React to Pritzker’s new plan
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Manufacturers’ Association…
“Illinois’ economy has been devastated by this pandemic, which has put at risk not just lives but also livelihoods. While many manufacturers across the state have continued operating to produce needed medical products, safe and nutritious food, and equipment for our first responders, others are eager to start production and put people back to work,” said Mark Denzler, president & CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “We appreciate Gov. Pritzker’s focus on a plan that puts Illinois on a path to safely re-opening. Manufacturers are ready to unleash their full economic might to help restore our state’s economy.”
* Senate President Don Harmon…
“This is the kind of forward-looking plan that people across Illinois have been expecting. It offers hope during economic dark days while reminding everyone of how dangerous and deadly this virus remains. That another 176 people lost their lives to COVID-19 in the past day tells us that the enemy is still out there. We will get through this together by following the advice of medical professionals and public health experts.”
* Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza…
“I want to thank Gov. Pritzker for his carefully-thought-out, science-based approach to restoring Illinois, region by region. I appreciate the leadership, concern and compassion he has demonstrated to the entire state during this awful and deadly COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The governor’s Restore Illinois plan provides all of us with a predictable road map for reopening Illinois.
“If we all follow these guidelines, we will move forward. Not adhering to these protocols will move us backward, jeopardizing all of our shared sacrifice to date and lead to many more needless deaths at the hands of an invisible enemy. We all look forward to the days when we can all get back to normal. In the meantime, we need to exhibit personal responsibility and look out for each other. I believe we will get through this together.”
This post will be updated as responses come in. The House Republicans say they are still evaluating the plan.
* Rep. Mike Murphy (R-Springfield)…
“I’m glad the Governor has finally heard our calls for a regional approach to addressing COVID-19 and a plan for safely reopening our state. The unintended consequences of the one size fits all approach has been devastating for families and small businesses across central Illinois,” said Murphy. “However, the timetable for implementation in different regions, the ability of informed local officials to be a part of the decision-making process, and the vagueness of requirements leave too many unanswered questions. Saying it will be a regional approach is one thing, but if the decisions are still being made by someone from outside our region with limited local consultation, then we still risk being the victim of a one size fits all cure that does more harm than the virus itself.”
* Senate GOP Leader Bill Brady…
Ensuring the public’s health remains our top priority, and any loss of life as a result of this deadly disease is a tragedy. While it is important to have a plan that gives us hope, we need to look at it in greater detail. However, the question of why Illinois needs to maintain a 28-day window before moving between phases, as opposed to the 14-day recommendation of Dr. Fauci, which is what states like New York are using in their reopening plans, needs to be answered.
* This is all I’ve seen from the HGOP…
Nothing at all from Speaker Madigan.
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* Let’s talk about this first of the four regions. Do you see any of them, can you look ahead and Dr Zika and think that any of those four regions on May 29 might be moving to phase three?…
Remember this is a data driven and science driven plan, and so everybody will be able to watch, it’s hard for me to just pick out a region and say, what will happen in the future. There have been a lot of things that have happened that no one expected, so it’s hard for me to point at a region and say this one might go first. But I think that people will be able to follow it every single day going on the IDPH website, they’ll be able to see what the metrics are and whether they’re meeting those metrics.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* I thought we were already having gatherings of 10, why is it phase three that it’s only 10?…
We have actually have not we have essential gatherings of 10 that are available now things that fit in that essential category, but in the next phase it would be any gathering of 10 that people want to have.
* And then phase four is 50, not exactly a huge crowd either…
Again I’ll remind you, the virus is still out there and if maybe things will change. Maybe we will have a very successful treatment to offer to people and therefore we’ll be able to change the guidance for that phase. But as for now that’s what we see going forward.
* But to go from 50 to then everything’s open with phase five is a huge leap…
It is but remember that the gate for getting to phase five is that there’s a vaccine, or a highly effective treatment or that by virtue of herd immunity there just aren’t any new cases coming up.
* So schools, are you saying schools should not open until phase five?…
No, no schools can open in phase four, but again things going forward, Maryann will look different. There’s no doubt about it I mean already as you are walking the streets, you can see people are wearing face coverings. They will still need to do that in phase three, they’ll still need to do that in phase four if there’s no effective treatment that’s available, because people will still have the ability to get sick.
* It doesn’t sound important, obviously with so much going on and so many lives loss but when you say conventions festivals, let’s just say the word Lollapalooza so that folks who asked, you’re saying no way…
I’m saying that if you follow the data and you’ll look at how fast things could happen. I mean, like I said, if there is an effective treatment that comes out, and people can see that really you won’t get that sick if you get COVID-19, then I think, you know, all bets are off, you know you could, things could get worse.
* Let’s be honest, I mean we’re in May right now and that’s, July, August, that’s not going to happen…
I think people will make their own projections going forward about the likelihood of it. I’m hopeful, I must say when I see things like remdesivir getting approved and it having some effect for people who get sick, not you know not dying and you know being able to recover. That’s just one of 70 treatments that’s being examined right now and under trials. So I have some real hope that one of those or several of those will become available widely.
* We went from such few deaths the last couple of days, and still every single death is important. I’m not trying to minimalize, but to go to 176 is so many overnight are is every single one of those Dr. Ezike, are they all COVID… How are they classified because some are questioning truly are they all COVID related?…
Can I just answer it just the first part and then I’ll turn it over to the doctor, which is that one thing I think people should note is they should really look at a multi day average because, as you saw, we had 46 one day, and 170 to another and I even said yesterday, I think, in answer to a question from David McKinney, that you can’t look at one day’s results, and think that you know what direction things are going. And so you really need to look at a multi day average but I’d be happy to turn it over to Dr Ezike about the validity of whether somebody is considered COVID-19.
Dr. Ezike: No, everyone that is listed did have a test that was positive for COVID-19 so it’s not assumptions or guess there was a positive COVID test to confirm that that person had proven.
* Elizabeth Matthews at fox 32, again about masks, I do see facilities are being asked to bring in their own masks from home, even homemade masks at the Taylorville Correctional Center. Our inmates are getting face masks once a week, but not the staff. Is that what is being instructed from the state?…
Oh no that’s not being instructed, I don’t know why that would be I’ll certainly look into it, but I can tell you that we are providing PPE to every facility, Taylorville and every other facility that we control as a state to make sure that we’re protecting people who are either staff members at those facilities or residents.
* Several people have asked me about the Chicago Tribune article about a mutant more contagious coronavirus. Have either of you heard about this, is it possible that it’s a threat here in Illinois?…
Dr. Ezike: I’m not sure I’ve read the exact article that you’re referring to, but in my discussions with [garbled] I do understand that there are two very presentations that they’re seeing of this virus, so whether that’s different strains but there’s a much more lethal strain that’s harder to deal with on the ventilator they’re seeing. Just a more aggressive progressive illness that again the settings as they tried to adjust the settings on the ventilator they just can’t get the right ,settings to be able to help appropriately oxygenate these people and deal with the acute respiratory distress syndrome. And then we see others that don’t have that more malignant course and so I don’t know if that’s what you’re referring to, but I definitely have heard that described that this H variant and this L variant and so I know there’s some articles that have come out about that and I think that is that is well described in both the literature and what I’ve heard from clinicians, here in Illinois.
