In recent days, Illinois health officials have begun posting a “recovery rate” on their coronavirus data website, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker discussed the new addition to the state statistics on Wednesday.
During his daily coronavirus press briefing, Pritzker said that the percentage was designed to relay the message that a COVID-19 diagnosis “is not a death sentence,” and that a vast majority of individuals who test positive for the disease recover.
“What we’re trying to do is to make sure that people understand that when you get COVID-19, it’s not a death sentence,” Pritzker said. “In fact, about 80 percent of people who get COVID-19 experience mild-to-moderate symptoms, then recover. It’s really 20 percent or so that get it and have something more serious.”
According to the IDPH website, the current “recovery rate” stands at 92 percent.
“What we’re talking about here is trying to report a number that shows how many people have already had COVID-19 that have recovered,” he said. “The 92 percent is a reflection of many people who’ve recovered and have gone about their lives and haven’t gotten COVID-19 again. So that’s what we’re trying to do: to give a number we had not before provided.”
For purposes of the percentage, the state defines “recovery” as a person who has not died within six weeks after testing positive for the virus.
That percentage is slightly lower than the number of confirmed cases that have resulted in death. With 114,306 confirmed cases and 5,083 confirmed deaths, the state’s current fatality rate by those metrics is 4.46 percent, according to data made available by the IDPH.
