* This email was sent to 17 state legislators…

I am writing to you to ask for your help in bringing the 51 Illinois Citizens that were passengers of the Princes Cruise back to their homes in Illinois. As I’m sure that you are aware some of these passengers are being held at a facility in Georgia. They arrived there on Friday and until today they had absolutely no medical help and very little food or water. Today was a WIN for them as they were able to get additional supplies such as food, sheets and blankets. One Illinois citizen wrote on her Facebook page that they received breakfast yesterday, which they were thankful for, however, it was cold and they did not have any silverware to eat with! These people did nothing wrong and yet we treat them like this? Other states have sent transportation to get their citizens. Why is Illinois not doing the same? These citizens deserve to be home in Illinois. Would you please explain to me why it is so hard to transport 51 Illinois citizens back for Illinois where they belong? I would appreciate your view concerning this matter.

* Background from KWQC…

Donna and Bruce Hardy of Milan were on a cruise to Hawaii with passengers who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

After spending eight days in isolation in their room on the cruise ship, they are now being quarantined in Georgia. Donna says her room at the quarantine facility is terrible, and she’s been suffering from headaches due to mold in the bathroom.

“Our room is terrible,” Donna said. “You know our eyes water when we go in to use the toilet. We’ve not showered since we got here. We’re not gonna shower in our unit so we’re sponge bathing in the kitchen sink. Even if we could shower, we don’t have clothes. We just want a clean safe place to serve our quarantine. That’s all we ask. I’m usually very strong but I’ve lost it the last couple days. Anxiety attacks. We just want to be treated with dignity and we don’t have it.”

The couple will be in quarantine until March 26th.

They’re hoping that the state of Illinois will allow them to come home sooner, or at the very least, to be given a new room for the remainder of their quarantine.

According to the governor’ office, 51 Illinoisans are under quarantine at that Georgia military base. The governor’s office has been in contact with 36 of them. The others haven’t yet consented to releasing their names and contact information. The governor’s office has a point person handling this issue and the office has also been reaching out to legislators with constituents in quarantine.

The governor’s office says more people are being diagnosed with COVID-19 since they got off the ship and there’s no safe way to transport these folks back to Illinois without infecting more people.

* Pritzker press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh…

Following the guidance of medical professionals, the Governor’s Office has made the difficult decision to keep cruise ship passengers in isolation for 14 days until they are cleared to safely travel back home to Illinois. Understanding the hardship this poses, staff from the Governor’s Office have been in direct contact with the passengers to ensure their needs are being met. The Governor himself has also talked with the federal government to make requests for the passengers. There are no easy decisions, but our administration is working to prioritize the health and safety of everyone who calls Illinois home.

The quarantine lasts 14 days from the time they were moved off the ship. Releases will start around the 23rd or 24th, depending.

* Oklahoma’s governor pushed to bring his quarantined people back to their home state, but he is the same governor who did this…

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who faced swift backlash since tweeting a photo of himself and his children at a crowded restaurant Saturday, declared a state of emergency on Sunday as the state announced its eighth case of coronavirus.

In the now-deleted tweet, Stitt said, “Eating with my kids and all my fellow Oklahomans at the @CollectiveOKC. It’s packed tonight!”