* Some businesses are already quietly opening with under 10 people and socially distancing, what kind of action might the state take against those businesses?…
Again what we’ve asked is local law enforcement, other officials at a local level should remind people that they can have their permits, their licenses removed from them for opening. There is action that the state can take and enforcement but we’re trying not to, we’re looking to ask people in their local communities to remind the folks who are going against the order that they’re putting other people at risk. And of course I think most people, as we know most people in Illinois are doing the right thing, and they won’t be patronizing those stores, knowing that they may be spreading the virus.
* Any reaction to President Trump last night speaking about cities and states that are run by Democrats, that the democrats in blue states are implying that they are the only ones asking for a bailout? Does Illinois need a bailout from the federal government, police, fire and teachers?…
It’s just so sad that the President has made this political. The fact is that every state, and I talked to Republican governors and Democratic governors, you can imagine what’s happened, in every state revenues have fallen off a cliff right because of stay at home orders or because people don’t want to go out those states that are dependent upon sales taxes alone and no income taxes. They’ve gone, you know, really truly into the deep end of the well. And then income taxes as you know in Illinois, we had to postpone collecting income taxes here, and did so because the federal government postponed federal income taxes until July. So everybody’s got this problem, it’s not a Democratic or Republican problem who are looking for more help from the federal government and we’re gonna get through this. Indeed, I was on a call with Governor Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, as well as many other governors with the White House, and we all were expressing the same thing which is, we’re all going to need help in this next package of relief, because remember states are providing states and local governments are providing the supports that people need. We’re the ones who are keeping the police on the streets were the ones who are, making sure that firefighters are available. We’re the ones who are providing the healthcare supports that people need when they’re having trouble with COVID-19 recovering from COVID-19, or just need to isolate because someone in their household may have COVID-19. And so we’re going to need help to make sure that we’re able to do all of those things. And going forward, this is not ending as you know this virus is still out there. And until we see a vaccine or a serious treatment, this is something that the states are going to be dealing with it is extraordinarily expensive.
What we’re looking for though is support for the lost revenues that all the states have experienced. Nothing more, nothing less. It would not go to serve to help pay the pension problems, they know that is not what I’m seeking.
* State Representative Kam Buckner, perhaps you’ve seen on Twitter, his profile, the story of what it was like for him shopping with a mask, when he left asked for ID. Question made you feel as if perhaps he was not there honorably. What do you think of that?…
Yeah, I’m saddened by it I read the tweets and truth truly I think this is happening.
And it’s something that we’re looking into. We obviously believe that there is discriminatory behavior taking place here, so we’re going to make sure that we try to address it.
* Greg Bishop wants to know as the legislature appears to be gearing up, outside of the budget and addressing laws with sunsets, what else should the legislature accomplish this year?…
You know, I can tell you that it will be at least before, my guess is before May, that there’ll be a relatively limited number of things that can get accomplished, just by virtue of how difficult it is to get all of those people together in one place and then to ask people to stay overnight, where they may need hotel rooms or something else. And this is a big state and representatives come from all over the state hours away. So it may be very difficult to do a lot during the month of May, and certainly while we’re in the stay at home order and need to remain in this order.
But you know there are things being talked about. A question was asked yesterday about the Chicago casino bill and whether that could get passed. There you have to prioritize all these things a budget certainly is a priority high priority. So I would suggest that we start with the highest priority and work our way down.
* Are the nurses hired from McCormick Place being reassigned to nursing homes?…
Dr. Ezike: We are in fact providing some healthcare personnel to a variety of locations where there is a staffing problem. You understand that, that when people are tested positive, staff at a facility are tested positive, perhaps multiple of them, they need to isolate and there aren’t a lot of healthcare personnel available these days, because everybody is dealing with this crisis. Every healthcare person, or every member of the healthcare profession, even those who are retired have come back into it and still there is a bit of a shortage here so we are providing wherever we can some help to these facilities.
* How do we know this long plateau that we seem to be experiencing is not in fact, a baseline level of infection, until there’s a vaccine, or stronger mitigation?…
What I can say is that we’ve seen a directionally significant reduction in the R naught, you’ve heard us talk about that. We’ve seen directionally that coming down to a plateau in other places has led to a drop off on the proper side of the curve. And so we anticipate that this is not much different than that.
* How can a school with more than 50 students open safely in phase four? I’m assuming you’re saying that schools don’t have to abide by the 50 right?…
There would be strict IDPH guidelines for schools and we talked about this early on when we were trying to figure out if we needed to close schools or not, that, could you have classrooms of [garbled] kids meeting, if the restriction was 50 for example. And would that work and so the answer is IDPH is going to be working with schools on how they can best do this coming into the fall assuming that we’re in phase four.
* With the four regions, coming back to this news today, that you’ve identified Chicago and Cook County alone have by far the majority of the cases. How is it fair to a group, let’s say McHenry County with only 800 cases into that region when neighboring Winnebago county and Rockford had a close, 680, are these four regions set in stone? Are you willing to look on a closer county level?…
[This was done] many many many years ago as part of the IDPH plan for emergency medical services. That’s why they’re in the regions that they’re in. I know that someone living on the border of a county that might be in another region might have a differing opinion, but this is the way that the IDPH and public health professionals look at the state, because it’s really about hospital bed availability and the ability for us to manage a surge, if there are a surge of cases.
* Illinois base revenues in April fell $2.6 billion below last year. COGFA says it will put out revised estimates soon for FY 20 and 21. When will we see specific plans from the administration for adjusting this year’s and next year’s budgets?…
We’re again talking to members of the General Assembly, working together with them, I know they have plans, thinking about getting together in May. And so my hope is that we’ll be able to work together on a budget for the year. This is clearly the most unusual budget that anybody will have ever seen because, who has ever seen at least in our lifetimes. The drop off of revenue, because of a pandemic. And so there’s no doubt there’s going to have to be a lot of collaboration, even across the aisle to get things done.
* Where do things stand with your commitment to coordinate reopening with other Midwest governors, have you been meeting what will this coordination look like what areas are you focused on?…
Well, again, the coordination is a sharing of best ideas and a common set of of principles that we’re all operating on, that we don’t want to lift restrictions too fast and have a overwhelming of our hospitals, and so on, all the things that we’re talking about and you can see those reflected in the plans that other Midwestern governors have put out.
