* Gov. Pritzker today…
I want to start today by informing you that this morning, a member of my governor’s office learned that they had tested positive for COVID-19.
This individual started to feel unwell. On Thursday, March 26, and immediately went home. That same day we sent everyone that works in the governor’s office home, and had a professional multi our deep cleaning done.
We had already earlier in March significantly reduced our in office staff and directed all those who could to work at home. These are the same instructions that I’ve asked offices across the state to follow. Back then, we also implemented temperature checks for anyone still coming into the Thompson center. Those temperature checks have continued.
Following the staffer’s exit from the office, we reduced in-office staff in the governor’s office even further to a critical few, asking all of those who are staying at home to self isolate as the medical professionals advised. We also put in place additional protocols about in office, and out of office behavior.
The individual who tested positive continues to isolate at home. And it has now been 12 days since that person left the office, and none of our remaining in office staff have demonstrated symptoms. I’m incredibly happy that this member of my team is doing so well.
This is an anxious time for everyone and it should be a cautionary tale that even among those who are most attentive and taking the most precautions, it is still possible to get the virus. If you leave home and interact with others. So let this just affirm what we already know. Nobody is immune.
Again, please pardon all transcription typos. Thanks.
* The governor then announced the daily death total…
Now I’ve said all along that this would get worse before it gets better. But speaking the truth in no way softens the blow when it does in fact get worse.
And it has been reported to me and I’m deeply saddened to say that in the last 24 hours we have had 73 fatalities in the battle against COVID-19, our largest single day increase to date.
There are so many tragedies here, the countless family members loved ones, friends and neighbors who grieve the indefinite delay of funerals and celebrations of life. The fact that this will not be the last day that we say goodbye to our fellow Illinoisans because of the terrible toll of COVID-19.
It’s okay to let yourself feel all the pain that there is to feel today. I too am grieving, but I want you to know that my grief is only fueling my efforts to fight this virus and win.
* Hospitalization…
Although all of the available data serves as an important part of the overall picture, we consider our hospitalization data a particularly significant indicator. If someone’s sick enough to need hospital care. They’re likely going to seek that care whether or not they have been tested.
According to data from April 6 yesterday, the number of known COVID patients and suspected COVID patients, as in persons under investigation and assumed to have COVID-19 for the purpose of medical treatment in our hospitals here in Illinois, that number totaled 3680.
* Context…
Since the earliest days of our COVID-19 response my administration has worked with our state’s network of more than 200 hospitals to increase capacity in our existing health systems. We now have nearly 28,000 total beds, approximately 2700 of which are ICU beds. As a reminder, those numbers don’t include the beds that we’re putting up at our alternate care facilities like Vibra, Metro South or McCormick Place.
* More…
Additionally, we’re seeing signs of a trend here in Illinois for the number of people in the hospital for non COVID reasons. Things like car accidents have dropped with fewer people on the roads since we implemented our stay at home order. This is a pattern that’s reflected in other states as well. As of yesterday, April 6, 43% of our total hospital beds are available and 35% of our ICU beds are available. As for our nearly 2700 ventilators in Illinois 57% are currently available, down from the 68% available on March 31, just one week ago.
So if you’re looking for a trend, here’s another one. On Tuesday, again just a week ago, COVID patients occupied about 35% of our total ICU beds and about 24% of our total ventilators. Today, a week later, COVID patients occupy 43% of our total ICU beds and 29% of our total ventilators, that’s an 8 and 5 percentage point jump, respectively, in just a week.
* Important point here…
I also want to stress that these are our collective numbers across the state. Not every hospital has even that availability and in fact there’s a fairly extraordinarily large range across the state depending upon where you live.
In the city of Chicago, the city’s Southwest suburbs and the city’s northeast suburbs average ICU Bed Availability in those hospitals is still below 25% with some hospitals in the area near max capacity.
But this isn’t just a Chicagoland issue. We’re closely watching other areas around the states places like Peoria at 42% of ICU beds available and dropping, and places like the Edwardsville region at just 33% available.
* More…
We’re also tracking ventilator availability specifically investigating the need to move ventilators not just within a region of the state but from region to region within the state as needed. For those of you who didn’t hear your region listed as one operating with a lower percentage of available beds. That is not a sign that COVID-19 isn’t a problem in your community, far from it. It might feel like a lifetime ago but it was just a couple of weeks back when the state of Illinois had just a few confirmed cases in just one county. In fact it was only last Tuesday when we had confirmed cases in just 54 counties. That’s an increase of 23 counties in seven days. We have to be operating as if COVID-19 is circulating, not just in every county but in every community. We need to maintain our course, and we need to keep working to flatten the curve.
