* WTVO Rockford…
During President Trump’s rally in Janesville, he struck a chord with many Illinoisans who are frustrated with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions.
“I’ll tell you what…Illinois could use a new governor,” the president said, met with thunderous applause.
Rockford is in Region 1, which has a 7-day average positivity rate of 11.1 percent. Winnebago County’s rate is 12.3 percent. Perhaps those fine folks might wanna look inward.
* Tribune…
Facing a resurgence of the coronavirus in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that President Donald Trump and his local allies are in part responsible for rising case numbers and positivity rates in the state.
“He’s modeling bad behavior. He doesn’t wear a mask in public. He has rallies where they don’t encourage people to wear masks in public,” Pritzker told “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper. “Truly, this is now rhetoric that people understand, particularly in rural areas in my state, ‘Well, the president doesn’t wear a mask; we don’t need to wear a mask. It’s not that dangerous.’ The truth of the matter is that it is very dangerous.”
The governor appeared with Tapper a day after Trump slammed him during a rally north of the border in Wisconsin, which is seeing one of the worst COVID-19 surges in the country.
“Illinois could use a new governor,” Trump told supporters in a wide-ranging 93-minute speech in Janesville. “That guy doesn’t know what’s happened. We gotta open up that state. They gotta open up that state. Kids have to get back to school.”
* Sun-Times…
Asked by Tapper to reply, Pritzker said, “the president has made it nearly impossible for states to open up any more than they are now.
“… This pandemic has been around now for seven to eight months, and without much help from the federal government we’ve been fighting it off.”
Pritzker said Illinois is impacted by the higher rates of infections in the border states of Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa. […]
“So it is dangerous right now. We want people to wear masks. We want people to socially distance. We need to make sure that we have certain mitigations in place, and, of course, we’ve already opened up much of our economy. But we have to maintain certain capacity limits, and make sure that our people are safe and healthy,” Pritzker said.
* NBC 5…
“He’s modeling bad behavior. He doesn’t wear a mask in public. He has rallies where they don’t encourage people to wear masks in public,” Pritzker said. “But it is the president’s allies in our state, all across the state, who are simply saying to people, ‘Don’t pay any attention to the mitigations, don’t follow the rules.’ Indeed, there are bars and restaurants which are restricted from expanding their indoor service that are just ignoring the rules, and they’re just filling the place up.”
* Daily Herald…
And he defended the state’s performance, saying, “This pandemic has been around now for seven to eight months, and without much help from the federal government, we’ve been fighting it off. Illinois has one of the lowest positivity rates among the Midwest.”
He said that the state is bordered by Wisconsin, which has a 27% test positivity rate. “Ours is about a fourth of that,” he said.
Tapper pointed to things the president has done right, including ramping up efforts to find a vaccine, and pressed Pritzker for specifics.
Pritzker responded, “Well, you just saw one of them, which is he’s modeling bad behavior. He doesn’t wear a mask in public. He has rallies where they don’t encourage people to wear masks in public.”
* WBEZ…
Dr. Robert Murphy, a professor of medicine and infectious disease at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said lifting even more restrictions would be disastrous right now.
“Everybody is tired of it,” Murphy said of the pandemic. “And so you have that pressure to just open up, and that’s just going to make everything worse. And from an epidemiological standpoint, I can’t support that. And I can’t recommend that. It’s a big mistake. Every time you do that, you pay with a life. You’re going to kill somebody.”
Murphy agrees with Pritzker that pandemic fatigue is playing a role in the recent surge facing Illinois and much of the nation. But Murphy said other factors include the reopening of schools to in-person classes and the relaxation of restrictions regarding bars and restaurants.
Last month, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced bars that don’t serve food can reopen, and restaurants could serve more indoor customers. Since then, infections have steadily grown. The city has a 5.2% positivity rate and is seeing a weekly average of 508 cases per day, according to data released on Friday. […]
But Murphy said local officials can gain control over the outbreak without having to resort to another stay-at-home order by mandating face masks and placing limits on social gatherings, like in Spain, where gatherings are now limited to six people. And Murphy signaled optimism, saying that the U.S. will be in much better shape a year from now when a vaccine may be widely available.
