Washington, (Asian independent) J.B. Pritzker, Governor of the US state of Illinois, has self-isolated after a potential exposure to the novel coronavirus during a meeting earlier this week, according to his office.
In a statement on Friday, the office said that Pritzker had attended the meeting in a large conference room on Monday with members of the Illinois Restaurant Association, one of whom has tested positive for Covid-19 and is in quarantine, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Governor urged residents to do whatever they can to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“We’re in a bad situation (but) I’m not looking at the broader mitigation of stay at home as in something I would do in the coming days or a week,” Pritzker was quoted as saying by local media.
“But I can’t guarantee you what it looks like two weeks from now or three weeks. I just don’t know,” he added.
The news came as Illinois officials announced a record 10,376 new coronavirus cases and 49 deaths on Friday, the state’s Department of Public Health reported.
Illinois has so far reported more than 457,000 confirmed cases and 10,337 deaths.