* More on ventilators…
And finally, to round out our conversation about hospital capacity. I must talk about ventilators, the equipment known to make a real difference in the outcomes for COVID patients who are in critical condition. First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude. My genuine sincere gratitude to the people of California and to the governor of California Gavin Newsome who sent us 100 ventilators overnight for use by patients here in Illinois. […]
Once we are past our peak, Illinois will pay it forward. We will pay it forward in any way that we can including passing along these ventilators to the next hot spot in the nation, and any that we may be able to spare.
As you know, over time, we’ve also received 600 ventilators from the federal government, 300 of which were directed specifically to the city of Chicago by the White House. I’m grateful for all of those vents as well. We continue to scour the globe with our own state level procurement operation to secure the rest of the ventilators that we may need. While this market is just as competitive, if not more so than that for PPE we have so far placed orders for 3620 ventilators. The first batch of these deliveries will arrive in April, with the rest coming over the next several months
* From a press release…
* Prisons…
As of today over 60 individuals at the Department of Juvenile Justice have been released. That’s more than a 25% decrease in our overall juvenile population. And at the Department of Corrections during this pandemic we’ve now released over 1100 low risk prisoners who were incarcerated, either by direct action by my administration or under regular release programs.
* On to questions for the governor. The staff member that you said that tested positive did this individual have close contact with you or Dr. Ezike, were you tested, was the doctor tested?…
Pritzker: I was not tested. I did not have regular close contact with this person, this is somebody who worked in the office but not particularly close to my office and didn’t regularly enter my office so very little direct contact with this person.
IDPH Director Dr. Ezike said she had no contact with the person and she has not been tested.
* Just a question regarding the report of the state’s procurement of cadaver bags. If you could comment on that, is 12,000 the number that the state is seeking and is that a number that is within the models of something that could be?…
I don’t really want to comment on it. I mean we’re preparing and always we don’t know what the numbers will be in the end. And it’s hard to point at something that would tell you exactly what those numbers would be I mean obviously there are models out there but a lot of them, but we want to make sure that we’re prepared if we’re if we end up being over prepared in that way.
I’ve been told that the bodies likely have to be double-bagged.
* Is there any way to calculate how many deaths, or estimate how many deaths that have occurred since perhaps January that are unrecorded?…
I think that the DPH is actually going back in the records to to look at some of those but I don’t think that it’s clear yet. … We do have coroners and medical examiners who maybe might be doing post mortem tests to try to see if they can get at that information. So the numbers may increase for a number of people who may have expired who passed on. Before it was knowledge that it was related or that they had COVID at the time of death, requiring every everybody to be tested for COVID-19 eBay, if there wasn’t signs before they died.
* Do you want local law enforcement to enforce your stay at home order to the point of arresting citizens?…
Look, I have not encouraged that. That is up to local law enforcement and to local entities cities and counties. Some of them have are looking at passing ordinances, for example, and some of them have declared their own states of emergency.
There are situations like what I read about in Quincy where there were several parties to parties that I’m aware of that occurred. And look I think we’re asking people to do the right thing and most people, the vast majority of people are doing the right thing. But if people are encouraging others to get together in groups of more than 10 or to not socially distance, I mean, I think at some point, it is worthy of considering a real consequence.
* We’ve noticed police out there that they don’t seem to be pulling people over as there have been some directive from your office to state police to conduct traffic enforcement differently? We’ve seen vehicles parked out in the middle of expressways state police with their lights on, just there as a warning, trying to get people to slow down…
No, I have not given any directive like that.
* Do you have any regrets about anything you should have or shouldn’t have done or said during this crisis?…
Oh gosh. I think that’s always a hard question to ask somebody in public life are there more things you could have done or could have done something differently.
I suppose so I and I, every day, you know, I asked myself about each decision that I make is there is there another choice here or did I miss something. You know I can look back certainly and say, did I miss something that happened in the past, but look we took action we were, we were quick. I think to get on this subject when you know when it was clear that that that just asking people to not gather in groups of 50 or 250. I think originally we said 250 and 1000, 1000 being enforceable to fit that was, that seems like months ago now, right, but that’s really about four weeks ago and that’s back when you know there were very few cases that didn’t seem like enough so we went to closing. We went to limiting the numbers of people getting together to a smaller number and then closing bars and restaurants and then closing schools and then the stay at home order and so on. And yet there are more things that could be done but. So, you know, yeah I wish I knew about this in January when you know when the intelligence agencies seemed to know about it. and we could have begun building ventilators ourselves.
