People cover their faces with cloths as they walk on the sidewalk in Morton Grove, Ill., Sunday, April 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
CHICAGO (AP) — Governor JB Pritzker says Illinois needs thousands more ventilators from the federal government as it desperately prepares for its a peak in coronavirus cases expected in late April.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker told CNN Sunday that he has requested 4,000 ventilators but has received 450. Vice President Mike Pence says Illinois needs 1,400.
Pritzker has sparred with President Donald Trump over what the governor calls a lack of federal assistance.
Pritzker told CNN’s Jake Tapper that even though Trump called for General Motors to build ventilators under the Defense Production Act, they won’t be ready until well after Illinois’ expected peak.
