On March, 22, the rate at which are COVID positive case count was doubling was just about two days. By April 1, that rate had increased to around 3.6 days. As of this Sunday, April 12, our case doubling rate had reached 8.2 days.
Similarly, our mortality, doubling rate has increased. At the beginning of April it was at 2.5 days, and it is now at 5.5 days.
To be clear, there is nothing good about twice as many people having this virus, or worse, dying from it. No matter how long the increase takes. But we won’t get to zero cases overnight. The fact that our doubling rate continues to increase in every metric is a clear demonstration that there is a deceleration of virus transmission. We are in fact, bending the curve.
* Hospitalization-related numbers…
Perhaps the most accurate leading indicator of our progress is our hospitalization data. Right now, if someone is sick enough with a respiratory illness to need hospital care, then it’s likely that that person has COVID-19, whether or not they have been tested.
On April 6, the number of known COVID patients and suspected COVID patients totaled 3680. On April 10, that number was 4020. On April 11, it was 4104. On April 12 4091. As of today, it was 4283.
As you can see these numbers are increasing. However, so too is our overall hospital capacity. Our hospitals are working every day to add beds. In August of 2019 just to give you a number, way before COVID-19 came to us, our state averaged about 25,500, total beds. As of this weekend, our total bed count is about 30,002.
Other important metrics are ICU beds and ventilators. A week ago, COVID patients as a percentage of ICU beds increased from 35% to 43%, an eight percentage point jump. COVID patients today occupy 40% of our total ICU beds, that’s down from the 43% a week ago.
In the same timeframe, COVID patients as a percentage of total ventilators grew from 24 to 29% of five point jump in a week. COVID patients today occupy 25% of our total ventilators both of those numbers are evidence of positive trends, a declining number percentage of ICU beds, occupied by COVID patients, and the declining number of ventilators occupied by COVID patients. Additionally, our total ventilator numbers are starting to reflect the additional ventilators that we’ve acquired now totaling more than 3000 across the state. Overall these numbers are indicators of our growing ability to manage capacity within the healthcare systems across Illinois.
Remember to pardon all transcription errors.
* More on hospitals…
No region is currently below 15% availability in any of these metrics, but there are individual hospitals that are operating at or near max capacity. Right now hospitals are by and large doing a great job of directing patients, amongst themselves, but if it becomes necessary I will not hesitate to step in to direct ICU patients to hospitals that are more available.
…Adding… From a press release…
* Lots of people coming in…
I am so deeply thankful for the now 3600 retired and out of state healthcare professionals who have applied to join the Illinois fight against COVID-19.
* Dr. Ezike then talked about recoveries…
We sent out these electronic surveys to people to catch their recovery rate at seven days, 14 days, 21 days and 28 days. As you can imagine people are getting better with time.
For people who don’t respond to this survey, we have a staff of 23 individuals who are calling to follow up. We’re making about 300 calls a day to people who didn’t respond, of which approximately half of those results in a successful interview.
So to share those results, I am happy to report that of the people who were surveyed at seven days, 44% have indicated recovery. At 14 days, the number increases to 50%. At 21 days after testing positive, we have 61% of people who responded, either to the initial electronic survey or the follow up telephone call, that they no longer have symptoms. And at 28 days, 69% of people reported no COVID-19 symptoms, and feeling much better. So again, people are getting better people recover from this disease.
It is important to note that not everyone responded to the survey so potentially the averages could be higher.
* On to questions for the governor. Asked about regional cooperation agreements with other governors…
I began this conversation really late last week with some of the East Coast governors. And then, over the last few days with my counterparts in Midwest states surrounding us.
Our goal of course for this is to start to think about what are the preconditions for beginning to allow certain kinds of businesses to open their doors again, to expand the definition of those who can work are those businesses they can have their doors open.