* To counteract COVID’s impact on minorities, you said the state is reopening hospitals and those communities, you’re saying that they will only serve black and brown patients, or are you reopening them for good. If not, how does it close the racial wealth gap?…
No, we are not limiting it to a certain race, that’s not the case. And people will be referred to those hospitals. I think the benefit for the most part will be that people don’t show up as a matter of first resort to any of these alternate care facilities. They are referred to those facilities, and if it is near where someone lives that will be a better place for them than some other location. And so it’s really just a reference to the idea that we’ll be able to serve more people and many of the people who will go to those facilities will be perhaps closer to where they live
* How do you respond to Rep. Blaine Wilhour’s suggestion that the longer we’re quarantine that the more we delay herd immunity, which could ultimately lead to more people getting the virus?…
Okay folks, let me just point out that Great Britain went by this theory that perhaps if we just let everybody get it then everybody will get hurt, we’ll have herd immunity faster, and everybody will be okay. Well guess what, if you let everybody have it all at once, which is what happens when you just let it go, you overwhelm your healthcare system and more people die. A lot of people can die. And so the suggestion that we should just let it happen so that the herd immunity occurs faster, is an invitation for us to just let people die. And I won’t do that. I will not do that.
* In terms of opening the state back up on May 1. If you extend the stay at home border would you consider opening up parts of Illinois, especially some counties that haven’t been severely affected by COVID-19?…
I mean look at where it’s 77 counties as of today, where there are cases, and it’s growing, and the number of cases is growing the number of deaths is growing now. And so it’s hard for me to see that, that just because you haven’t had a case in your county or in your community that you’re not going to see cases developing and growing, and we see hotspots correct. You know, that are happening all over the state, you know, look at you know areas like champagne and like Metro east. And, you know, we need to we need to get much further along here before we start talking about a regional or statewide stand down of these orders.
* President Trump said in a press conference last night, you were very happy about the White House at COVID-19 Task Force response to Illinois needs. The President cited a governor’s meeting with Vice President Pence on Monday morning and said, quote, there wasn’t a negative person on the call, even governor Pritzker from Illinois is happy. He suggested that on one hand you’re positive about the government’s work on the phone but telling the press, a different story could you respond to that…
Well, the President’s taking one snapshot when I was happy about on that call was the fact that the Army Corps of Engineers had done such a spectacular job working with our local tradesmen to build out McCormick Place, and I expressed my gratitude for the help of FEMA in a variety of circumstances. But I have been on many calls with the white house, with staff at the White House, with the Vice President, even with the President and I have expressed my displeasure on a number of those calls.
Look, I’m happy when they make promises, and then deliver upon those promises. I am unhappy when they do not deliver on promises, or when lies are spoken. And look, I’m gonna fight for the people of Illinois in every in all circumstances, but I’ll praise somebody when they do something right.
* Regarding IDOC furloughs, will any inmates regardless of crime be eligible for this for a low as medically vulnerable. Where will they go, when released and how, how will IDOC ensure they don’t spread COVID into their communities?…
Well everybody that’s released will have a medical review before they’re released that’s the first thing.
Second. No we’re not. This is not open to anybody and everybody that’s incarcerated in the state of Illinois.
We have reviewed files, continue to review files of those who are non violent offenders those who are posed the least risk to communities. And we have been working as expeditiously as possible to make those reviews, there are some limitations on our ability even for somebody who is at low risk, or at least low risk in their community to returning their community and committing a crime, because we are required to have a location for them to live at, and sometimes they don’t have someplace to go, but we’re trying to work through even that problem by working with local organizations, so we’ll continue to work at this and giving you kind of regular updates here about how we’re managing through with our corrections. And I think that our corrections staff and leadership are doing an excellent job.
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* NY Times…
In Louisiana, about 70 percent of the people who have died are African-American, though only a third of the state’s population is black. In the county around Milwaukee, where 27 percent of residents are black, nearly twice as many African-American residents tested positive for the virus as white people. And in Chicago, where African-American residents make up a little less than a third of the population, more than half of those found to have the virus are black, and African-Americans make up 72 percent of those who have died of the virus.
