Meet Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of Illinois Department of Public Health

Dr. Ngozi Ezike
Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health in the United States of America is another Nigerian, Dr. Ngozi Ezike. And on the day Illinois saw its highest one-day death toll from coronavirus, Tuesday to be precise, she begged antsy residents to take it seriously because “we’re still in a significant war with an enemy.”

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker had announced Dr. Ngozi Ezike will serve as Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).

While making the announcement, the governor’s office described her as a board-certified internist and pediatrician, who comes to IDPH from Cook County Health, where she had served for more than 15 years.

She currently serves as medical director at the Juvenile Detention Center, the largest juvenile detention facility in the country, it was gathered.

Previously, Dr. Ezike served as medical director for the Austin Health Center where she actively engaged with the community through health initiatives involving obesity, diabetes, and breastfeeding. She also has delivered inpatient care at Stroger Hospital as well as primary and preventive care in the community and school-based clinics, according to report.

She is a national policy adviser on juvenile correctional health topics, who has presented at numerous local and national conferences for medical professionals and youth audiences alike.

Ezike received her Doctor in Medicine from University of California at San Diego and her Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Harvard University. She also holds a management certificate from Harvard Business School and is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Rush University.

At the COVID-19 daily media briefing, Tuesday however, she said, “If this was a traditional war where there were soldiers outside of our doors, in the streets, and people were risking their lives to be outside of their homes, no one would think about the need to go to to work, no one would think about getting their dog groomed, no one would think about getting their car washed.” 

She continued: “But this enemy is so different. It’s invisible. And maybe as a result of that we have underestimated the power and destruction of this enemy.”

An additional 175 people, as at Tuesday, died from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the state of Illinois's total to at least 2,839.

And 2,122 people tested positive for coronavirus in the past day, meaning the state has now seen 65,962 confirmed cases.

Each person who died had tested positive for COVID-19, Ezike said.

The high death count came just a day after the state saw its lowest total in two weeks with 46 deaths.
Ezike, who has urged people to respect the state’s stay at home order for weeks, delivered an impassioned plea on Tuesday.

“I know that May has signaled a change — not only a change in the calendar month, not only a change in the weather, the season, but also a change in some people’s psyche,” she began. “The change has highlighted an increased sense of cabin fever and a desire to get out and get back to what people perceive as what their previous normal was and wanting that back so much. There’s so much pressure for us to get back to that normal because we have all faced this unprecedented disruption to our lives.”

But people must remember that thousands of people have died, and the fight continues, she said.

“We all have a choice still to make. … You are responsible to wear a covering if you’re out in public. … You are responsible for finding other ways to still connect with these individuals who do need connection but cannot have physical contact. You are responsible for staying inside as much as possible. The fact is that we are still battling the same virus that we were all so united in fighting just two months ago.”

As at Tuesday, Ezike said there are now 4,780 people in Illinois hospitals fighting coronavirus, up from the 4,492 reported on Monday. Of those, 1,266 people are in intensive care units, with 780 of those on ventilators.





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