* Can you please explain in detail the testing and hospitalization thresholds to move from phase two, to phase three and then phase three phase four?…
I would just direct you to that there’s a plan that we put out and sent out to all the members of the media. If you don’t have it certainly our press secretary will send it to you. But that’s got the details in it.
Click here for that detailed plan.
* As regions of the state reopen if some are progressing through the phases in your plan more quickly than others, how do you address people moving between the different regions, would you implement restrictions to prevent infections between regions?…
We’re not restricting travel here. But this is an opportunity for people to start to move toward more normalcy, and certainly you know we want the entire state to enjoy more normalcy. And it’s just a matter of making sure that people who live in certain regions have access to health care, and that those hospitals are not overwhelmed.
* What are the state’s plans for operating nursing homes if workers follow through on their plans to start striking on Friday, has your administration talked to the owners who will ensure the residents care continues?…
We certainly have encouraged both sides to reach an agreement. I think there’s a desire on the part of both sides to reach an agreement. But, you know, but I wouldn’t put a plan out there. I think that they know that they must reach an agreement to make sure we’re taking care of our seniors.
* The Franklin Williamson bi-county health department has asked IDPH about enforcement guidance after West Frankfort Mayor Tom Jordan gave the go ahead to all city businesses to reopen. What guidance if any is IDPH offering?…
Dr. Ezike: So again, I have talked to local health department leaders, my local health department partners, they’re not they’re not law enforcement. We are trying to advocate the best things for overall the public’s health. I don’t want to put people in harm’s way by instigating altercations. I know that there is law enforcement that hopefully is supporting this order. supporting the measures and is going to be able to encourage people. It’s not anybody’s goal to round up people and put them in jail right. We don’t want to put somebody in a congregate setting to start with. So let’s just work together. We’re looking for people to take responsibility and do the right thing. We’re not looking to create a police state where we’re marching around and trying to put people in jail. We want to protect people’s health and we want everyone to help us do that and I hope that we can all understand why these things are in place so that we can affect the best possible outcome for the people of Illinois.
Gov. Pritzker: And I would just point out that elected officials who are encouraging people to gather to break these rules are in fact encouraging people to get sick. That’s what’s going to happen if you tell the people of your city, of your township, of your county to just go out and ignore these orders. These are doctors who are issuing these who are suggesting these things this is science and data. And I guess if you don’t believe in science and data and you’re an elected official, you’re not doing the public service that you ought to be doing for the people that elected you.
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*** UPDATE *** Click here to read the full plan in its entirety.
* Press release…
Building on data, science, and guidance from public health experts and after consulting with stakeholders across the state, Governor JB Pritzker announced Restore Illinois, a five-phase plan focused on saving lives, livelihood, and safely reopening Illinois.
“”We have to figure out how to live with COVID-19 until it can be vanquished – and to do so in a way that best supports our residents’ health and our healthcare systems, and saves the most lives,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Restore Illinois is a public health plan to safely reintroduce the parts of our lives that have been put on hold in our fight against COVID-19. This is also a data-driven plan that operates on a region-by-region basis, a recognition that reality on the ground looks different in different areas of our state.”
The five-phase plan is guided by public health metrics designed to provide a framework for reopening businesses, education, and recreational activities in each phase. This initial plan can and will be updated as research and science develop and as the potential for effective treatments or vaccines is realized.
The five-phase plan is based on regional healthcare availability and recognizes the distinct impact COVID-19 has had on different regions of our state as well as regional variations in hospital capacity. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has 11 Emergency Medical Services Regions that have traditionally guided its statewide public health work. For the purposes of Restore Illinois, from those 11, four health regions are established, each with the ability to independently move through a phased approach: Northeast Illinois; North-Central Illinois; Central Illinois; and Southern Illinois.
The five phases of reopening for each health region are as follows:
Phase 1 – Rapid Spread: The rate of infection among those tested and the number of patients admitted to the hospital is high or rapidly increasing. Strict stay at home and social distancing guidelines are put in place and only essential businesses remain open. Every region has experienced this phase once already and could return to it if mitigation efforts are unsuccessful.
Phase 2 – Flattening: The rate of infection among those tested and the number of patients admitted to the hospital beds and ICU beds increases at an ever slower rate, moving toward a flat and even a downward trajectory. Non-essential retail stores reopen for curb-side pickup and delivery. Illinoisans are directed to wear a face covering when outside the home, and can begin enjoying additional outdoor activities like golf, boating and fishing while practicing social distancing. To varying degrees, every region is experiencing flattening as of early May.
Phase 3 – Recovery: The rate of infection among those tested, the number of patients admitted to the hospital, and the number of patients needing ICU beds is stable or declining. Manufacturing, offices, retail, barbershops and salons can reopen to the public with capacity and other limits and safety precautions. All gatherings limited to 10 or fewer people are allowed. Face coverings and social distancing are the norm.
Phase 4 – Revitalization: The rate of infection among those tested and the number of patients admitted to the hospital continues to decline. All gatherings of up to 50 people are allowed, restaurants and bars reopen, travel resumes, child care and schools reopen under guidance from the IDPH. Face coverings and social distancing are the norm.
Phase 5 – Illinois Restored: With a vaccine or highly effective treatment widely available or the elimination of any new cases over a sustained period, the economy fully reopens with safety precautions continuing. Conventions, festivals and large events are permitted, and all businesses, schools, and places of recreation can open with new safety guidance and procedures in place reflecting the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until COVID-19 is defeated, Restore Illinois recognizes that as health metrics tell us it is safe to move forward, health metrics may also tell us to return to a prior phase. With a vaccine or treatment not yet available, IDPH will be closely monitoring key metrics to immediately identify new growth in cases and hospitalizations to determine whether a return to a prior phase is needed.
As millions of Illinoisans continue working together by staying at home and following experts’ recommendations, the result has been a lower infection rate, lower hospitalizations, and lower number of fatalities than without these measures. As the state’s curve begins to flatten, the risk of spread remains, and modeling and data point to a rapid surge in new cases if all mitigation measures are immediately lifted. The governor and his administration continue to urge all Illinois residents to follow the state’s stay at home order and to follow the guidance issued by the state and public health experts.
Click here or on the image discussing the phases if you’re having trouble seeing the pic.
Discuss.
…Adding… I’ve asked what this “continues to decline” stuff means. For how long must these rates decline?
*** UPDATE 1 *** I’m told a multi-page plan is about to be sent out, so we’ll get the answer to that question I posed soon, apparently.
Pritzker clarified that Phase One ended on April 30. Phase 2 is where the state is right now.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor is going into more detail today…
IDPH will watch the identified health metrics closely to determine when regions have attained them so each can move from phase two, to phases three and four. And more specifically those metrics are:
First, a region must be at or under a 20% test positivity rate and increasing by no more than 10 percentage points over a 14 day period, and a region must have either not had an overall increase or must have maintained overall stability in hospital admissions for COVID like illness in the last 28 days, and a region must maintain the availability of a surge threshold of 14% availability of ICU beds of medical and surgery beds and ventilators.