And again, as I’ve said the preconditions that I think are appropriate are a lot testing, tracing and treating. And then I would add to that the availability of PPE to the entire population, even those who might not be able to afford their own PPE so those things together I think are the preconditions and you know there are a lot of other things to discuss.
The governors that I’ve spoken with have been very frankly very positive about this idea. They’ve all been thinking about it individually for their states and understand that speaking with a common voice might be a positive move.
* Is this in part in response to the president saying that he’s going to be the one to dictate everything and he’s in control, if you will…
No. I in fact we’ve been all of us thinking about what’s next. We have our stay at home order in place that the closing of schools and so on. What comes next, what are the things that trigger a change. And you know how much you know how much can we do and how fast can we do it all of that I might add is going to be dependent upon what we hear from the epidemiologists and the doctors.
The governor was asked yet again why he didn’t shut down the primary election and he responded yet again that he had no constitutional authority to do so.
* Another part of that question was poll workers reporting that they had no sanitation supplies or related on primary day…
We were assured by the boards of elections that in fact they had the PPE or the sanitary devices that they needed. And we were willing to provide them. Indeed we were even willing to provide poll workers for them … At least in Chicago, that was rejected. And so, you know, that was their choice. They felt like they had a handle on it.
* Wondering if you can break it down by infection rate relative to the number of residents in Illinois…
I mean, it’s very hard to say because we aren’t testing everybody in the state of Illinois. What we know is that the percentage of people who are tested.
Let me back up just for everybody who hasn’t followed this. We’re testing people who show some symptoms of COVID-19. […]
It might be more useful to look at the broad global data that’s available and I’ll just share that with you as well. About 80% of people who get COVID-19, and by the way we believe everybody is susceptible to COVID-19. Period. End of sentence. You either have had it already, or you’re going to get it, unless we have a vaccine that prevents you from getting it which we don’t currently. So 80% of people who get COVID-19 recover just fine, don’t require hospitalization or anything of a significant medical intervention nature. About 19% require some further hospitalization or other intervention. And then about 1% unfortunately about point seven to 1% pass away, in, in many cases because they have either a comorbidity or they’re in an age bracket that is most susceptible.
* Another question about regional cooperation…
Look the conversations are very much, very similar that each of us might have, a slightly new idea to offer in the conversation. But when I talk about testing tracing and treating everybody understands exactly what that means. And that we in fact need to do that so widespread testing. So for example I talked to a governor, who’s talking about buying a commercial lab that exists in their state and converting it entirely to testing for COVID-19, and it would yield for that Governor 10s of thousands of tests on a daily basis. So that’s something they’re looking at to deal with the testing part. I am looking significantly at not only the increases in testing that we’ve begun to, to see at our seat labs and working with our hospitals, but on the tracing part, looking at models like what they are doing in Massachusetts, where they have a, you know, a case tracing collaborative that exists or at least that they’ve stood up but you know it’s just getting going where they’re just using good old fashioned shoe leather, to make sure and call every single person that may have come in contact with somebody who has COVID-19.
* Asked about Leader Brady’s request for a leaders meeting…
First of all I speak with the leaders all the time. I think every one of the leaders would tell you that I’ve had multiple conversations with them. And I’m always happy to have a, you know, we can convene a zoom conference or teleconference all of that. I’m happy to do any of that anytime with any of them. But I have been very communicative with each and every one of them. I’ve spoken with every leader probably, on average, once a week, maybe, maybe once every two weeks it’s hard to tell, but it’s usually we have an agenda of things that we’re discussing each of us, and we’re trying to make sure that we can keep things moving forward, those who might suggest that we haven’t been having those conversations or not paying attention to the fact that the leaders and I and the fact that I pick up the phone, virtually every day I call multiple legislators on both sides of the aisle to make sure that I’m communicating with them but even more importantly listening to them about concerns that their constituents may have and what we could do in the executive branch to make their their lives easier.
