CHICAGO — The number of COVID-19 related deaths in Illinois passed 1,000 Thursday, while the apparent slowing of the virus’ spread has Midwestern governors considering when they could reopen for business.

According to Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike, an additional 125 coronavirus-related deaths occurred over the past 24 hours, marking the highest single-day increase to date.

“While these numbers are disheartening, I don’t want people to despair; we continue to amass new information about this virus every single day,” Ezike said Thursday.

A total of 25,733 cases of COVID-19 and 1,072 related deaths have been confirmed as of Thursday, according to the IDPH. Cases have been found in 90 counties across the state, with Alexander County reporting its first case Thursday. So far, 122,589 people have been tested.

Still, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and other officials suggest Illinois is “bending the curve” of COVID-19 transmissions.

Illinois continues its efforts to expand testing as well. Pritzker said a newly-opened drive-thru testing site in Markham processed 600 tests in its first day, and they hope to double that. Additionally, he said the state will expand to two additional drive-thru sites in the coming days.

Howard Brown Health is also opening COVID care centers that will offer testing in Little Village, Lakeview, Englewood, Rogers Park and Uptown.

The University of Chicago is also partnering with Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, where officials say they can process a thousand tests per day.

“This is a marathon; we have to keep pace, we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We still have many new cases and lives lost; running together we will beat this COVID-19,” Ezike said.

Earlier Thursday, Pritzker announced he will be working with other governors in the Midwest as he tries to determine the best path for reopening the state’s economy.

Pritzker said Governors Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.), Mike DeWine (Ohio), Tony Evers (Wis.), Tim Walz (Minn.), Eric Holcomb (Ind.) and Andy Beshear (Ky.) will work in close coordination on the project.

“Our number one priority when analyzing when best to reopen our economy is the health and safety of our citizens,” the governors said in a statement. “We will make decisions based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor, and education.”

The governors said the four main factors in determining whether to reopen includes the rate of new infections, testing and tracing abilities, health care capacity and finding ways to make social distancing effective at workplaces.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers pushed that state’s stay-at-home order back another month Thursday, extending it to May 26.

Pritzker said state officials have yet to decide whether Illinois’ April 30 deadline will be extended.

“We certainly will be making decisions about it, we look at it every day,” Pritzker said. “To the extent other states are looking at opening certain kinds of businesses on certain dates, obviously we have different economies across these states; we share a lot in common, however.”

Watch Above: Governor JB Pritzker and health officials give a daily update on the spread of COVID-19 in Illinois and the latest state measures