* Rather than simply repeating the local mayor’s incendiary words, the SJ-R is finally starting to talk to medical professionals…
Springfield and Sangamon County officials told bar and restaurant owners to operate as they had been through the weekend. Officials are set to announce Tuesday how they plan to implement Pritzker’s mitigation order.
But local health officials are sounding the alarm. Dr. Raj Govindaiah, chief medical officer for Memorial Health System, said that the virus is “spreading so rapidly right now” that mitigations will help, but it would likely be at least two to three weeks before rates start trending down under the best circumstances.
“The surge is in our community right now,” Govindaiah said. “And instead of asking me what I’m doing, I’m going to ask the community, what is it doing? Because I can only do so much. I cannot create enough hospital beds for everyone in central Illinois if they all get sick at the same time.”
Govindaiah said Memorial currently has the highest number of COVID-19 patients it has had at any point during the pandemic, approaching 100 patients. Last month, it was 60. The month before, 30. […]
Govindaiah said mitigation measures imposed by Pritzker would be effective if people followed them, noting that the highest risk exposures occur when people are eating and drinking in close proximity for prolonged periods of time.
* The message might be getting through…
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said he’s been in constant communication with Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder, Springfield Police, and the Sangamon County Department of Public Health for guidance on enforcement so they can all be on the same page.
Campbell said he wants to do what safe for community, but also remain fair to business owners.
“We have the ability to warn people if they’re not socially distancing or they don’t have their mask on,” Campbell said. “We have the ability to cite them if there is a clear violation. So, we will continue to use that type of discretion when it comes to enforcement.”
Langfelder’s office released a statement, stating a joint press briefing will take place on Tuesday afternoon at the Sangamon County Department of Public Health.
Springfield is a massive regional medical center. The mayor has often said he wants to attract more health care-related businesses. That’s a great idea. But COVID denialism ain’t the way to do it.
* Winnebago County’s public health officials are spitting into the wind right now. The county’s positivity rate is 14.9 percent, but too many area leaders seem wholly unconcerned…
One of the most intense election cycles in recent memory will come to a head Tuesday night, and few things would feel better than to celebrate political success — or mourn a defeat — with family and friends.
Don’t do it.
That’s the advice from Winnebago County Health Department Administrator Sandra Martell and Mayor Tom McNamara. […]
Once such event was planned for Monday night at Fozzy’s Bar & Grill, which announced on its Facebook page that it would host state Rep. John Cabello’s election eve rally, along with Sheriff Gary Caruana, Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury and state Sen. Dave Syverson. Fozzy’s offered free food to the first 100 people in the door. […]
Contacted Monday, Cabello expressed little concern about the transmission of COVID-19.
Fozzy’s Bar & Grill was issued its “4th Order of Closure” on October 28th. And yet it’s still open and defiant because the local authorities won’t cooperate with public health officials. Also, that wasn’t just free food, it was a free buffet. A buffet. In a pandemic. Nothing to see here. Move along.
* East Peoria’s mayor gets some blowback…
The Tazewell County Health Department and East Peoria officials are at odds over Gov. JB Pritzker’s order for tighter COVID-19 restrictions in Region 2, which includes the Tri-County Area.
Shortly after the governor issued the order on Sunday, East Peoria Mayor John Kahl said in a Facebook post that the city will not be enforcing those orders. On Monday, the Tazewell County Health Department posted a scathing reply, via its own Facebook page.
“While we appreciate an elected official can do as he/she sees fit for their community, no official, including Mayor Kahl, has had a recent conversation with TCHD or been given permission to speak for the health department on this developing issue. … Denying that COVID-19 is real, disregarding the mitigations and ignoring strong public health guidance for safety only makes COVID worsen in our community and does nothing to get us back to normal or slow infection in our community,” the post read.
* Peoria’s mayor urged caution…
On Monday, Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said he had fielded a slew of emails suggesting he also thumb his nose at Pritzker.
“Some of those emails said I should tell the governor to go and pound salt,” Ardis said. “And those were the nice ones.”
But Ardis said he not only did not have the legal standing to shrug off the order, but he also did not want to prod any Peoria businesses into putting themselves at risk.
“No mayor in the state has the authority to override the governor’s executive order unless the court decides otherwise,” he said. “We shouldn’t give businesses a false sense of security that the state won’t come in and enforce the governor’s (executive order) and potentially revoke their liquor and gaming licenses.”
* Park Ridge is cracking down…
Park Ridge restaurants that defy the governor’s indoor dining ban and continue to serve customers inside are being fined daily, a city official said.
Between Thursday and Sunday, the city issued three restaurants a total of $1,750 in fines for continued non-compliance with the governor’s order, said Jim Brown, director of community preservation and development.