Data on the race of those sickened by the virus has only been made public in a handful of places and is too limited to make sweeping conclusions. But racial disparities in cases and outcomes, researchers said, reflect what happens when a viral pandemic is layered on top of entrenched inequalities.
The data, researchers said, is partly explained by factors that could make black Americans more vulnerable in any outbreak: They are less likely to be insured, more likely to already have health conditions and more likely to be denied testing and treatment. There is also the highly infectious nature of the coronavirus in a society where black Americans disproportionately hold jobs that do not allow them to stay at home, the researchers said.
“If you walk outside and see who is actually still working,” said Elaine Nsoesie, of Boston University’s School of Public Health, “the data don’t seem surprising.”
If the type of jobs people have was a major factor, or the fact that they rely on public transit, you’d think the Latino rate would be much higher than it is. The state’s latest figures show 7.5 percent of all reported COVID-19 deaths are Latinos. But they’re 17.4 percent of the state’s population.
* Sun-Times…
Among all Chicagoans who have died from the virus, 97% suffered from underlying health problems, city data show.
* Tribune…
Indeed, some of the hardest hit communities on the South and West sides have struggled with unemployment and health care access for generations. As a result, residents have higher baseline rates of diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and high blood pressure — the chronic conditions that make the coronavirus even more deadly.
Even before the pandemic, these chronic conditions attributed to a life-expectancy gap in the city. On average, white Chicagoans live nine years longer than black residents, with half of the disparity due to chronic illnesses and smoking rates in black communities, public health officials said. […]
Six of the 10 ZIP codes with the most coronavirus-related deaths in Cook County are in Chicago, the data shows. Deaths were concentrated in majority-black, South Side neighborhoods including Auburn Gresham, South Chicago, South Shore and Chatham.
“This is not just about racial and ethnic disparity and the outcomes,” Lightfoot said. “The distribution of this disease tells the story about resources and inequality. A story about unequal health care access, job access and community investment. Dynamics we know all too well here in the city of Chicago and something all of us have been talking about and fighting against for years.”
Yes, these dynamics are quite well-known, which is why government at all levels and not just in Chicago and Cook County should’ve been far more proactive.
Ugh.
* Sun-Times editorial…
What’s to be done?
Mayor Lightfoot on Monday presented a city plan essentially aimed at getting the message out more forcefully in communities of color and monitoring cases early. There will be more outreach workers. There will be more well-being checks.
If those sound like pretty basic steps, they are. But then, everything about slowing the spread and beating back the coronavirus is basic. There is no magic cure, though President Trump has been talking up an untested drug, hydroxchloroquine. There is no vaccine.
For now, there is only this: social distancing. And so we once again urge everyone — and perhaps most especially African Americans — to practice social distancing as much as humanly possible.
Easier said than done if you have to work outside the home, but still true.
*** UPDATE *** With a hat tip to a commenter…
Coronavirus patients in areas that had high levels of air pollution before the pandemic are more likely to die from the infection than patients in cleaner parts of the country, according to a new nationwide study that offers the first clear link between long-term exposure to pollution and Covid-19 death rates.
In an analysis of 3,080 counties in the United States, researchers at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that higher levels of the tiny, dangerous particles in air known as PM 2.5 were associated with higher death rates from the disease. […]
The paper found that if Manhattan had lowered its average particulate matter level by just a single unit, or one microgram per cubic meter, over the past 20 years, the borough would most likely have seen 248 fewer Covid-19 deaths by this point in the outbreak. […]
The District of Columbia, for instance, is likely to have a higher death rate than the adjacent Montgomery County, Md. Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, should be worse than nearby Lake County, Ill. Fulton County, Ga., which includes Atlanta, is likely to suffer more deaths than the adjacent Douglas County.
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* Rep. Blaine Wilhour writing in the Illinois Review…
An Ivy League professor recently published an article in the Federalist stating that the longer we quarantine the entire population – the more we delay herd immunity which could lead to more people succumbing to the virus in the long run. The author suggested that a more targeted approach to quarantining might be the better solution.
Is this a better approach? Maybe. Maybe not. But can we at least have the discussion?
* They had a vigorous discussion about herd immunity in England last month…
Britain’s chief scientific adviser stoked controversy on Friday when he said that about 40m people in the UK could need to catch the coronavirus to build up “herd immunity” and prevent the disease coming back in the future.
Defending Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision not to follow other European countries by closing schools and banning mass gatherings, Patrick Vallance said it was the government’s aim to “reduce the peak of the epidemic, pull it down and broaden it” while protecting the elderly and vulnerable.