* Now on to a few questions from reporters trying to get him to whack the president. Do you worry that the criticism of the Trump administration could come with retribution that prevents Illinois from getting PPE and other help in the COVID battle?…
Well I compliment the administration when they do things right, when they deliver on their promises, and I’ve been critical when they don’t. And I think that is the proper way for me to operate I’m defending and working on behalf of the people of Illinois. And each time I have been critical we’ve actually received more from the federal government. And each time I’ve been complimentary it’s because they delivered on a promise to us and I was glad that I wanted people to know that.
* There’s a lot of talk about the president reopening the country. Are you going to be working with the white house as the president claims, or do you want to work mostly with state experts…
Well I’ll listen to anybody. But I what I won’t do anything that will jeopardize the safety and health of people here in Illinois.
* What is your administration heard about hydroxychloroquine? The President has said it should be used as a coronavirus cure. Do you think that’s good advice?…
Dr. Ezike: There are multiple different treatments that people are trying off label. Off label means that there’s a medicine that’s approved for a different cause but is now being tried for COVID-19 patients. So there are many, there’s antibiotics, there are antimalarials, which are anti parasitics, there are anti virus medicines. So, all different types of medicines are being employed. And then what we need to really figure out if it’s the right way forward and now it would go on to get FDA approval for a specific indication is to have these randomized controlled trials randomized controlled double blind trials, as the governor already described and so when you get these large scale trials and then you prove scientifically with sufficient power that there is one treatment is either better than placebo or better than an alternate treatment. Then that’s how it goes on to move for FDA approval.
So, again, anecdotally that’s where it starts where you get, as I hear stories that we tried this at work, we tried this work and the next step is to take it into trials. And so, again, people in terms of what recommendations are officially put out are usually based not on anecdotes, but more so on trials and the results of trials and so we’re looking forward to getting some of those results of some trials that might be going on so that we can spread on if some of these anecdotes actually proved to be factual and work great.
* With multiple projections showing billions of dollars in lost revenue due to COVID-19 and the Comptroller’s office showing nearly $200 million in cost What is your plan to close the gap in this year’s budget and when will you present a new FYI 21 plan?…
We’ll be talking about that later this week. It’s obviously been very much on our minds.
I spend an awful lot of time every day focused on trying to reduce the infections across the state and reduce the hospitalizations and the need for ventilators and of course reduce the death rate.
I have also had my budget and economy team working hard on exactly how big the hole will be from a revenue perspective as well as obviously the expanding that we’ve had to do to protect people in the state, and then try to project forward what does this mean for a budget in 2021.
And then ultimately we’re going to present our best ideas, and our best estimates to the legislature, who is finally responsible for passing a budget. But we’ll be presenting that going forward.
I think no one should mistake the fact that this is going to be a very, very difficult fiscal financial challenge for the state of Illinois. It’s one of the reasons why I think all of us should be communicating with our federal representatives here to work hard to get the government in Washington DC to help all of the states because we really have this problem in common with all the states you hear Governor’s say this all the time. We have big holes in our budgets as a result of what’s happened with COVID-19 it’s nobody’s fault it just is where it is and we’re going to have to deal with it.
* Given your concerns about summer events do you think the Illinois State Fair should proceed as scheduled?…
Well, we’re going to have to make decisions relatively soon because contracts have to be signed. And I think that was really the point I was making a few days ago when I talked about summer festivals was more or less just a lot of planning goes into these things and decisions have to be made.
So, yeah, I mean we’re gonna have to make some decisions. And I have as much fun as anybody does at the state fairs and I’m hopeful that we could have both our state fairs the one in DuQuoin and the one in Springfield. But I am also just going to listen to the experts and make sure that we do the right thing so that we don’t spread this COVID-19, and that we don’t have a spike in you know all the hospitalizations and ultimately and people passing away.
