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Pritzker warns that regions are worsening, Dr. Ezike begs Illinoisans to do their part

Friday, Oct 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Gov. Pritzker said today that several IDPH regions are becoming more worrisome this week. The Metro East’s Region 4 is back up above an 8 percent positivity rate as of today, for instance. Three days of sustained 8 percent positivity triggers mediation measures, and Region 4 only recently emerged from a long ordeal with those regulations.

Region 9, which encompasses Lake and McHenry counties, has seen its average positivity rate hover in the upper 7’s for the past few days and is now at 7.7 percent. Region 8 is now at 9.4 percent, with available hospital beds down to 25 percent. A 20 percent surge capability for hospital beds triggers mitigation.

Region 1, in northern and northwestern Illinois, cannot get its act together and is at 11.7 percent today. Region 7, which is Will and Kankakee counties is at 9.2 percent. Suburban Cook is at 7.3 with its hospital bed availability down to 23 percent. And Chicago is at 7 and hospital bed availability is down to 22 percent, just two points above the danger zone.

It’s just bad pretty much everywhere. Click here to see for yourself.

* IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike cried for several minutes at the podium today as she literally begged Illinoisans to take this virus seriously. “Let’s please think beyond ourselves,” she said. “For those seven, eight days that you may be shedding the virus, you’re unknowingly, unwittingly infecting people in your path.”

“The people of Illinois are her patients,” Gov. Pritzker explained after Dr. Ezike finished speaking. He also said the director has been subjected to “verbal attacks” and that protesters have shown up at her home.

…Adding… Good advice…

“I’m desperate to find a message that will work,” Ezike said. “The virus has caused this and instead of pitting one group against another, we need to get that and fight against the virus. We have a mask and we’re asking people to use that and I don’t know what else to say.”

…Adding… Got busy and forgot to post this…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 51 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.

Fifty-one counties are currently reported at a warning level – Adams, Bond, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Edwards, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Henderson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kendall, Knox, LaSalle, Lee, Macon, Macoupin, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Perry, Pike, Pulaski, Rock Island, Saline, Shelby, Stephenson, Union, Vermilion, Wabash, Warren, Wayne, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, and Winnebago.

Although the reasons for counties reaching a warning level varies, some of the common factors for an increase in cases and outbreaks are associated with gatherings in people’s homes, weddings and funerals, bars and clubs, university and college parties as well as college sports teams, family gatherings, long-term care facilities, correctional centers, schools, and cases among the community at large, especially people in their 20s.

Public health officials are observing businesses blatantly disregarding mitigation measures, people not social distancing, gathering in large groups, and not using face coverings. Mayors, local law enforcement, state’s attorneys, and other community leaders can be influential in ensuring citizens and businesses follow best practices.

Several counties are taking swift action to help slow spread of the virus, including increasing testing opportunities, stressing the importance of testing to providers, hiring additional contact tracers, working with schools, and meeting with local leaders.

IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county. A county is considered at the warning level when at least two of the following metrics triggers a warning.

New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
Tests performed. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.

These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.

A map and information of each county’s status can be found on the IDPH website at https://www.dph.illinois.gov/countymetrics.

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Bailey on Pritzker: “This man has got to pay the price… he is destroying Illinois”

Friday, Oct 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Center Square…

Republican state Representatives from southern Illinois are on the road with stops across the state holding rallies for what they call the “Restore Illinois Bus Tour.”

They stopped in Springfield Thursday. […]

State Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, was at the Springfield stop. He told the crowd his efforts in the courts against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 executive orders are crucial to restoring Illinois, and he’s succeeding. […]

“This man has got to pay the price,” Bailey said. “He has devastated families, he is devastating businesses, he is destroying Illinois and I believe now every day that goes by the reasons and the proof of that grow.”

Bailey claims the governor is trying to destroy the state’s economy “to be first in line for a federal bailout.”

Way to promote a healthy dialogue, Darren.

…Adding… More nonsense from Bailey is here.