Because May 1 marked the beginning of phase two in which we loosened and modified a number of mitigations, that is the first day for the 14 and 28 day measurement periods to begin, meaning that the earliest that a region can move to phase three is May 29.
Changes to mitigation strategies in each phase will impact the data in each phase. So the assessment period begins when each new phase begins. IDPH will be tracking each of the four regions on these metrics, and we’ll make that available data available online to you every day, so that the public can track it to. Importantly, just as public health indicators will tell us when to move forward at any time. They could also signal that we need to move backward. IDPH will be tracking metrics here as well, moving backward is honestly the last thing that anyone wants to do. But if the virus begins to attack more people or the healthcare systems are heading toward becoming overwhelmed in any region swift action will need to be taken.
We have named phase four “revitalization” because it is in this phase that everyone in Illinois will be rebuilding what school and work will look like for a while, until we reach the other side of this pandemic.
The only way that we can cross into phase five “Illinois restored,” with all the sectors of the economy running with completely normal operations is with a vaccine, or a widely available and highly effective treatment or with the elimination of any new cases over a sustained period of time.
It brings me no joy to say this, but based on what the experts tell us, and everything we know about this virus and how easily it spreads in a crowd, large conventions festivals and other major events will be on hold until we reach phase five.
* More from the governor…
I spent decades in business, so I understand the urge to try and flip the switch and reopen our entire economy. Here’s the problem: that switch simply does not exist with a virus that can’t currently be eliminated by medical science. And I won’t open the door to overwhelming our hospital system and possibly 10s of thousands of additional deaths by exposing everyone to the virus today just because a loud but tiny minority would like to indulge in that fantasy.
On that note, I do want to touch on the enforcement of these phases at the state level. We don’t have the capacity or the desire to police the individual behavior of 12.7 million people. Enforcement comes in many forms. And our first and best option is to rely on Illinoisans working together to see each other through this pandemic. But we are also working with local law enforcement, and I’ve asked for their assistance to monitor for violations and consider taking actions when necessary, but that is not the option that anyone prefers.
It’s important to remember that we put this plan together not only because the state needs a plan, but because mayors need a plan, because small business people need a plan, workers need a plan every day Illinoisans need a plan. But this plan as vetted and data driven as it is, is a plan for responding to and recovering from a global pandemic in the 21st century, there is no modern day precedent for this. We are quite literally writing the playbook as we go. The scientists learn more about this virus every day. And we can, we will make our restore Illinois plan, smarter, as we move forward. I’m not afraid to redesign the playbook if the rules change.
He then went on to give a pep talk to the state.
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2,122 new cases, 176 additional deaths
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
[Headline was fixed. Sorry!]
* Dr. Ezike at today’s briefing…
To date, we have run a total of 346,286 tests for COVID-19, with 13,139 being reported in the last 24 hours.
Today we are reporting an additional 2122 new cases of COVID-19 here in Illinois, for a total of 65,962 cases. Unfortunately I’m also reporting the largest number of fatalities reported in a single 24 hour period with 176 deaths which brings us to a total of 2838 lives lost in Illinois associated with COVID-19.
Regarding hospitalizations, in the hospitals throughout the state we have 4780 people who were reported to be in the hospital, of those 1266 patients were in the intensive care unit. And of those Intensive Care Unit patients 780 were on ventilators.
On the recovery front, cases who responded to our survey continue to report recovery from this deadly virus. 47% of those surveyed within 14 days from their positive test report illness recovering. 74% of individual surveyed 28 days after their positive test, no longer experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and are reporting recovering.
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,122 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 176 additional deaths.
Bureau County: 1 male 90s
Clinton County: 2 female 80s
Cook County: 1 female 30s, 1 female 40s, 4 males 40s, 3 females 50s, 6 males 50s, 8 females 60s, 20 males 60s, 5 females 70s, 17 males 70s, 18 females 80s, 15 males 80s, 11 females 90s, 8 males 90s
DuPage County: 2 males 50s, 2 males 60s, 2 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 4 females 90s
Kane County: 1 male 40s, 2 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Kankakee County: 1 female 90s
Kendall County: 3 females 80s
Lake County: 1 male 40s, 1 male 90s
Macoupin County: 1 female 40s
Madison County: 1 female 80s
McDonough County: 1 female 90s
McHenry County: 2 females 90s
Randolph County: 1 male 60s
Rock Island County: 1 female 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s
Sangamon County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
St. Clair County: 1 male 60s, 2 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
Union County: 1 male 80s
Will County: 2 females 70s, 3 females 80s, 5 females 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 65,962 cases, including 2,838 deaths, in 97 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 346,286 specimens for a total of 13,139.
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State delays $1.2 billion bond sale
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bloomberg…
Illinois delayed the planned auction of $1.2 billion of short-term debt as it faces record-high penalties to borrow on Wall Street because of the deep financial hit the state is being dealt by the coronavirus shutdown.
The worst-rated state had planned to sell about $1.2 billion of short-term tax-exempt general-obligation debt on Wednesday, its first borrowing during the pandemic, to ease the revenue shortfall in the last two months of the fiscal year. The deal has been moved to “day-to-day status,” meaning it will be sold if market conditions warrant.
With the economic slowdown raising the risk of Illinois having its bonds cut to junk, investors have driven the yields on its two-year debt to nearly 4 percentage points above benchmark, far exceeding every other U.S. state.
The timing of the sale was a little “strange” because there are a lot of short-term unknowns with state finances, said Daniel Solender, head of municipals at Lord Abbett & Co., which owns Illinois debt as part of its $27 billion in municipal assets under management.
“It’s not a complete surprise they delayed it,” he said. “There is the Fed program which hasn’t really been set up yet and states are still waiting on what Congress is going to do.”
This was supposed to be a bridge loan. The state would pay it back within a year.
…Adding… Related…
* County looks at other options besides furloughs: Macon County has just about enough money to last them through the June payroll.
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* As you already know, Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) has withdrawn his request for a TRO against the governor’s executive order. But the governor is pressing ahead with the Illinois Supreme Court…
The Governor maintains his request for supervisory relief under Rule 383, which included a request for a stay of circuit court proceedings. Given the changed circumstances brought about by Bailey’s decision to consent to the vacatur of the TRO he had sought and obtained, the Governor now seeks under Rule 383 resolution of the underlying legal question presented by this case—that is, whether the Governor acted within the scope of his authority under the Illinois Emergency Management Act (“Act”), 20 ILCS 3305/1, et seq., and the Illinois Constitution when he issued disaster proclamations and executive orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic—and a stay of the circuit court proceedings pending resolution of this supplemental motion.
More info about Rule 383 is here.