The restaurants were fined $250 for the first violation and $500 for subsequent violations, Brown said.
Daily fines of $500 “will continue as long as they remain open,” the director said, adding that the city is also exploring other options, such reporting the establishments to the county and state health departments or recommending a suspension of their liquor licenses.
“No one is happy about enforcing this,” Mayor Marty Maloney said during a virtual meeting of the Park Ridge City Council Monday. “We’re all in this situation, playing the hand we’re dealt.”
* Meanwhile…
Also raising concerns is Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch, who in a Facebook post said he’s “adamant that our bars and restaurants cannot withstand another lengthy shutdown and I will do everything in my power to see that they survive.”
He said there have been discussions with the police chief and the city “will not take any action against a business that chooses to remain open unless there is a judicial order.”
“I will not revoke or suspend the liquor license for any establishment that chooses to remain open and serve alcohol,” he said.
If people just worked the program, there would be no need for a lengthy cessation of indoor service. The resisters are making it worse for everyone else.
- Montrose - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:41 am:
I fear that people won’t start to take it seriously until field hospitals have to open to handle the volume of patients.
- frisbee - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:41 am:
I have a right to eat at the Golden Corral, it says so in the Constitution. /s
- Quibbler - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:41 am:
It’s wild that eight months into the pandemic, restaurants and other businesses are still begging the state to remain open, necessarily increasing their employees’ risk of exposure, instead of asking for a bailout or other support so that their workers can stay home and safe while their businesses survive. Even during the worst health crisis in a century, centrist and austerity thinking has completely destroyed our collective political imagination to the point that we won’t even ask the state for the support we need to literally stay alive.
- Ducky LaMoore - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:51 am:
Contact tracing might be some of these bars and restaurants undoing. If a death can be traced to one of these places, they may be in civil court while the restaurants and bars that followed the rules may be enjoying a profitable second half of 2021. Am I fear mongering? A little. But if I were going to break the rules, I wouldn’t be advertising it in the media or on social media.
- Norseman - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:51 am:
Finally, we see some balanced reporting. It’s lazy to simply go for the easy quote from politicians and angry business owners. Without talking to health and medical professionals about the impact of noncompliance, the reporter is not doing his/her job.
- essentially working - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:52 am:
What do these people think this is, a free country or something?/s
Seriously though, I am anticipating the state to start really flexing some muscle on those defying the orders. Things are going to get a lot crazier before they get better. Decatur’s mayor has essentially given up on using city resources to seriously or broadly enforce the latest shutdowns based on what I heard on the radio this morning.
- Dotnonymous - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:55 am:
Humans present the greatest threat to humanity …beware.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 11:56 am:
Help yourself to the salad bar and the complementary side of coronavirus.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:03 pm:
===When you shut down churches===
Churches are not closed. What state do you live in? Post something like that here again and you’re gone.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:05 pm:
===Post something like that here again and you’re gone===
I went ahead and deleted it anyway because the commenter was using a masking service to make it look like they were posting from the Netherlands. Don’t do that.
- Earnest - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:08 pm:
>Finally, we see some balanced reporting
It’s a definite improvement. I’d also like to hear from the business owners wanting excellent compliance with and enforcement of public health guidelines so the virus is under control and they can get their businesses back open safely.
- Jocko - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:09 pm:
==Denying COVID-19…does nothing to get us back to normal or slow infection in our community.==
To go from Americans rationing gas, coffee, and food (in 1942) to refusing to wear a piece of cloth (in 2020) is something I will never understand.
- illinifan - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:22 pm:
==until field hospitals have to open to handle the volume of patients.
== The challenge is having enough staff to man these field hospitals. We do not have enough medical personnel to staff our ICUs and other critical care beds. Intubating takes skill. Providing care to an intubated patient takes a team. We try to keep the rate of spread low so we have space and staff to provide the needed care, not because it will wipe out the virus. Somehow this message has been lost.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:28 pm:
@jocko- you are so right (banned punctuation). Where is our shared sense of sacrifice for the greater good among so called conservatives?
- JoanP - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:32 pm:
=The resisters are making it worse for everyone else. =
Exactly. If everyone had gotten with the program months ago, we’d be in a much better place today.
- MG85 - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:36 pm:
==Langfelder’s office released a statement==
Can’t wait to hear the big update on the need for a study. Meanwhile, our hospitals are filling up.
Way to go Jimmy.
- Shemp - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:37 pm:
If the State hadn’t shut down all the relatively unaffected areas early on, and only asked these downstate areas to shut down when things started to flare in those areas, there wouldn’t be all this quarantine/shut-down fatigue in all these places. It would be a lot easier to ride out a shut-down now if they weren’t prematurely shut down earlier. Might also help if the State would ever get around to release the downstate small business stabilization program money it’s been promising since March….
