a point where we're seeing that doubling about every 15 to 16 days," she said Monday. "And that is a sign of significant progress."
However, Dr. Arwady cautioned that nationwide, the pandemic is far from over, and the city of Chicago is not yet on a downward trajectory.
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"You've not heard any of us say yes, that we've peaked here," she said.
Lightfoot added that even when stay-at-home restrictions are lifted, the success of containing the spread of the virus will continue to depend on the amount of people who stay home and abide by social distancing.
"We cannot even, as we think about opening, we cannot get rid of social distancing," she said. "Or we're going to plunge ourselves back into the depths of the problem and the height of the problem that we saw and worried a lot about in in March in April."
As of Monday, a total of 25,805 coronavirus cases and 1,021 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in Chicago.