“I’ve studied pandemics, and they all end,” Murphy said. “Every one of them ends. The question is: How long does it take to end? And how many people will die?”
…Adding… Sigh…
- Ducky LaMoore - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:21 am:
“Illinois could use a new governor,” Trump told supporters
Illinois could use a more thoughtful Republican constituency and candidates. One that isn’t crazy and could be competitive statewide. But I’m not holding my breath.
- Norseman - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:29 am:
=== “I’ve studied pandemics, and they all end,” … The question is: How long does it take to end? And how many people will die?” ===
Wearing a mask will lessen the health and economic damage until it does end. One party has made mask wearing and pandemic containment measures a political issue to help their election prospects. They’re playing off peoples natural desire for a quick return to normalcy. Instead, they’re lengthening the time of this death, sickness, abnormalcy and economic harm.
JB is right to call this out. The party of death will continue to raise their shrill voices against him, but I’m glad he’s leading the state where I came from and have so many family still living there.
- Moe Berg - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:32 am:
I hope there will be, but it shouldn’t be taken for granted that there will be an effective vaccine.
Right now, it’s mostly assumed there will be, with the only questions being timing: end of year, next spring or summer/fall.
In the meantime, we could bring it well under control, though not eliminate it, with technology no more complicated than: masks, hand washing, limit gathering size and physical distancing as much as possible.
- Pundent - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:34 am:
It’s easy to get distracted by the craziness of the noisy minority and the media only amplifies that. I guess it’s boring to report that most people favor things like wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and stopping the virus so we can get our economy back. The survey posted last week helped show where people’s view are on these topics. Unfortunately we’ll continue to be held hostage by a loud minority which has been legitimized by the President.
- Bruce( no not him) - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:35 am:
“They all end”
The problem right now is many wish this one had already ended. They believe that the “liberal media” is pushing the pandemic storyline to hurt the president.
Convincing those folks is impossible.
- Red Ranger - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:39 am:
Yep, all of those Trump supporters at Deerfield HS, New Trier and U of C Booth School. MAGA crowd right there. Think JB will call those people out anytime soon, Im sure its just a matter of time.
- Annonin' - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 10:57 am:
“I’ve studied pandemics, and they all end,” ….
NS Sherlock. Everything ends. How about asking about inaction on treatment and mitigation and impact on learning, long term health issues, new careers for owners of closed businesses
Study that for us
- Jocko - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 11:01 am:
RR @ 10:30
Here’s that the New Trier superintendent had to say after their attempt at in-person instruction failed after one week. “I would like to reiterate in the strongest terms possible that all members of our New Trier community must abide by the common sense rules of social distancing, wearing a mask, no large gatherings, and hand washing if we want to have a chance to offer uninterrupted in-person learning.”
- Streator Curmudgeon - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 11:08 am:
How anyone could criticize a doctor (Fauci) who has spent 36 years of his life fighting infectious diseases boggles the mind.
Pritzker has proved once again that the right thing isn’t always the popular thing. Some people simply have to be saved from themselves.
- Red Ranger - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 11:14 am:
Jocko, thatss good statement. All high school and college kids need to stop having large parties immediately. My point is the Governor looks like a partisan when he singles out Trump supporters when his own base is doing similar things. He loses credibility in my mind.
- Pundent - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 11:39 am:
=My point is the Governor looks like a partisan when he singles out Trump supporters when his own base is doing similar things.=
Beyond Trump the comments made by Pritzker are geared towards DeVore and the Eastern Bloc who continue to roam central and southern Illinois stoking anger. I don’t think there’s much of an equivalency in Chicago and the collar counties. I’ve yet to hear a Cook County judge bemoan the loss of his constitutional right to fish.