- Chicagonk - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:48 pm:
What is Pritzker doing to help these restaurants? Why can we pass a huge capital bill to support connected road contractors and we can’t pass something to help restaurants get through the next few months?
- Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:48 pm:
Alternately, if the state shut everything down everywhere when this started and didn’t allow people to travel from out of state, we would all be in a better place now.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:49 pm:
===and we can’t pass something to help restaurants get through the next few months? ===
That would be the federal government’s job.
- thisjustinagain - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:51 pm:
Springfield’s new ad to promote medical service expansion “We’ve got all the patients you need for a thriving practice.” (snark).
And to paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill’s epic speech: “We shall refuse to wear masks, we shall refuse to social distance, we shall ignore science and facts. whatever the cost shall be. We shall fight on Facebook, we shall fight on Twitter, we shall never surrender…” Unbelievable how many people won’t believe reality anymore.
- stateandlake - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:02 pm:
There are also local communities that are looking the other way without making a lot of noise about it. I saw two restaurants in Grayslake seating patrons indoors over the weekend after the ban was in effect. First clue was when a FB friend posted from inside one of the establishments. Wise up people…
- M - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:09 pm:
==If the State hadn’t shut down all the relatively unaffected areas early on, and only asked these downstate areas to shut down when things started to flare in those areas, there wouldn’t be all this quarantine/shut-down fatigue in all these places.==
Alternatively, things would have flared up much sooner. The only reason central IL didn’t flare up at the beginning is because the state shut down before it could spread. It’s almost like the virus doesn’t understand county boundaries. Look at how quickly every region entered mitigations once community spread started.
- Flat Footed - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:09 pm:
* That would be the federal government’s job. *
Why is that…because “orange man bad”?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:10 pm:
===Why is that…because “orange man bad”? ===
Don’t be a total fool your whole life. The federal government can borrow massive amounts of money.
- Chicagonk - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:13 pm:
@Rich - Can’t the state do something too? I mean the federal government is inept right now. Even if things change in DC, many restaurants won’t be around to benefit.
- Precinct Captain - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:23 pm:
- Chicagonk - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:48 pm:
The state is using federal funds to support grants to businesses. At over $600 million dollars it is the largest such business support program by any state. Google, Bing, Ask Jeeves, Duck Duck Go, these searches are your friend.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:48 pm:
Dear Mayor Maloney:
Nowhere does it limit you to one fine per day.
You can issue citations every hour if you like.
Your city coffers will be grateful.
- Dotnonymous - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:54 pm:
Pandemics feed on Capitalism…beware.
- Pundent - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:17 pm:
=Can’t the state do something too?=
You do understand that there’s a process for passing and funding a capital bill. The money just doesn’t fall from the sky. Only the federal government has deficit spending as a lever.
- Norseman - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:18 pm:
=== and we can’t pass something to help restaurants get through the next few months? ===
Not only is Rich right about it being a federal job, where do you think Illinois is going to get the money to pay for it?
- SIU 1984 - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:28 pm:
Shouldn’t restaurants that get BIG grants be forced to return them when they continue indoor dining? Why are some restaurants getting over $100000.00 and others ZERO? Someone is picking winners and losers.
- SAP - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:40 pm:
At least Langfelder picked a slow news day to do his press briefing.
- Bubble Popper - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:47 pm:
Chicagonk, you obviously don’t understand that telling desperate voters you can’t do anything for them is Smart, Savvy Politics.
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 3:08 pm:
Holding my head in my hands listening to Springfield’s Mayor at his press event. Bringing back the trope about being able to walk around Wal-Mart all you want.
I will never forget he wanted the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to go on as usual.
- Earnest - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 3:37 pm:
>You can issue citations every hour if you like.
Great idea, and use the fines to support the compliant businesses.
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 3:57 pm:
I could really support that idea (using compliance fines from noncompliant businesses to support compliant ones.)It adds a bit of carrot to go with the stick.
- Proud Sucker - Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 4:33 pm:
===What is Pritzker doing to help these restaurants? Why can we pass a huge capital bill to support connected road contractors and we can’t pass something to help restaurants get through the next few months?===
The capital bill also supports unconnected road contractors and builders AND we get new roads, bridges and building from it AND road maintenance is a primary State responsibility. Global pandemic relief does not seem to be the purview of the States. I will grant that the Federal abrogation of that responsibility is beyond frustrating. The State has already purchased PPE, found testing supplies, etc. I just don’t see how it can financially support restaurants and bars. Maybe there is a way, I just cannot fathom it right now.