But Sir Patrick told Sky News that experts estimated that about 60 per cent of the UK’s 66m population would have to contract coronavirus in order for society to build up immunity.
“Communities will become immune to it and that’s going to be an important part of controlling this longer term,” he said. “About 60 per cent is the sort of figure you need to get herd immunity.”
* But that idea didn’t last very long…
Donald Trump has said that Boris Johnson’s abandoned plan for creating “herd immunity” to the coronavirus in the UK would have been “catastrophic” and caused “a lot of death.”
The president said that the UK government’s original coronavirus strategy plan, which involved allowing the virus to spread in order to achieve resistance to the virus in the population, would have caused millions of deaths if adopted in the US.
“If you remember, they were looking at that concept - I guess it’s a concept if you don’t mind death, a lot of death - but they were looking at that in the UK, remember,” Trump told a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
“And all of a sudden they went hard the other way because they started seeing things that weren’t good, so they put themselves in a little bit of a problem.”
* And then…
Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, who was transferred to intensive care Monday night, has become a potent symbol of the dangers the coronavirus pandemic poses.
The fact Johnson has become so ill highlights that this disease can be deadly to even the young and healthy. It also highlights what’s so problematic about the policy his government initially pursued to combat the virus: herd immunity.
Johnson’s government was much slower to impose social distancing measures than many other European countries.
* Back to Rep. Wilhour…
On April 8th, the Governor’s 30 day-emergency powers come to an end. It is time for the Governor to bring the Legislature to the table. Our constituents deserve input on potentially opening parts of the state less affected by the virus.
Just one of the bills Rep. Wilhour sponsored in this GA has become law…
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that red or white oscillating, rotating, or flashing emergency lights may be used on a vehicle operated by a qualified deputy fire chief or assistant fire chief (in addition to a fire chief).
And only one other bill he’s introduced has attracted co-sponsors from beyond a tight-knit group of far-right legislators.
…Adding… From Rep. Wilhour…
Way to completely ignore context and cherry-pick one small section while ignoring the rest. Perhaps you should tell your readers to read the whole thing and then comment specifically to the content.
I am not arguing for herd immunity. I am advocating for a more targeted approach based on actual numbers. Lets look at taking into account who is the most at-risk and formulate policies to protect them, our most vulnerable.
If you read the article, what is is really calling for is full transparency on relevant data, benchmarks and safeguard ideas for reopening of the economy-based on the data, open consideration of regionalization-again , based on data. All very reasonable discussion points.
Furthermore, how about some considerations on the lasting effects this blanket shutdown will have on working people?
I just saw a report where the Indiana suicide hotline has had increases in call volume from 1000-25,000.
The Governor and the Mayor both pointed to disproportionate effects on the African American community.
The Mayor attributes it to factors such as: health care accessibility, jobs, and hunger.
These huge across the board shutdown policies are making all of these factors exponentially worse.
If you read the article, I am clearly not calling for a free-for-all. Stop marginalizing dissent from the group-think.
BTW, I am chief sponsor on more bills than you indicated.
Look it up. www.ilga.gov
I did look it up.
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The numbers behind the bickering
Tuesday, Apr 7, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WGN…
[White House officials] said the state has received 367,700 N-95 masks, 875,000 surgical masks and 300 ventilators, with an additional 172,200 N-95 masks and 150 ventilators given separately to Chicago. […]
While acknowledging the work of the Army Corps of Engineers to build additional hospital capacity in the state, Pritzker said Monday that supplies provided by the federal government will only last a handful of days because it’s going fast.
Pritzker said health care workers are expected to need up 1.5 million N-95 masks and 25 million gloves every 10 days to care for infected patients.
* Fox 32…
The federal government has sent the state 367,000 N95 masks, whereas Pritzker and his team have secured more than 9 million.
* From the governor’s briefing yesterday…
And that’s just across our hospitals and long term care facilities, with small set-asides for our law enforcement to make sure that they are fully covered, and our essential state workers. That’s also before you count the McCormick Place alternate facility, which we project could bring our surgical mask burn rate to over 2 million across that 10 day period, to just offer one more example.
