Illinois health officials wept during a press conference | News

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of public health in Illinois, began crying and paused her remarks at a briefing on Friday when she reported deaths from a new coronavirus and thousands of additional cases.

“Since yesterday, we have lost 31 more lives and a total of 9,418 people have died,” she said. “These are the people who started with us in 2020 and are not at the Thanksgiving table with us.”

Her voice shaky, she added, “To date, we are reporting 3,874 new cases, for a total of 364,033 confirmed cases, since the start of this pandemic. Excuse me, please.”

She wiped a tear with her bare hand and turned away from the podium to compose herself. A man in a mask walked over with a box of tissues. She wiped her eyes and returned to the microphone.

“I’m sorry,” Ezike said, before resuming the grim tally, including 2,498 coronavirus patients in hospitals overnight — 511 in intensive care and 197 on ventilators.