Illinois surpasses 15,000 coronavirus deaths By AP NEWS article Norwegian Hospital nurses perform one of the first half dozen coronavirus tests on site in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Deaths in Illinois from the coronavirus illness topped 15,000 on Friday, public health officials said. The state passed the grim milestone with the addition of 181 fatalities, the same as the day before, and the sixth-highest total since the pandemic struck Illinois in February. The slow process of inoculating the population against COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, got underway this week. Gov.