…Adding… The comptroller is keeping track of federal supplies received by Illinois. These numbers are current as of yesterday…
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Please, don’t be a Covidiot
Monday, Apr 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rep. Brad Halbrook on Facebook…
* A commenter on the Rend Lake Visitor Center’s Facebook page asked a few days ago if people can still fish at the lake. The center’s response…
Yes. If you are using a boat, the South Marcum, Dam West, and Cypress View boat ramps are open. The North Gun Creek Boat Ramp, managed by the Rend Lake Conservancy District, which is where the Buck and Bass Cabins are is also open. This ramp is located north of Hwy 154, across from the Rend Lake Golf Course and just west of the I57 Sesser exit. If you are interested in fishing from the shoreline, all the hunter/fisherman parking lots managed by the Corps of Engineers, the Spillway recreation area, and the Dam West recreation area are all open at this time.
…Adding… Alton Telegraph…
Alton Mayor Brant Walker on Monday described his wife, Shannon Walker’s decision to attend a gathering at an Alton bar that was ultimately shut down by police as “a stunning lack of judgment.”
Brant Walker issued the statement soon after Alton Police Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons reported that officers broke up the party at Hiram’s Tavern, 213 W. 3rd St. in Alton at approximately 1 a.m. Sunday.
Simmons said a criminal complaint of reckless conduct will be filed against each person at the party for violating the state’s State At Home order amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Brant Walker says he instructed Simmons to not give his wife any special treatment.
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* Gov. Pritzker at today’s media briefing…
The shipments that we’ve received from the Strategic National Stockpile is a mere fraction of what we’ve asked for. 367,795 masks. 1,141,000 surgical masks. Nearly 693,000 gloves. 174,000 face shields, 142,000 surgical gowns and 4000 coveralls. Again, this is a small fraction of what we need. And what we have asked for. […]
Right now, we’re looking at a statewide 10-day PPE burn rate of just under 1.5 million N95 masks, 25 million gloves, 4.4 million gowns and 700,000 surgical masks.
And that’s just across our hospitals and long term care facilities, with small set-asides for our law enforcement to make sure that they are fully covered, and our essential state workers. That’s also before you count the McCormick Place alternate facility, which we project could bring our surgical mask burn rate to over 2 million across that 10 day period, to just offer one more example.
As you can see when you compare our federal shipments to our burn rate, the product that we’ve received from the federal stockpile will last only a handful of days in this multi month battle.
Please pardon all typos.
* On to questions for the governor. Dr. Deborah Birx at the White House as been saying no grocery store for the next two weeks, nothing, stay home completely. Should Illinoisans follow that advice?…
I have not heard her say that, but I understand exactly what she’s saying, that if you can stock up, and we’ve talked about this before when we did the stay at home order to begin with, that people should try to stock up for a period of time, 14 days, if they can certainly. The less interaction that people have over an extended period of time, the more likely it is that we’re going to be bending this curve
* Considering a curfew, whether that be shortening the hours of some of these essential businesses, you know, only one person per household?…
Yes, I would. I mean, the answer is we try to look at all of these things all the time where you know you’re want to balance people’s civil liberties and and our need to be able to stay at home and to defeat this virus. […]
There are lots of things that we can do to limit peoples’ gathering and conveying this virus to one another, and we of course are considering them all the time.
* The White House has sent 450 ventilators. The state has requested more than 4000. Where are you going to get the ventilators you need?…
So we’re, day in and day out, we are on the phone with companies that have ventilators and companies that could provide ventilators to us from that manufacturer. I’ve been on the phone with the head of Ford Motor Company, which is about to come out with their version of a ventilator, with General Motors or at least the people who are coordinating the effort for General Motors to gather to get those ventilators. I’ve talked to the head of by air, a company that’s based here in Illinois that makes ventilators, so we’re doing everything we can. I’m just one person that’s been on the phone around ventilators. We’ve also collected up ventilators from places that you might not normally expect us to have one. There are dental offices sometimes just in the event that somebody has a problem, you know, it’s very unusual right but many dentists will keep a ventilator around anyway surges centers where elective surgeries had taken place, that are not open today right they all, many of the most of them had ventilators.
* Federal help staffing McCormick Place?…
We will be receiving some federal medical staff, it hasn’t been made clear that there’ll be in McCormick Place. But we were notified that in fact there are federal army and other military medical staff that will be made available to us in the state of Illinois, so I’m very pleased to hear that and as to where they’re going to be assigned we haven’t yet had that conversation.