* Rep. Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside) gave himself a “co-hawk” (get it?) haircut to raise money to help local servers and waitstaff who lost their jobs. You can find out how to contribute by clicking here. This is a photo he sent me…
Today, I am calling on Governor Pritzker to convene the four legislative leaders to share what planning is underway as it relates to the reopening of our state. As no official notice has been made about extending the current stay-at-home order, I believe we need to begin discussions on an eventual, responsible opening of our state’s economy. And while I appreciate the governor’s willingness throughout this crisis to talk with me one-on-one, it is important for the leaders to meet.
Looks like member management to me. I’ve inquired as to whether he’s privately asked the governor for a leaders meeting before issuing this press release and am awaiting a response. I’ve also asked the same question of the governor’s office and asked the two Democratic leaders if he had talked to them about this. Madigan’s spokesperson said he wasn’t aware of any such request.
…Adding… From the SDems…
The Senate President talks with Leader Brady regularly and is always willing to talk with the governor and other leaders.
*** UPDATE *** The governor was asked about it today…
First of all I speak with the leaders all the time. I think every one of the leaders would tell you that I’ve had multiple conversations with them. And I’m always happy to have a, you know, we can convene a zoom conference or teleconference all of that. I’m happy to do any of that anytime with any of them. But I have been very communicative with each and every one of them. I’ve spoken with every leader probably, on average, once a week, maybe, maybe once every two weeks it’s hard to tell, but it’s usually we have an agenda of things that we’re discussing each of us, and we’re trying to make sure that we can keep things moving forward, those who might suggest that we haven’t been having those conversations or not paying attention to the fact that the leaders and I and the fact that I pick up the phone, virtually every day I call multiple legislators on both sides of the aisle to make sure that I’m communicating with them but even more importantly listening to them about concerns that their constituents may have and what we could do in the executive branch to make their their lives easier.
Today, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) has launched a significant statewide radio campaign aimed at educating consumers about the safeguards they should adopt when visiting a grocery, pharmacy or retail store. The public service advertisement (PSA) will air 2,100 times over the next 10 days in every media market throughout the state. The buy includes airtime on African American radio stations as well as a version of the ad to be broadcast on Spanish language stations.
“From the earliest stages of this pandemic, retailers have implemented sweeping changes to how they operate their stores while at the same time meeting unprecedented customer demand. The goal of this PSA is to ensure customers take precautions to keep themselves and other customers safe while also protecting our essential retail workers,” said Rob Karr, president & CEO, Illinois Retail Merchants Association. “As always, retailers across the state are working diligently to ensure safe working and shopping environments for all who enter our stores. As the Governor has noted several times, we need consumers to also do their part.”
Going to the store? Here’s a few tips.
Wear a cloth mask that covers your nose and mouth…
Remember, both inside and outside the store, stay at least 6 feet apart…
When possible, avoid using cash.
And, try to have one member per family go shopping.
Please thank retail employees. They are working for you.
Retailers are committed to keeping employees and customers safe…and our shelves stocked.
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association is the voice for retail - and we thank you for doing your part.
The unemployment claims process has been a source of hardship for all too many Illinois residents as it has been for dozens of states across the nation. So many families are hurting at a scale of this country hasn’t seen ever in our lifetimes. And our state unemployment filing systems which were built a decade ago, for a much lower number of claims, simply haven’t kept pace. This was the painful truth that we discovered when unemployment began to spike.
Also, as per usual, please pardon all transcription errors.
* OK, one bit that wasn’t in the release…
These IDES employees did in a month what might normally take most of the year.
* Dr. Ezike…
And talking about unemployment, it’s important to recognize and acknowledge the toll that it takes on individuals as well as communities, not only financially but mentally and emotionally. Unemployment has been linked with a number of psychological disorders, particularly anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and a decrease in self esteem.
Workers’ Compensation can help with some of the financial impacts, but I also ask that we also support each other with the societal and emotional impacts during these tough times
* Illinois Nurses Association exec talks about the change to workers’ comp…
As a result of their sacrifice nurses in Illinois are starting to get sick and infected. Sadly, we’ve seen some employers argue with nurses about where they became infected completely ignoring the obvious risk created by the work they do every day.
