Gov. JB Pritzker addressing reporters during a May 2021 news conference in Springfield [Joel Ebert/The Daily Line]

Marking what officials hope is the effective end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois will eliminate all capacity limits on businesses Friday and fully reopen.  

The state’s reopening comes nearly 17 months after Illinois recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus and 15 months after its first COVID-19 death. Since then, Illinois health officials have logged 1.3 million total cases of COVID-19 and more than 23,000 deaths.