- SSL - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 11:52 am:
I’ve been watching Dr. Murphy on WGN morning news when I can. He is a fact based voice of calm, which reinforces that if good protocol is followed we can be successful.
Pfizer has started production of their vaccine in anticipation of it being approved. Hopefully they’re right. Treatment have gotten better over time, and if a vaccine is available in Q1 2021 there is reason for hope.
- cermak_rd - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 11:53 am:
The business owners that aren’t griping about the corona measures and are enforcing masking (like my local hardware store) should put signs up reminding people that they are different from the business owners that are not. At this point it almost seems easier to just avoid local businesses and do all shopping online and eating in national chains, rather than have to do an investigation as to whether you are going to wind up shopping at a Devore client’s business.
- Blue Dog Dem - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 12:05 pm:
When the dust from this settles, I am not sure we will recover. The damage already done to the commercial real estate market will unravel the way we pay for public education.
- Thomas Paine - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 12:09 pm:
=== if a vaccine is available in Q1 2021 there is reason for hope. ===
If you are Europe, sure.
Europe has the means of rapidly deploying a vaccine, 50 percent of Europeans won’t refuse to take it, and those that do will face serious consequences.
The US seems unlikely to be able to vaccinate the country until a year from now, half of America says they won’t take the vaccine, and extermists at both ends of the political spectrum will oppose mandates.
The US death toll seems likely to reach 500,000.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 12:47 pm:
The dismissing of science and scientists to the discussion on a virus, that has been as much of a detriment than Trump himself saying ridiculous unscientific thoughts to the pandemic.
Governors are not only dealing with science, and no national consistency, the President is pushing inconsistent standards for each state, after telling everyone it’s up to the governors.
Crazy, I know, but that’s the logic, and we expect science to carry the day?
- Jibba - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 12:57 pm:
Regarding a vaccine in Q1, I read that it will not be available for children any time soon. Not until child-specific studies are done, and they have barely begun. Child vaccines often lag adults by months or years because vaccines behave differently in kids, or may not work at all.
- JS Mill - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 1:14 pm:
=The damage already done to the commercial real estate market will unravel the way we pay for public education.=
Do you remember 2008-2009? That disaster was primarily based on housing and real estate. Values recovered. You don’t have to take my word on that, you can look it up your self.
- muon - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 1:34 pm:
Roger Roger - I think you basically described the expected result from the original idea to “flatten the curve”. When first described in March and April it wasn’t to reduce the long-term number of cases, but to reduce the short-term impact on hospitals and other aspects of the health care system.
The data you cite suggests that some states like Illinois didn’t get the sharp peak of New York or Michigan, but in the long run those cases have occurred nonetheless. That’s consistent with the flatten the curve philosophy.
However, there is a new surge, now specifically in the north central US. To avoid the type of crisis that hit Detroit and NYC last spring one needs to adopt new measures designed to flatten this curve here this fall.
- Last Bull Moose - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 1:37 pm:
Real estate did recover from the 2008-9 crash. But that crash did not fundamentally change the way we did business. I think this has accelerated the shift to online shopping and working remotely. That has to work against commercial real estate. I expect mass transit to get hit too.
As commercial properties decline in value and number, taxes will shift to services and residential real estate. It becomes a question of who can pay.
- SSL - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 2:22 pm:
I agree that the way we do business has changed and will remain that way to some extent. It isn’t necessarily a positive. There is benefit to interacting and working together. But the savings from not needing as much office space will drive decisions for many companies looking to drive profits higher.
Business travel will also be impacted for years to come. Technology provides alternatives. Airlines count on the business traveler. That industry is going to look very different.
- VerySmallRocks - Monday, Oct 19, 20 @ 3:44 pm:
I wonder how many of the “herd immunity” crowd would accept being one of the herd permanently culled and boxed up to achieve the expected end of the pandemic. Or do they think fatalities only happen to “those people”.