Chicago protesters demand end to staying at home

Illinois residents demanding an end to stay-at-home measures in the state protested outside the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago on Friday.

People in the large crowd held signs demanding "liberty" and waving American flags. Many were not wearing masks.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a modified extension of his stay-at-home order, which took effect Friday amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pritzker order, first decreed March 21 as COVID-19 cases in Illinois were swelling, was extended once after April 8 and last week, through May 30. But the latest version allows nonessential businesses to take phone and online orders, opens state parks and allows some delayed elective surgeries. In addition to the protest in downtown Chicago, another "liberty rally" agitating for even fewer restrictions was held at the state Capitol in Springfield.

As of Thursday, 52,918 people had tested positive for COVID-19, and complications of the illness caused by the coronavirus had claimed 2,355 lives. The actual number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested and studies suggest that people can be infected without feeling sick.