* Reasoning…
As detailed in the Governor’s April 29 emergency motion, the exercise of supervisory authority is appropriate here because the normal appellate process will not afford sufficient relief and because the resolution of the underlying legal question presented will have a profound effect on the Governor’s response to the public health emergency presently facing Illinois. The dissolution of the TRO, which will prolong the normal appellate review process, only heightens these considerations.
Indeed, the deleterious effects of the circuit court’s order—even though dissolved—will not cease unless and until this Court makes a definitive pronouncement on the scope of the Governor’s authority to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Illinois residents during a global pandemic. As one example, there are already indications that the uncertainty over the lawfulness of the Governor’s emergency actions has caused individuals to stop complying with the stay-at-home directives. Two days after the court entered the TRO, a COVID-19 positive individual living in Bailey’s district visited three stores in violation of the stay-at-home order. And on May 1, 2020, protestors gathered in Chicago and Springfield in violation of the stay-at-home order. Additionally, the initial entry of the TRO has caused litigants to file similar suits seeking relief from the stay-at- home orders. Similar lawsuits will likely follow in Illinois courts, which are already minimizing operations, and lead to a patchwork of conflicting orders when concerted guidance is needed. […]
Moreover, the mootness doctrine does not prevent this Court from reviewing whether the Governor acted within his authority. Courts of review generally will not decide questions that are moot, in the sense that “the issues involved in the trial court no longer exist because intervening events have rendered it impossible for the reviewing court to grant effectual relief.” But a reviewing court may decide issues that are moot under various exceptions to mootness, including the public interest exception, and the exception for issues capable of repetition but evading review. Accordingly, to the extent this Court determines that the underlying question is moot, it is not precluded from reaching the question because both of these exceptions apply here. […]
(T)here is unquestionably a likelihood of future recurrence of the question raised in this case. Bailey agreed to have the TRO vacated, but he did not voluntarily dismiss his case with prejudice. So in this case alone, the question is likely to recur. And, again, other litigation will certainly present the same question. Resolving that question sooner rather than later, after a period of needless uncertainty about whether the Governor’s executive orders are legally authorized, will greatly serve the public interest. […]
Indeed, Bailey, apparently seeking to manipulate the court system to his advantage, has reserved the right to have the same issue decided against the Governor. But he should not be given a veto over where, and when, the courts ultimately decide that issue. Instead, this Court should now take the issue that he first raised (and reserves the right to raise again) and decide it for the benefit of the Governor and all the people of Illinois.
…Adding… Chicago Daily Law Bulletin…
Bailey’s attorney Thomas DeVore said his client intends to file an amended complaint by the end of the week.
His initial complaint argues the governor cannot exercise his emergency powers beyond 30 days, and that the state’s authority to quarantine is delegated to the Illinois Department of Public Health and local health departments.
“I feel their request for the supreme court to intervene under these facts is unprecedented and is an insult to the honorable circuit court,” DeVore, an attorney with Silver Lake Group Ltd. in Greenville, said in an email.
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* After briefing reporters on hospitalizations, ICU and ventilator use, Gov. Pritzker praised and thanked educators and then took questions from reporters.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* Yesterday the pastor at the church in Lena Illinois had services with dozens of people attending. Will the Illinois State Police enforce the court ruling next weekend or will you request the county do something to enforce that order?…
We have always asked local law enforcement, local officials to enforce these orders. And the best way to do that of course is a reminder to the pastor and to the parishioners that they’re putting themselves and others in danger by holding a service like this. The pastor filed suit, that suit failed. And it’s because people do have the ability to worship, and we’re trying to simply to keep people safe during this time of a global pandemic.
* So will you urge, I’m sorry if I missed it, will you urge local officials both in Chicago, which was going to bring me to my next question, and in any other county that is defying the gathering the stay at home and the gathering order of no more than 10 people. Will you urge authorities to step in and do something more than disperse?…
We’re asking them to disperse, so that’s the most important thing. We just don’t want people getting sick. Nobody, it’s not an intention that people will go to jail. I will say, however, that if people are persistently defiant, they can be put in jail. And I’m not suggesting that that’s the best answer or the first answer, but it is something that’s an option for local law enforcement.
* There were nearly 1000 CPD dispersals over the weekend, but zero citations and you of course as you just said you defer to local authorities but what are your, what’s your reaction to that number of dispersals in Chicago and what do you feel needs to happen, and does it concern you that this could lead to a resurgence?…
It does concern me and people should really understand that if our numbers flatten and get better, and that’s where we seem to be at right now, it’s because people have followed the rules. And to the extent people are not following them and gathering in groups they’re going to spread the virus and they’re going to cause us to go back into a previous executive order, or more stringent lockdown than what we’ve had, if in fact there’s a spike of cases as a result of people not following the rules. So again we want to encourage people to do the right thing. I’m sorry that the police have had to break people up like that, I know that there’s, it’s attractive when the sun is out for people to go out and gather in groups, but I want to remind everybody that it’s a mistake. Right now, the only way that we can defeat this virus because we have no vaccine. And we have no treatment that keeps people out of the hospital. And so the result is the only way we can fight this virus is really by obeying social distancing obeying the orders that have been put in place.
* Would you like to see more citations issued as a deterrent?…
That is not something that I prefer. But as I say when if people are being persistently defiant I do think that local law enforcement needs to step in. But it’s up to the mayor and it’s up to the local law enforcement to make those decisions.
* We’re receiving, as I feel I say to you every time I’m here, we’re receiving literally dozens of complaints almost every day about people who can’t get onto the [unemployment] system, they get kicked off the system, no one answers the phone, have debit card problems, and you’ve said well we’re updating the system, we’re updating the system, but these folks, continue to tell us well it doesn’t seem like it. So what specifically is being done right now to make sure that the director the acting director of IDES is doing what he is supposed to do to help these people who are desperate?…
So let me begin by saying that we, we obviously are deeply concerned about anybody that is owed unemployment and somehow can’t file their claim, that is not something that’s intended and we’re certainly trying to work through any problems for people that have been persistently having difficulty. I will say that, that the system is you know I get the numbers of processed claims every day and the numbers of people who are being processed every day are very frequently in the 10s of thousands, which is vastly more than ever before. In fact, it’s a multiple of what even was occurring on a weekly basis and daily basis during the Great Recession of 08-09. So there’s an awful lot that’s being processed.
There’s also a multiple of phone lines that are being answered for people who are calling in. It’s still not enough, there are some people that call in persistently have to wait for some time on the phone before they can get ahold of anybody or because there’s a limit to the number of people can answer phones, they may not get ahold of somebody on a given day, I would encourage everybody to go online, that is how most people are multiple so people are actually getting through and filing their claims. So that’s what I would say when we’re doing that. I will say that the acting director and everybody that’s working in IDES is working overtime to make sure that it’s working as best it can, and they are working through there really isn’t a backlog at this point. So people who are having trouble there’s something there’s typically an issue with their claim which I understand, they need to use we have online tools that they can use, even if they can’t sign up online. There’s a chat function there’s an ability to message to IDES to let them know what your issue is and have somebody get back to you about it.