* “Can I ask you about, it might seem silly, but there’s some criticism today to the mayor, for having a hairdresser come to her and giving her a haircut. What are you doing about a haircut? Have you had a haircut? What do you think folks should do who are not able to go to the hairdresser? They see the mayor has had a private haircut, and they’re upset”…
Well, I can’t speak to the situation of the mayor’s haircut, but I will say I have not had a haircut since before the stay at home rule was put in place. I actually feel like I’m getting a little shaggy, I’m going to turn into a hippie at some point here. My hair grows pretty fast, so maybe I’ll learn how to use a flowbee or something else to cut my own hair. But look I mean these are some of the consequences that I think we’re all having to experience I know that they’re things that people might normally buy makeup that you might go to a makeup counter somewhere to get that you can’t get any more, because those stores are closed. […]
But, you know, everybody’s making sacrifices here and I’m sure that whatever the mayor did she did in a way that is safe for everybody and for her for the people who may have, you know, done. You know, dressing her hair you know doing her haircut.
* Governor, you said at least twice ,the last time on March 5, that the risk to the general public remains low. Why did you say that, and what were you basing that, when did you change your mind?…
Well I was listening to the CDC. And what I heard from the CDC was that the risk to the general public was low. And I think the CDC is a terrific organization mostly has gotten things right over the many years that I’ve been alive. And so I believed what they were saying and I was repeating that I think I still think it’s a great organization I think that for whatever reason at the federal government level I think perhaps decisions being made at the White House. They weren’t giving very strong advice about what to do, proactively to address cobit 19. But as you know, we took early actions without the CDC, and I’m hoping and praying that those actions are, you know, delivering good results for the state of Illinois.
* What steps are being taken to shore up state spending in anticipation of the crater of state revenues? Is your administration implementing any cutback of services or staff reductions?…
First of all, this is, I mean it’s unprecedented in terms of the state even compared to 2008-2009, the revenue shortfall, the things that we’re having to do to address this, you know is creating a gap that I don’t think anybody could have anticipated. So we are looking very hard at what we need to do to to get the revenues and expenditures in line with one another. I think a lot of it is going to depend upon the federal government I mean there’s just no one else who can step in the, you know, to help our state finances, the way that the federal government can.
* With African-Americans representing a disproportionate number of COVID 19 fatalities, what plan does the administration have to attack this problem? Any theory about why blacks are being hit harder?…
There was a rumor, also very false, that African Americans were, I read this recently in a, in a serious publication, that the there was a rumor that African Americans were immune. And I hope people didn’t read that, or understand that but that is a rumor that was put out on social media. And so that obviously is false.
The flipside is also false that this this adversely affects African Americans, because COVID 19 by its very nature has some disproportionate effect on the African American populaetion. Here’s the reason that we think that it has a disproportionate effect on the African American community, things that Dr. Ezike was saying, underlying conditions that exists, the poor health care that has been provided you know because of years of disinvestment in communities of color. Those have both come together, this virus has had this terrible effect on the African American community because of those two things when there are, you know, a large number of people in the African American community with diabetes and with hypertension. And those are comorbidities that can cause greater problems with COVID 19. Together with the idea that there aren’t the safety net hospitals are challenged in our state, and tthe availability of health care in communities of color has been at a lower quality or lower availability than in other communities so those have worked. So we are countering it both by reopening hospitals that are in those communities. You’ve seen us working on reopening those as well as by making sure that we’re messaging properly, we’re using social media, and our All in Illinois campaign to message directly into the African American community about stay at home about making sure that people are washing their hands, that they’re, you know, wiping down surfaces and all the other things that we’ve asked people to do.
* What are your thoughts about Illinoisans still planning to travel Wednesday to celebrate Passover this weekend to celebrate Easter. You’ve clearly discouraged residents to stay home and maintain social distancing, but do you have a specific message for those wanting to celebrate with their family anyway? Will there be any sort of enforcement mechanism to ensure there is no needless travel in the coming weeks?…
Look, I understand the desire to worship. Passover is coming up. We’re in Easter week.
This is an important holy time of the year. And I want very much for people to experience the spirituality that they normally would. We live in a very difficult time. And I would suggest that, unfortunately, where we all should start to think about how we’re going to use technology in order for us to gather in order to hear our pastor or a rabbi, you know, or a imam or whoever we worship with, you know, to listen to them and to worship online perhaps by video or by phone, and to connect with family in the same way.
