* Gov. Pritzker began his briefing today by talking about testing. From a press release…

Expanding COVID-19 testing capabilities in the State of Illinois is a crucial part of the state’s plan to Restore Illinois. With increased testing we can make educated decisions that protect our state, our communities and our families. Today, the State is announcing new drive-thru COVID-19 testing facilities will be available in the coming days on Chicago’s southside (May 16), Champaign (May 19), Rolling Meadows (May 20), while drive-thru and walk-up services will be offered in Peoria (May 23).  These free community services will be open seven days a week to test individuals with COVID-19 symptoms and those employees who support critical services.

“Not everyone with COVID-19 has symptoms. Without greater testing, it is difficult to know who is infected with this virus. This could mean a person who thinks they are healthy may unknowingly pass the virus to someone else, potentially with deadly consequences. I encourage residents in these areas to take advantage of this opportunity to get tested for free and to take action to help prevent further spread of the virus,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of Illinois Department of Public Health.

All individuals with symptoms are encouraged to seek testing at these Community Based Testing Sites. Additional accommodations have been made for the following individuals with or without COVID-like symptoms. 

• Healthcare workers  

• First Responders

• Employees of Correctional Facilities

• Individuals exposed to confirmed COVID-19 patients

• Employees that support Critical Infrastructure (grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, gas stations, public utilities, factories, childcare and sanitation)

• All local and state government employees 

• Individuals with compromised immune systems, chronic medical conditions

* The governor also talked about positivity rates…

Our current seven day average is 12%. The cumulative statewide positivity rate since way back in February is 16.8%.

Looking back, remember that our peak positivity rate was on April 4, when 23.6% of tests back positive on a rolling average. I would urge caution and reading too far into this decline as there is a strong inverse correlation between the number of tests taken per day, and the associated positive rate, meaning that part of the reason for the lower positivity rate can be attributed to our increased testing.

Remember, we surpassed 10,000 tests per day for the first time on April,24, and we’ve stayed above 11,000 every day since then. Over the last seven days we’ve nearly doubled that, with an average of 20,000 tests per day. The good news is that our current statewide positivity rate, under 14% on average for the last 14 days, that’s likely becoming a better indicator of the true infection rate from the general public than it was when testing was probably limited expanding testing.

Please remember to pardon all transcription errors.

* On to questions. The question was about Iowa and his concerns…

We’re not collecting the data about people who are crossing over from Iowa. But there is a lot of data about people who are gathering together in large groups. We know that there is a widespread positivity rate everywhere in the nation. There are COVID positive people that are walking around, and maybe not taking the proper social distancing or precautions. But either way, I am concerned, I am genuinely concerned that with no stay at home order in place in Iowa people who are traveling across the border and in gathering in large groups or going into restaurants or bars or getting in close contact with others will come back to Illinois and spread it. And there is lots of evidence of that sort of spread taking place not necessarily across that border because there isn’t data about that border in particular, but there’s lots of evidence of asymptomatic spread. And that’s the reason remember originally for a stay at home order. We still have a lot of people are walking around untested, who have COVID-19.

That’s why I’ve told you more testing leads to more positive results. Because we know people are out there but haven’t been tested. They are in fact symptomatic carriers. That’s my concern and I would just warn the people of the Quad Cities region, be extraordinarily careful I would suggest that if you’re looking for the opportunity to get together to do the things that you’ve been doing in the past to go into a retail store or something like that. We’re 14 days away according to the data from you being able to do that and we’ve done so well up to now I hope you’ll continue on the same course.

* In light of you saying you’re worried about neighboring states opening too early and people crossing the border into Indiana and Wisconsin and bringing the virus back to Illinois, have you joined your family at your Wisconsin home and if not, how are they ensuring they don’t bring the virus back to you?…

Well, I am as you know isolated at home. So, I have not joined anybody in another state.

I’m safe at home and I’m not a carrier in any way if that’s your question.

I think that’s part of the question but also if they are out of state how will you then ensure they don’t bring the virus back to you?…

So, let me begin by saying that my wife and my daughter were in Florida before the stay at home, shelter in place orders were put in place. And they stayed there when the orders were put in place, they sheltered in place, as was the order and the suggestion.

And they have since returned home and isolated for a period of time. But they’re home now and they’re safe and no one is a carrier.

I shouldn’t say that definitively because the reality is that anytime you walk out the door, even if you’re wearing a mask I mean there is some possibility that people could become infected. So please don’t assume that someone can’t be a carrier that they think is possible, but we’re taking every precaution.