And I would just say one more thing, sorry Dana, just that later this week we’re going to review where we are with unemployment so you’ll have a much better a more holistic view of how we’re doing and what we’re doing, what we’ve done to address these issues.
* Have you ever thought of having the acting director come here so we could ask him questions directly?…
I haven’t but you know I’ve been focused as you know here for the most part on the directly addressing the virus.
* Thoughts on people who have been going into Indiana over the past few days for services they can’t get here?…
I think, to the extent that people are not social distancing, and accessing services in Indiana may have decided that they want to open those things up, I understand that there are risks associated with that and I would discourage people from doing it. But understand that people are free to to do what they want, as they may leave the state. I don’t control the state of Indiana, and they don’t control Illinois, but I’d rather be from here than there.
* Governor Cuomo today says he’s looking at opening regions of New York State on May 15, will you consider reopening regions, and if so, what is the criteria?…
We’ll be talking more about that. But suffice to say that I absolutely think of the state as you know it’s, we have a lot of different areas of the state, different population densities and so on. The most important thing though that I have pointed out to people is to think of the state not in the typical way that you think about regions, but rather about healthcare regions to think about how many hospital beds and that’s why I talk today about how many hospital beds.
Does a certain percentage availability mean because a spike in one area that happens to have 25 hospital beds available or 25 ICU beds available. If there’s a significant spike in that area 25 is not a big number. And so what we want to make sure is that we are able to handle a spike, because that’s what potentially could occur if we reopen things too fast.
And as to the setting a date, it sounds like another governor set a date for, I will say that it really needs to be based on data and metrics. My guess is knowing that Governor, that he was really talking about hoping that that might be a date in which they could do it but you really need to do this based on the data. And that’s what we’re following very closely and I want to open it as fast as anybody does. I just want to make sure that we’re doing in a safe fashion.
* With that and the data in mind, do we have to wait till May 30 to hear what your phased-in reopening plan is? And could you disclose some of the details before May 30 or do you plan to…
You don’t have to wait till May 30. We’ve been thinking about this and working on it for some time now to, to make sure that we’re going to give people a view into how the phases might work and how many phases there are and what would work in each phase.
He was asked a question about McCormick Place and where people can apply for contact tracing jobs. Mostly repeats of what he’s already said.
* Are there any regions of the state, where R Naught, the figure I guess you calculate rate of spread, Okay, where the R Naught is below one, and if so, what are those areas? And again, as I’ve asked, might those areas begin to open before May 30 but what are those areas?…
Yeah so we aren’t doing enough testing across the state now, we’re again I want to remind everybody we’re the second most amount of testing among the top most populous states, the top 10 most populous states, so we’re doing a lot of testing, but no state is doing enough testing. We need to vastly increase the amount of testing that we’re doing again even though we’re, you know, doing a lot, but it takes a lot of testing in order for us to get to an R naught number. But we do have a statewide number because of the number of tests we’re doing statewide. That number is down to about 1.2. We’re certainly trying to keep track of the you know what’s happening in each and every region. So, as things are coming down more things can be opened up.
* Is reopening the state’s economy conditional on the implementation of a mandatory tracing program, or for the mandatory tracing program to be completed and if so how long is that anticipated to take?…
I’m not sure what Greg [Bishop] means by a mandatory tracing program, but the tracing program, the contact tracing program is being worked on and built up, its completion is not a precondition to, you know, two phases. But, contact tracing is critically important for certain industries especially to make sure that if people can’t maintain social distance in some circumstance, then it’s a situation in which we would need a lot more contact tracing for that kind of an industry to make sure that people aren’t spreading it a symptomatically. So it’s, I understand the question, it’s not a mandatory contact tracing program but it is a program that will help us to diminish the spread. And we are trying to work spin it up as fast as possible.
* Another question from Greg, what’s your recommendation for local governments on revenue losses should they be laying off staff and cutting budgets now, or should they follow the state’s example of no furloughs, and no immediate cuts?…
Well I think a lot of assumptions in there. I’m not going to tell local governments what they should do to meet their budget requirements but what I am doing is working hard to make sure that in Washington that they understand the damage that’s been done to all the states, and to all of the local governments, and particularly smaller local governments which really didn’t get very much out of a previous cares act. We need to make sure that we’re helping them so that they don’t remember you know it’s easy to say well gee, you should furlough a lot of people in order to deal with their budget problem, but remember what happens in a pandemic like this. We have a decreasing amount of revenue coming in and increasing need by people for the services that states and local governments offer, and that’s why we need help from the federal government to preserve those services.
* One of the plans being floated to reopen the country is to pivot our focus on protecting everyone to focusing on the most vulnerable. Is that something that you are considering as we continue to proceed throughout the month of May?…
Well we are protecting everybody everybody’s life is valuable. But I will say that we already are making extra effort for those communities that are most vulnerable you’ve heard a lot about what we’re trying to do to protect people in congregate settings which are often the most vulnerable right these are people who are physically or developmentally disabled, they’re people who are elderly, and may have other existing underlying conditions. You’ve seen that we’ve spun up more testing in areas where there are large African American populations or large Latino populations, which have a propensity to have comorbidities or a higher rate of positivity so. So we’re working on those populations that are most vulnerable even now, and we’ll continue to do that as we begin to open things up, and I think what you meant was might there be a shift, as we move forward from stay at home for all to making sure we focus on the most vulnerable only as a part of a reopening. Well, sure I mean I think we’re shifting, I mean that shift when you say shift I mean, I’m not going to shift away from protecting everybody but this idea of shifting the stay at home and saying only these people have to stay home. I guess that’s, everything is evolving. That’s what I would say and obviously at some point we’re not going to have the same order in place that we have now and we’re gonna be loosening things up. But as we do that, we’re going to be still paying extraordinary attention to those who are elderly and in these congregate settings. I didn’t mention of course the staffs in those settings, and even in our prisons the staffs in our prisons as well.
* Regarding McCormick Place was it too much too soon or a necessary precaution?…
You know it’s interesting if you go back to the day that we talked about the stay at home order on March 20 and Dr. Emily Landon stood here. She said the most remarkable thing and about the success of a stay at home order is that nothing happens, and that’s really this is a function of, guess what, a lot of people didn’t get sick and a lot of people didn’t die. And so that’s what it means that we spun it up because at the time we didn’t know whether we’d be bending the curve properly, and it turns out, we have. And so, thank goodness we and I said early on, my prayer is that we won’t have to use a corporate place or any of the alternate care facility and it’s still my prayer, people I want everybody understand. We’re not through this yet. We’re not done with this, the virus didn’t go away it’s still out there.
