US nurse says she regrets her behaviour during the coronavirus crisis

A nurse in the US has been forced to apologise after she made controversial coronvirus comments during a TV interview from her sister's pub.

Katie Koutskey, who works at Downers Grove-based Advocate Aurora Health system in Illinois was helping her sister reopen her business on Wednesday when she was approached by WTMJ-TV.

Pubs and bars were allowed to reopen after the state supreme court overturned Governor Tony Ever's stay-at-home order for the area.

She told the TV station: "I have a toddler at home and I'm a full-time nurse it's been very stressful and hard not to go out and be with my friends and family at the bars. I don't think the risk presents any higher than going to a grocery store."

Behind her at the time were patrons, some standing standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

The video quickly went viral and came to the attention of the nurse's employer Advocate Aurora Health who said in a statement they were "disappointed" by Koutsky's decision.

RELATED: 'I haven't used it in two months': Is it safe to catch public transport during coronavirus?

She released the following statement through her employer, saying: "First, while my priority was to support my sister and her attempt to restart her business which has been devastated by this pandemic, I'd like to express my regret for not wearing a mask or practising social distancing while there."

She said she doesn't have any symptoms of the virus and there has been no indication she has been exposed to the virus, but will now "out of an abundance of caution" self-quarantine and undergo screening before returning to work.

Advocate Aurora Health chief, nurse Mary Beth Kingston, said, "We've also been doing a lot of education actually with our team members for what they can do to be safe once they leave our hospital walls."

Officials announced 2,088 new known cases of coronavirus in Illanois on Saturday, pushing the statewide total of known cases to 92,457. Another 74 deaths were reported Saturday, for a statewide total of 4,129 deaths since the pandemic began.