Man with Illinois’ 5th coronavirus case released from hospital for home isolation

A Cook County man in his 20s has been sent home from a hospital for home recovery just a day after he became Illinois’ fifth confirmed case of coronavirus, officials announced Friday.

The man flew into O’Hare Airport earlier this month after traveling to Italy, the state’s Department of Public Health said. The man “acquired the infection” while in Italy and was admitted to Rush University Medical Center early Thursday.

He was released Friday afternoon for home isolation after medical professionals evaluated him and determined it was OK for him to be transported home, Rush officials said in a news release.

“The Medical Center has been working closely with public health officials and has determined that the patient is able to begin recovery under quarantine at home. The patient still is showing symptoms but no longer requires hospitalization,” the hospital said.

The state’s third and fourth cases were an Arlington Heights couple in their 70s. Both are isolated at home after the man was released Thursday from Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

The department said it’s still unclear how the couple contracted the virus. That means health officials are looking into whether the couple contracted the virus “due to community transmission in Illinois.”

“While we expect to see additional cases, we are not seeing widespread transmission of the virus in Illinois and we believe the risk to the general public remains low,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a statement Thursday. “We understand people are concerned, but we want to reassure residents that we have been working with local health departments, hospitals, clinicians, the CDC, and other state agencies around the clock and are using every resource at our disposal to prepare.”

Contributing: Tina Sfondeles