* Where is Dr. Ezike today?…
She had a family matter
* According to movement tracking data from Google, most of the stay at home behavior changes asked of Illinois like that going into workplaces avoiding public transit going to grocery stores as little as possible already happened in early March. If social behavior is now on the rise because of warmer weather and loosened restrictions and the new stay at home order and Illinois R naught value is still about one. How can we be sure we will ever get to an R naught value below one? Other places that have put in a stay at home order have gotten to an R naught value under one…
We’re headed in the right direction, we’re moving in the right direction. Still. And as to the point about the R Naught starting to move or people are being less mobile let’s say in early March, I just pointed out that the news about coronavirus was out there, remember that some of the first moves that we made in the state of Illinois occurred in the early March in the first week a week and a half of March. And so people began to see that this virus is out there, that people are getting sick and I think they they reacted naturally to that. And then, I think that’s evidenced by the way of how smart people are in our state. And the fact that people have followed the stay at home orders, other evidence of how terrific the people of Illinois are.
* There’s legislation being introduced in the General Assembly that would cancel rent for those who cannot pay it subject to the establishment of a housing relief fund that would in theory mostly be paid for by a second federal stimulus bill. is this something you would think it is this something you think would be wise to count on from Congress. Is there anything that they can do proactively either through state police or the Attorney General to prevent landlords, or ignoring the moratorium on evictions and evicting tenants?…
I’m not aware of the specific piece of legislation that’s being referenced here but I am very much in favor of alleviating the burden on renters across the state. It is true that Illinois, you know the budget situation for Illinois makes it extraordinarily difficult to provide a lot of relief, but we do have rent relief programs at the Department of Human Services, and we do want to do as much as we can with the federal dollars that we received to alleviate the burden particularly on working class families.
* Rich Miller is asking for your reaction to the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association warning that municipalities and businesses that reopen in defiance of the EO could face litigation? And also your reaction to the Illinois Department of Insurance statement that says businesses run the risk that an insurer could find reason within the policy language to deny COVID-19 related claims? What could potentially happen to state licensed businesses if they reopened in defiance of the EO?…
Well I was a businessman before I became governor and I have to tell you that I would not want to defy the executive order because I believe that I would be taking on liability If I did that.
[Sigh. He skipped two of my questions.]
* The mayor of East Peoria announced today that he is opening the city in phases starting this Friday, it will include salons. This goes against the stay at home order and the recommendations of IDPH. Is there concern that this could cause more cases? Will the state step in and prevent this? What about people traveling from nearby communities and then returning home?…
I think they’re running the risk that they’re going to infect people who work there, people who patronize their stores. And in defiance of this stay at home order it strikes me the point that we were just talking about insurance not covering you when you may have in business insurance but you will be subject to liability because it would not surprise me if insurance companies are found to not be required to cover you when you are defying essentially state law or state executive order.
[OK, so he did answer another question.]
* Illinois companies like Apple and Google have volunteered their tech to help with contact tracing. Has your office been in contact with any reps, do you have any privacy concerns and enlisting their help?…
So I’m very much aware, I think some of you know when I was in business I was in the technology business so I’ve followed it pretty closely and I’ll just say we’re looking at the technology that’s being proposed. It poses some questions about privacy. It’s not something that we’re currently looking at as part of the program that we’re building for contact tracing. But I’ll want to see more as the technology is presented and developed.
* Some small businesses have told us they may not survive the economic flow COVID-19 has delivered. Do you foresee any industries in Illinois that will no longer exist because of this crisis?…
I don’t know and I’m hopeful that that’s not what’s happening, but I can see that so many people are suffering. It’s why I’m so such an advocate of the, not just the PPP program but so many supports for small businesses because we want people to come back and reopen their doors. We’re going to do everything we can in the state to have that happen. Small business people are the bedrock of business bedrock of job creation in our state so they deserve our support.
* We know the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate call sessions. But you have the power to call a special session. What have you thought about doing that? Why or why not?…
I think the most important thing is that the legislature gets together safely. And like I’ve said before 177 members of the General Assembly plus staff. That’s an awful lot of people. That’s more than 10 getting together. And so the epidemiologists would express concerns about a group that large.
Having said that, there are ways to do it. We hope to provide support to the legislature as they have asked, how could they do it safely and we’ll continue to do that. We want the legislature to get together and they have the ability to get together and we’re providing again, epidemiological advice about how to do their best to keep everybody safe.
* Tennessee announced last week that it will begin mass testing of staff and inmates that state prisons, it appears Illinois has only tested about one to 2% of inmates. Is this adequate? Will you follow Tennessee’s lead and begin widespread testing in prisons and jails?…
The more testing we have available to us, the more we will be testing in all those congregate settings. But, you know, remember we also have nursing homes, we also have these developmentally disabled homes, and so many other areas that also need testing. So, again, it takes a lot more testing than we have today.
* Can you address the significance of today’s death total being the lowest since April 19? Also what reaction do you have to Saturday night’s federal court ruling in the beloved church case?…
As to the number of fatalities today, I would just encourage everybody to look at these things on a multi day basis, taking maybe a three, five or seven day average. I’m hopeful, when I saw this number today, I was hopeful that this was the beginning or a continuation of a trend that I’ve been praying for. But I think one day is not a helpful number to look at.
As to the ruling in the case of the church, I want to remind everybody that it’s important to get together with your fellow parishioners and your pastor, but we’ve asked people to do that in groups of 10. We’ve asked pastors to reach out to their parishioners and try to do that online or get it in small groups. Bible study in a small group, again socially distant, and you know we’ve provided other suggestions of ways that people could get together to have services. But getting together in groups of more than 10, I don’t think, I read that there were 60 or 80 people that got together at that one church in defiance of even the US Federal Court ruling. It’s an enormous mistake and I am very hopeful that we aren’t going to need to send teams in to do mass testing among the people who may be spreading the virus in their communities.
* We heard today the mayor is still advocating for a Chicago casino. Do you think that’s still a possibility and what are some options you and the state legislators are considering and making that happen?…
I’ve favored, getting that done, I think it’s the right thing to do. It may be difficult to do in the next month I don’t know, in the next few weeks. it depends on when the legislature gets together and how I will say that, you know, we have a whole year here, for the legislature to get together to handle legislation and I think as we again see more treatments available and as we have testing and tracing and PPE available, it will make it a lot easier for the legislature to get together throughout the year. Maybe in one day increments just to keep everybody safe, not needing to stay overnight and room together and all of that. But there’s a lot of the year here with which to address something like that and as I understand it, the Republican leaders are in favor, at least I’m aware that the House Republican leader is in favor of that casino, that Chicago casino bill, and I know there are a number of Democrats who are too so I would hope that we’d be able to get that done in, you know, sometime during the year here.