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*** UPDATED x4 *** Brandeis Center: “Jewish students at UIUC have been targeted for years” but university won’t take action

Friday, Oct 23, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Sun-Times…

Jewish students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have endured “an unrelenting campaign of anti-Semitic harassment,” according to a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

Those students and others supportive of Israel “have been subjected to an alarming increase in anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism over the past five years,” according to a statement issued Friday by the Louis B. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which helped prepare the complaint.

Over that period, multiple swastikas have allegedly been scrawled across the campus; menorahs and mezuzahs have allegedly been vandalized; and windows of Jewish fraternities have allegedly been “smashed with bricks,” according to the statement. What’s more, pro-Palestine students have also allegedly glorified members of terrorist organizations, assailed Jewish students and their allies with epithets like “Nazi” and “white supremacist” and turned university diversity training “into anti-Israel indoctrination.”

The complaint alleges that university administrators have failed to provide “a discrimination-free academic setting” despite being notified of the “developing hostile environment.” The statement also claims that some university employees have “been complicit” in fostering that environment.

* This press release excerpt is probably even more infuriating…

“Jewish students at UIUC have been targeted for years,” said Alyza D. Lewin, President of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. “We gave UIUC seven months since the complaint was filed to address the ongoing harassment. In the face of continuous stall tactics and almost no action from the university, we decided to publicize our efforts. We hope public awareness of this dire situation will prompt the university to finally acknowledge and address the egregious anti-Semitic harassment it has swept under the rug for far too long.”

The complaint is here. Incident summary is here.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Democratic Rep. Jonathan Carroll…

The Jewish Caucus has offered to work with and given the University of Illinois every opportunity to address this issue. Instead of taking this seriously, they’ve done absolutely nothing about it. We’ll continue supporting Jewish students throughout the state and stand up for their basic civil rights.

*** UPDATE 2 *** From the university…

We have not been contacted by the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) regarding any official complaint against the university, but the lawyers who submitted it to OCR in March also submitted it later to an organization that accredits the university. We were asked this summer to respond to the complaint. After receiving our response, that organization determined that the allegations raised in the complaint do not indicate substantive noncompliance with their requirements and that no further review would be conducted.

Throughout this time, the university has been engaged in a long, meaningful and what we believed was a collaborative discussion about the concerns raised by the involved parties, so it is very disheartening that they chose to stop engaging with us. We are disappointed with the approach this group has taken to move our conversation to the media, but we are absolutely committed to an inclusive university community where everyone feels welcome.

One of our core institutional values is ensuring that people of all faiths, ethnicities, national origins and viewpoints can live, learn and thrive. We will never tolerate bigotry, racism or hate, and we condemn acts and expressions of anti-Semitism.

Robin Kaler, Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs

*** UPDATE 3 *** Democratic Rep. Bob Morgan…

I’m aware that antisemitism has been on the rise at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, my alma mater. I hope the university will take steps to immediately and meaningfully confront this dangerous trend. As a Jewish UIUC alum and former ISG president, I expect more from a school that means so much to me and all of Illinois.

*** UPDATE 4 *** Jewish United Fund…

It is with deep sadness that JUF has consulted on a U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights complaint against the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) due to an increasingly hostile environment for Jewish students in violation of federal law.

Antisemitic harassment is expressly prohibited under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

JUF cares deeply about UIUC as the flagship public University of our state, approximately 8% of whose student body is Jewish. Those Jewish students deserve the same level of protections afforded to every student population which faces discrimination. That in our own backyard, UIUC has permitted a hostile climate to exist is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. JUF will always stand up for Jews when our safety and security is threatened.

Even after five years of intensive discussion with JUF, UIUC has consistently chosen to turn its back on the Jewish community and allowed a hostile climate to fester. Incidents ranged from swastikas scrawled on campus dorms and a university-sponsored training with antisemitic content to repeated BDS campaigns and concomitant harassment of Jewish students on campus and in social media.

JUF calls on the University to do the right thing to swiftly rectify the current situation and return to being a place of pride for our community. We will continue to work with the University and will also continue to support active Jewish life through our Illini Hillel Cohen Center for Jewish Life.