Nurses should not be left to deal with the long term and costly consequences of becoming infected with COVID-19 on their own. On behalf of the Illinois Nurses Association, we want to thank Governor JB Pritzker for making this important change in the law to see that nurses and all essential workers receive their rightful benefits under Illinois Workers Compensation Law. Due to this change, there were there will now be a fair and reasonable presumption that a nurse who becomes infected with COVID-19 during this crisis became infected on the job, which will then ensure that she receives the workers compensation benefits that are rightly deserved.
* On to questions for the governor. We’ve learned that a poll worker died on the south side literally 14 days after the election. Should the election have been held?…
As you know, and I’ve said this before, the Governor of Illinois does not have the constitutional right, legal right to shut down the election here. It’s different in different states, we don’t have that here, so I couldn’t shut it down.
What I did do though is in the weeks before the election, I began virtually every day or certainly frequently telling people, you can vote today, early voting you can get a mail ballot today, send in and get one. We were encouraging people not to go to the polls if they could avoid going to the polls, and indeed I think that’s exactly the same thing that we need to do even more so when we get to the general election, I’m advocating that everybody should be applying for a mail ballot if they can, and that’s virtually everybody, and to vote by mail.
He was then asked the question again and gave the same response.
* Republicans held a news conference this morning, very concerned about this same issue of unemployment and said that really you’ve dropped the ball there, should have been more people that could have been quicker. Do you think you now have it in place to help people faster?. The governor went over what he said earlier and in his press release and then said..
I would say that this is still a work in progress. There’s no doubt about it, much better than it was, much better than it was.
I also want to say that, this pandemic, this COVID-19 knows no partisanship. And in the process of my work here on dealing with COVID-19 I’ve had lots of interactions with Republicans and Democrats, many have been extraordinarily constructive in their offering ideas and assistance and the things that we need. Some not so much. And I think that I draw a distinction between those who stand up in this moment and try to help, and those who, you know, hold press conferences to complain.
* Where did you come up with the list for the workers comp on who’s essential and who’s not. And why is the news media not a part of that?…
Overall the essential worker list is something that came from the Department of Homeland Security originally. And then we’ve added, we’ve created a list that’s even larger than the Homeland Security Department, put out with regard to workman’s comp. And we started with what we thought were the people who are very much on the very front lines, the people who are interacting literally daily potentially with someone with COVID-19, they’re treating. Think about a nurse in a hospital right now. I don’t think there’s anywhere that you could be a nurse right now in the state of Illinois, that you’re not in some fashion interacting with a person who has COVID-19 or potentially as COVID-19. And the same thing for the folks the firefighters and you think about what they do, just listen to the list of things that Chuck [with AFFI] said so you know look is it something that the workman’s comp commission could consider expanding to other areas, yes but we felt like the people who are on the very front lines most exposed, those are the people want to make sure it got covered first.
* Asked about McCormick Place…
…If you look back over the course of six days, there’s a kind of a leveling effect right we’ve had days that are above today’s, days that are below, but there’s a leveling effect that you can kind of see in those numbers, and more. So even as you look at the numbers of new cases, it really looks like there’s a leveling there. So, you know, when we look at all of that and then we see well when does someone transfer out to McCormick Place it’s really when the hospitals become full, and they’re not yet full
* Is it President Trump’s decision to end the stay at home order or is it your decision? [This question was asked the other day]…
Well I think he’s gonna issue some advice about it. But it is true that it’s up to the governors to make decisions about the executive orders that we’ve put in place and, and all of the governors that I’ve talked to, and especially me we want to lift these orders as soon as we can, we want to get things back to more normal as soon as we can. But one thing that we have to pay attention to is what direction are these curves going and what are the what is the advice that we’re getting from again the scientists and the doctors who know more about immunology, and about, you know, all the issues of COVID-19, than you know the elected official is not a doctor.