* How are the occupancy limits at stores being enforced and how well do you think people are complying with the new face covering requirement after the first few days?…
It’s really just a visual survey about face covering and and occupancy of stores. So I don’t have a report, an official report of that. But I will say just you know as I look outside as I see people walking on the street or in small parks or whatever around Chicago. I have seen that, I think the numbers seem to me to be about 70 to 80% of people are wearing masks or they’ve got a mask with them that they don’t have on their face, because they’re not around somebody else. So I think that’s pretty good adherence although I’d love it if everybody would do it.
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So, you think Illinois’ order is harsh?
Monday, May 4, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* US News and World Report…
Italy on Monday relaxed some restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus after enduring the longest lockdown in Europe.
Following a roughly two-month shutdown as the pandemic intensified, the country reopened its manufacturing and construction industries. Access to parks and public gardens was increased, and funerals can have up to 15 attendees. Restaurants and bars are also allowed to offer takeout services.
Italy has basically reopened to where Illinois was under its original stay at home order, except for the 15 people at funerals.
And even with that heavy-duty Italian lockdown, the country has so far endured the deaths of 29,079 people, or 481 per million. As I mentioned earlier today, Illinois’ death toll is 204 per million.
…Adding… Thanks to a commenter for reminding me about this…
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* This has become a focal point of people like Reps. Darren Bailey and John Cabello and others on the right who are looking for a way to undermine the stay at home order…
[Woodford County State’s Attorney Greg Minger] calls the state ambiguous in its approach to the coronavirus. Despite the governor’s order, he points to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s 2014 Illinois Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan. He points to a brief section of the document that states, “Quarantine (a period of isolation to prevent disease spread) is not effective in controlling multiple influenza outbreaks in large, immunologically naïve populations, because the disease spreads too rapidly to identify and to control chains of transmission. Even if quarantine were somewhat effective in controlling influenza in large populations, it would not be feasible to implement and enforce with available resources, and would damage the economy by reducing the workforce.”
To the Journal Star, Minger acknowledged that a quarantine — defined by the state plan as involving people “believed to have been exposed to infection, for the purpose of preventing transmission of diseases” — differs from the stay-at-home order. However, from a public-health standpoint, he says the two approaches are essentially identical.
That 2014 document is here.
* The attorney for Reps. Bailey and Cabello also referenced the document in an interview with Rebecca Anzel at Capitol News Illinois as the reason for re-filing Bailey’s lawsuit…
The document he is referring to is guidance from the governor’s office and Illinois Department of Public Health detailing how stay-at-home restrictions are to be enforced.
“If you do not adhere to these Executive Orders, the Illinois Department of Public Health and Certified Local Health Departments have the authority” to require residents and businesses to comply, and it cites the statute creating the department.
According to law, if public health officials believe a person is a “danger to the public health,” they may quarantine or isolate that person “to prevent the probable spread of a dangerously contagious or infectious disease.”
That cannot be implemented, though, without the resident’s consent or a court order issued within 48 hours. The burden of proof to get a judge to sign off is significant — among other things, the department would need to prove that the community’s health is “significantly endangered” by the person it seeks to quarantine.
Those rules also apply to businesses the IDPH might seek to close due to health concerns.
“Local health departments got that letter,” DeVore said. “Why did our citizens not get this letter advising them of their rights to due process?”
Um, maybe take it up with your local public health department?
…Adding… Crain’s…
Bailey said the additional lawsuits are “just more proof” that the governor’s actions were unconstitutional.
“You can’t just let businesses sit in quarantine without due process,” he said.
The Xenia representative clarified that he’s not interested in turning over the executive order statewide. Rather, he thinks the decision to reopen should be made by county health departments.
“Never have I suggested that we need to open the whole state up,” he said. “We should obey the law, but let local health departments make decisions based on what’s going on in their areas.”
* Phil Luciano got some clarification from IDPH…
However, the IDPH says there are key differences. For one, the 2014 plan “is specific to pandemic influenza, not pandemic coronavirus,” the department said in a statement to the Journal Star.
Further, according to the statement, “If you read through the larger document referenced, you will see that quarantine is just one of the many tools available to public health officials in preparation, response, and recovery from pandemic influenza. The stay-at-home order is not a quarantine.”
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* My Crain’s Chicago Business column…
The Illinois General Assembly hasn’t been in session since March 5 because of the international COVID-19 pandemic.
Some legislators have passed the time posting recipes on social media. Some Republicans have lately been holding online press conferences demanding the supermajority Democrats and the Democratic governor do what they want.
A couple of House Republicans have filed lawsuits against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order and have been rewarded with more publicity than they could’ve ever dreamed of.
A large number of legislators, however, have been diligently working on actually governing. Both chambers have set up “working groups” of members who are tackling issues like the budget, infrastructure projects, education, gambling, energy, etc.
Not all, but from what I can tell, the vast majority of working group members are doing their best to figure out how to deal with this crisis in difficult circumstances.
Some legislators have jumped head-first into community work. Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, has been distributing face masks to first responders and even retail businesses. Batinick also spent days convincing Pritzker to impose a face-covering mandate in his revised executive order, which took effect May 1.
Freshman Rep. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, says she has over 350 factories in her district, and almost her entire focus throughout this crisis has been attempting to protect the health and safety of workers in those factories, many of whom are immigrants. Villa is the daughter of immigrants, and she recently told ProPublica Illinois that several people in her own life work for local factories, including a food-processing facility that was shut down by the Kane County Health Department after pressure from Villa and others.
When Villa first started hearing reports of problems at the factories, she says, she called her local mayors, health departments, the governor’s office and even the manufacturers themselves. “I was trying to figure out how to do this,” she tells me.
Click here to read the rest before commenting, please. Thanks.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
In the wake of a recently-reported death of a worker at Smithfield St. Charles from COVID-19, State Representative Karina Villa is calling for an immediate investigation into what Smithfield plant management did to protect the worker from getting sick.
“While the Governor’s office, the Attorney General’s office, IDPH, and county health departments have taken concrete steps to implement processes which keep workers safe at manufacturing facilities, we can’t ignore what has already happened to workers at these plants,” Villa said. “We keep hearing more and more about how negligent plant management has been to their employees at Smithfield and at other facilities. It’s disgusting.”
In light of recent reports that Latinos are now the most adversely affected by the spread of COVID-19 of any demographic group in Illinois, stopping the spread of COVID-19 in predominantly Latino essential workplaces is more urgent than ever before. While rules are being implemented to protect workers from further workplace malpractice, workers, especially Latino workers, need advocates in their corner.
“Latinos are dying in disproportionate numbers because factory owners and management can’t be bothered to care about the people who work for them. The Governor and IDPH have instituted a lot of rules which help these employees, but that doesn’t change what they have already had to go through. I will continue to work with the UFCW and all unions who represent essential workers to ensure that they are kept safe and hold those responsible for preventable disease spread and death accountable.”
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