* Georgia which has a population similar to Illinois and a similar COVID-19 spread pattern is reopened basically and not demonstrating the potential transmission you’ve referenced possible in the past here. Can you say you’re reopening policy is working when it appears other states are outperforming Illinois, in terms of a restart and go back and redo anything to, what would it be?…

Well, I think that ignores a whole lot of different facts about Illinois than about Georgia, or another state. First of all, we have a major global city in Chicago, that has international passengers that were passing through coming to and staying in Chicago and even traveling throughout the state of Illinois, that’s you know that’s a, that’s one fact, to take note of. Another is that whatever the circumstances were or are in Georgia, we know what the pattern of the spread has been in Illinois. We know that the R Naughtthe essentially the rate at which it spreads come way down as a result of the stay at home rules that we put in place the order has really brought that R Naught down from 3.6 around 3.6 all the way down to near one. And that’s tremendous I mean that’s, I can’t speak to what other states R Naught sort of go into because I haven’t watched every state or the particular one you mentioned.

And lastly, I would say that when things open up here’s why it’s important that you have a period of time that you are gradually opening, because you are going to get a higher infection rate that’s just sort of a fact of life in a pandemic with no treatment with no nothing to stop the virus are going to get spread. We are testing, as much as anybody could at this point. Like I said, we’re among the top states for testing. So, we’re finding more people are positive here. But that doesn’t mean there are a lot of people that are positive and other state that aren’t being tested.

Lastly, I would just say that it takes weeks between the time that you open things up. That’s why you want this period of time, and a gradual opening it takes weeks and weeks, between the time that you open things up when people start interacting with one another and maybe you see in the cell phone data of people’s interactions and the time that they end up going to the hospital. The time that they end up on a ventilator and the time that unfortunately they may pass. So, these are all things that are perhaps unique from one place to another, other than the fact that the virus knows no boundaries and the virus only knows that it is sort of searching for the next person to infect.

* What do you say to small charter operators that are asking how a couple can fly to Chicago, take a train downtown, hop a bus to a harbor, and then be refused to board a small boat or a private sightseeing tour of Chicago’s lakefront miles offshore? Is this an entirely arbitrary policy and are you considering loosening those rules?…

The policies around air travel are not set by the state of Illinois. They are set by the federal government. So that’s the first thing when you say people are flying. That’s not under our control that is a decision by the federal government.

Secondly, we obviously a lot of work has been done to try to make sure that the trains, whether they’re, we’re talking CTA RTA or others are cleaned, you know are kept in condition, so that there’s a minimizing of any potential spread, not suggesting that one couldn’t contract it possible it’s possible really anywhere. But if people are taking the proper precautions, then it’s okay.

Now you’re saying, why wouldn’t we allow lots of people on a boat or why wouldn’t we open up Navy Pier, or something like that? The reality is that again when we see lots of people getting together in a single place, and one could easily bring a COVID-19 into that environment and spread it, we’ve seen the circumstances you read stories no doubt about someone who was infected infecting 100 other people in a location with a lot of people in a room in a boat and something else. So all I can say is that we’re doing the best that we can with the rules that we have in place. The orders, really are following the science, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job in Illinois, we have a ways to go, and certainly along the way to completely defeating the virus which isn’t under our control entirely, something that I think medical science and the researchers are going to have to ultimately come up with a vaccine for.

* It sounds to me like what you’re saying regarding like a boat or charter operators, and even if they were able to present a plan that they could do reservation only thoroughly clean boats in between tours allow let’s say only two or four people. It doesn’t sound like you’re at a point where you’re saying you’re willing or able to loosen those rules…

Well, again, we have rules in place now around two people in a boat as a limitation. It’s really for the purposes of advancing, people just as a leisure time want to go fishing and want to have somebody with them and you know the theory is that a typical boat might allow distance between two people in a boat that was at least a recommendation that we received around boating. When you talk about reopening a business, again, I want to reopen everything as fast as everybody else does. But I just want to be clear that when you get a group of people, jammed together in a space. There is potential for spread and we’re trying to avoid that. But in phase three and phase four you can read it yourself, there are opportunities for people to get together in an increasing amount.

He was then asked a question about the Abbott Labs rapid tests. Click here for more info.

* Response to the five Republican congressman who have sent you a letter raising concerns that you threatened to withhold federal funding in the state?…

My response is that they understand, I’m sure that the laws of the state need to be followed, that the executive orders of the state need to be followed and we will pursue enforcement actions wherever necessary, where people are flaunting the health and safety, they’re ignoring the rules that would keep people safe in their communities. So I know those five congressmen and I have spoken with them over the course of my term in office. I know they have the best interests of their constituents at heart but in this case I think they’re missing the point.

* Governor in late April you said the state was monitoring study about antibody tests but you were hesitant to recommend any because of the inconsistency in results. Has anything changed since then?…

There is a lot of work that’s been done, I’d like to turn it over to Dr Ezike because she understands these antibody tests better than I do, but I’ll just say that there is a lot of work that’s been done around these antibody tests and to my knowledge anyway there are quite a number of them that are ineffectual or not really the kinds of tests that will be useful for us. We want to be able to parse between those kinds of tests, which ones are effective which ones not but I’ll turn it over to Dr Ezike for a more informed view.