* There’s a lot of people out there wondering, you know, how are we going to reopen schools are you going to go ahead and close them down for the rest of the year and do e-learning…
I promise I will tell you as soon as I know the answer to that question
Is that coming this week?…
At this moment I can’t tell you whether it’s coming this week
And then he went on to explain - again - the reasoning behind this process.
* So to follow up on that what are the some of the conversations you’re having about how you make that happen. I mean do we open the economy, so to speak in phases, or is this something that’s all at once, what are the conversations and what are the effects that they are having and what are the experts telling you sure there’s not exactly a perfect consensus right but but you’ve laid out some of the things that we’re talking about, which is what is a phase I mean we talk about phases what what is phase one look like for about two or three or four, what is the first thing you do and and how does that work what rules you have to put in place does everybody wear a mask, you know, do you require that?…
I’ve encouraged everybody the CDC is encouraged everybody, but there’s no requirement that people who go out and public must wear a mask or go into a grocery store anywhere else. So that’s, you know, a question, what are all the rules for each industry that’s the other thing is you start to talk industry by industry a manufacturer is very different than a clothing store. What are the rules do we have to start thinking, you know, the way that a fire marshal determines how many people can be in your store in your grocery store, based on the number of square feet so that if there’s a fire everybody can get out. Do we now need to have public health administrator, determining, you know how many people at any given time can be in a certain store for us to reopen those stores for decisions that are going to be made over the next two weeks before your current state home order expires. Well, you couldn’t make all of those there’s no doubt about it but but I have been talking to industry leaders, and people who lead workers in those industries, because the most important thing is safety and health, and we have to start with that as some basis of understanding between businesses workers, you know that if people are going to go back to work or if we’re going to open up. You know opportunity for people. You know back in their industries. Will they feel safe, because that’s it’s very important to feel safe and to actually be safe. And that’s what we’re trying to work on. And again, it’s going to be talking about phases, we have to look at these things very much industry by industry, and then ask the question. So, and when does that change to you know how long do you go, what is the gating issue. I told you what the gating issue is for, you know, for any significant moves here, you know testing tracing and treatments. And then, you know, I think, more PPE availability. And then, what’s the next phase I think the next phase is a vaccine. … And I’m also very concerned to make sure that the workers who go back to work, are safe so those are things that I’m spending time on mayor in the room
* Mayor Lightfoot said this afternoon she expects that state home order to be extended. Can you give people any idea when you can confidently say if it’s going to be extended. Or when you might know? [The question has been asked and answered repeatedly today and every day for weeks, so I’m just gonna skip this one.]
* Starting today, independent contractors in Michigan can apply for unemployment benefits. Some gig workers are wondering why the same can’t be done right now in Illinois. Why is it taking longer here and when will Illinois workers be able to apply?…
The federal money that comes to support that new independent contractor support doesn’t come until May. So we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got a system that determines who’s eligible and who’s not before we can distribute money that isn’t here yet.
I mean some states, by the way, have gone ahead and taken something they’ve got in their own coffers and offer that to the gig workers and independent contractors. But that’s not something that’s available to us in the state of Illinois.
* You characterized the emergency rules approved by the workers compensation commission this morning as rules that covered essential workers, if they’re infected by COVID-19 on the job. However, the actual rules don’t read that way. They say all workers deemed essential by your executive order who come down with COVID-19 will be reasonably presumed to have caught it at work. The employment community says that this is not only an egregious overreach but also illegal because they argue such a large change can only be approved through legislation. Is that what was intended?…
My intention is to protect the workers of Illinois, the people who are most affected by this COVID-19 we are in a pandemic in an emergency. This is what we need to do right now to protect people.
* Will the program be fully implemented by the week of May 11 does that mean implementation or people can start to apply in May?…
That’s a great question. I’m glad it got asked because I want to clarify. People can apply now. They can send in their application now. It will be determined to be either eligible or ineligible for the current system and if it’s enabled will because it’s an independent contractor 1099 gig worker that that person’s application will then move to being ready to be processed by the new system that will be stood up and ready to go in early May or early mid May
* Are you considering shifting state workers from other agencies to IDES to help meet demand for unemployment filing, and what do you say to the unemployed Illinois residents who have been trying for weeks and haven’t been able to get through to file claims?…
Well the answer to the second half is everything I just said when I stood up here and told you what it is that we’re working through here, and all the challenges that we’ve had, as to moving workers from other departments.
I want to explain that there are federal rules that apply to those who take unemployment application so those who are responsible for taking your unemployment application at IDES, they have to be trained in a certain way. This is sensitive information for individuals. And so that’s why you can’t just grab people from anywhere and why we’re making sure that the people who are working the call centers, the people that are working at IDES, remember what did I say, I said we’re bringing back retired workers. They’ve all been trained. And so they’re doing from home, but the point is that they’re eligible to be able to do this right away and so we have expanded the workforce and IDES to take those applications by phone and and to help with the applications online.
Not exactly empathetic.
* We’ve received a copy of the cease and desist notice from the state police to the Pekin Country Club. What do you hope is the outcome from that?…
I can’t give you a specific answer to the question, Rebecca . The police are ultimately responsible for enforcing the stay at home order and all of the executive orders that we put in place that would interact with the public. So, you know that’s that’s why the state police are involved.
* Being that it’s been stated that COVID-19 is no one’s fault, how do you balance the extra cost employers and even taxpayers that pay for first responders could bear with this emergency rule from the workers comp commission?…
Well, what I can tell you is that in the middle of an emergency, the only way they have to operate is to protect people as best you can, their health and safety. And to the extent that it’s required that someone has to pick up the tab for that, but sometimes that will fall on the people who are most able to pick up the tab.
Having said that, we have challenges with our unemployment insurance in the state, every state does. Indeed that’s why we’re talking to our federal officials about making sure that they’re going to help us replenish that unemployment insurance trust, because it is, it’s happening everywhere in the country and to a greater degree or lesser degree to each state, but every governor that I’ve talked to has said they’re going to need help.
* And then he was asked a question about why the Supreme Court and the Chicago city council can hold virtual meetings, so “what is the holdup with the state legislature?”
Um, the state can, by statute, waive rules for local governments in an emergency. The governor cannot waive rules for the General Assembly, a co-equal branch. The Supreme Court can make its own rules, which it did. Anyway, here’s his response…
Well, it is, unfortunately, a fact of state law today that the state legislature cannot meet electronically or in any way other than in person. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t meet, and then decide not to meet, and instead have a meeting by Aoom or some other method, but that is not currently state law. In order to change that you’d have to have a meeting of the legislature. So, you know, I know that the leaders on both sides of the aisle are having some discussions about how they might do that effectively. We’re certainly going to assist them to make sure that it’s a method that’s safe and healthy for all the legislators, I don’t know when that will be.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,173 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 74 additional deaths.
Cook County: 2 males 30s, 1 female 40s, 3 males 40s, 7 males 50s, 6 females 60s, 8 males 60s, 8 females 70s, 5 males 70s, 8 females 80s, 4 males 80s, 3 females 90s, 2 males 90s, 1 female 100+
DuPage County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
Fayette County: 1 female 90s
Jasper County: 1 female 90s
Kane County: 1 female 90s
Lake County: 1 male 40s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s
McHenry County: 1 male 70s
Will County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 2 males 80s
Johnson County is now reporting a case. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 22,025 cases, including 794 deaths, in 87 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.
…Adding… It’s only one day, but that’s the lowest number of new cases reported since April 6th.
* Ever have one of those mornings when literally everything goes wrong? Yeah. That was my morning. Anyway, keep it Illinois-centric and be nice to each other, please.
…And I sent an incorrect password to subscribers. What a day.