Dr. Ezike: So we are trying to learn as much as we can, along with the rest of the country and the rest of the world to see how these antibody tests can be a part of our reopening of the state. And so we do, we have just convened a group of experts of hospital epidemiologist, immunologist, biologists, academicians from across the state who will be convening to try to gather some of the information that’s around there and give you official guidance. You’ve probably heard reports from the feds that even if, and I think the WHO has said this publicly as well. But even if we do know that people develop antibodies, it’s not clear how long that protection would last, it’s not clear the level of antibodies that would be protective. So there’s a, I think there’s more questions than answers at this point. But we have some people in the state that have been doing a lot of antibody testing and so I’d like to see what we can garner maybe if there is some useful information, maybe it’s not specific as to okay you’re good to go and you’ll be immune for the next 10 years but maybe there’s some helpful information that can be garnered so we have a very esteemed group that’s convening to gather some information and see what our official guidance will be.

* Under your reopening plan to get to phase four testing must be widely available in each region regardless of symptoms or underlying risk factors. How close is the state to getting to reaching that sort of testing capacity that would allow for that?…

More testing is better and so, what’s the definition of adequate testing. The answer is that we want it widely available and so we, in my view, as we open up more testing sites and as we make available more materials for testing, I think we’re in a much better place. So we’re making a lot of progress I feel like we’re on a path to being in that spot as needed for every region of the state.

* What are your thoughts about the Naperville park district’s plans to pursue legal action seeking authority to reopen summer programming and facilities, independent of the timeline and Restore Illinois?…

Again, all I can say is that they should be following the data and the science here and not their guts. I too would like to allow all children my own included to participate in summer sports and group [garbled]. I hope we’ll be able to do that soon enough as we move through the phases of the plan and the Restore Illinois plan but I recommend against it. And of course you know people have every right to go to the courts. Too many people choose that. I think, in this circumstance and and so you know I realized that the the local officials there are going to do whatever it is that they want to do but I wish they would show some leadership.

* New questions about the whereabouts of your family, do you want to address that?…

Let me first say that I’ve been private and reserved when it comes to my children. And it’s because there are threats to my safety and to their safety. And so you’ve seen that there are people that stand outside the Thompson Center and stand outside the Capitol in Springfield, the whole thing I mean hateful signs that reference me personally, and that suggests, if not say, but suggests potential for violence.

And so, I told you earlier that my wife and daughter were down in Florida in early March, and in fact even a little before that, and you know they sheltered in place when the stay at home order came up and they stayed there until very recently.

So, we have a working farm there [Wisconsin]. There are animals on that farm, that is the central function to take care of animals at a farm and so you know that’s what they’re doing and I would hope that the GOP the Republican super PAC that’s pushing stories like this about my family would stop doing it because they are putting my children and my family in danger.

…Adding… The governor’s office clarified that his family is in Chicago, but they have visited the farm in Wisconsin.

* Has Illinois seen any confirmed cases of reinfection among people who have recovered? Are you following reports of reinfection and do you have any concerns about that?…

Dr. Ezike: Yes, I mean I get as much as I’m able to watch the news, I follow what everyone else has seen and I remember there was initially some cases, I believe it was out of Korea where they cited dozens if not hundreds of individuals who supposedly had been reinfected after an earlier infection. And I think I saw a follow up story regarding that saying that in fact, the test had been positive but it wasn’t active infection so it wasn’t a clear case of reinfection So, again, I don’t have the answers in terms of how long immunity lasts and if people can get reinfected. We know that there are diseases for which people do have lifelong immunity. We know that there are diseases that people receive a vaccine and then that immunity wanes. So again, this is a new virus, I think time is going to have to tell us that as we look around the world and see cases and cases of infection that have happened earlier, we’ll follow those down the road to see if in fact people do have real infection later on down the road. I don’t have the answer but we will continue to follow the science which will give us the answer.

* How many Illinois testing sites are relying on ABS rapid tests? And do we have plans to make changes?…

I want to be clear that the state doesn’t own a whole bunch of Abbott machines. The federal government did send us 15 machines, but they didn’t send us any many cartridges to go with itt o use the machines but they sent the machines. And so we have used some of those cartridges that we received. There are places that are using their own cartridges and as I say, we can’t control what they do. What we can do is look at the data as it comes to us as it gets reported to us, and just make sure we’re aware where that data came from. But, of course, I want to repeat that I want to discourage those folks from using it until they know what the FDA guidance will be to make sure that the sensitivity is proper to get the results that I think we all hope and expect to get from the COVID-19 test.

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