It’s very important if your family doesn’t live with you and you normally would get together for the holidays. This is a time when you’ve got to look for another way to do it. I’ve heard people using zoom. There’s a funny term I’ve heard for Passover Seder as a Seder zoom Seder. And I think that we’re all going to be experiencing the holidays in a very unusual ways this year but it’s very important. I cannot reiterate this enough. It is very important that you stay home. It is very important that you do not gather in a place of worship or in somebody’s home with you know with other families or even with your family if they don’t live with you. It’s, we’ve got to protect each other and this will not last forever, but this is one Easter, one Passover that you’re going to have to do something unusual on the way that your worship and I asked you please do that for all of us.
* You said last week that you’d exhausted nearly every step at the state level to slow COVID 19 spread. On Sunday, you mentioned some other measures such as temperature checks. When would those steps become necessary?…
I think what we’re trying to do is, again, keep it balanced. This question was asked a little bit earlier, there’s a balance between, trying not to impose on everybody’s civil liberties, and at the same time trying to defeat this virus. And so, evaluating that every day, and I think the triggers would be if people are just not living by the rules, we’d have to enforce them to a greater extent.
You know, especially around the holidays here, nobody wants to have police patrolling the parking lots of churches, or synagogues or mosques to break people up. It’s not right. It’s not fair to the police officers either.
And we just, we all need, we are in this together, we all need to step up and do the right thing even if this time of year especially at this time of year.
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* ProPublica Illinois today…
Five months ago, when Illinois schools Superintendent Carmen Ayala learned students were being repeatedly shut inside small rooms alone as punishment and physically held down on the floor, she said she cried. She vowed it would never happen again.
But Illinois State Board of Education officials negotiated with a key legislative rule-making committee to allow schools to use prone restraint for one more school year, aiming to phase out its use by July 2021. The decision last week came after a few small schools — including one whose advisory board includes state lawmakers — mounted letter-writing campaigns and direct appeals to government leaders.
State education board members already had relaxed the emergency ban that prevented children from being secluded by themselves, though with clearer direction on when isolated timeouts can and can’t be used and, for the first time, state oversight. The board, however, had remained firm on not allowing face-down, or prone, floor restraints because they are too dangerous.
That last sentence is not true.
* How do I know it’s not true? From ProPublica Illinois this past December…
Illinois Will Allow Prone, Supine Restraints on Children While Schools Learn to Phase Them Out
Amending emergency rules put in place two weeks ago, the Illinois State Board of Education says it will again allow schoolchildren to be physically restrained in positions it had banned, though only in crisis situations.
All JCAR did last week was extend those amended emergency rules from last December. The emergency rules covered quiet rooms and physical restraint.
* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line thoroughly covered last week’s meeting…
The commission, known as JCAR, meets monthly to approve rules written by state agencies and boards in order to implement newly passed state laws. Often, before JCAR is able to take final action on rules, emergency rules will be written that can last up to several months.
One of the most pressing set of emergency rules JCAR needed to vote to extend were ones approved by the Illinois State Board of Education in November after Tribune/ProPublica Illinois investigation into the use and potential abuse of isolation rooms in school settings for children who are deemed disruptive in classroom settings. The new rules prohibit the use of locked seclusion rooms and stop schools from using prone restraint.
Cunningham said though the emergency rules would expire while school was still out of session in Illinois due to Pritzker’s executive order shuttering schools to prevent the spread of coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, the rule was still important to have in place for special education students who have been moved to out-of-state boarding schools better equipped to handle their needs. Some of those schools are still in session. […]
Beyond those special education students at out-of-state facilities, Cunningham said that if school was resumed statewide in a month or further down the road, without JCAR having met to extend the emergency rules on isolation rooms, it would “become a complicated legal question.”
“We would open things up to all sorts of legal debate about us renewing a rule after it was already expired,” Cunningham said. “Do we have ability to extend a rule that already expired?”
*** UPDATE *** ISBE…
Hi Rich,
I am sending some information for your post on the recent ProPublica story on prone restraint: https://capitolfax.com/2020/04/06/am-i-missing-something-here/.
Following weeks of conversations, it became clear that it would not be possible to move forward with a ban on the use of prone restraint via rulemaking at this time. JCAR informed ISBE that if a one-year extension on the practice was not accepted, a filing prohibition for this section would be under serious consideration by members. ISBE agreed to this one-year extension on the use of prone restraint in very narrow circumstances to allow schools more time to transition to less restrictive techniques.
ISBE looks forward to continued talks with members of JCAR and with members of the General Assembly regarding the agency’s concerns with the use of prone restraint. ISBE will fully support legislation to ban prone restraint.
Thank you,
Jackie
Jackie Matthews
Director of External Communications
Illinois State Board of Education
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* Maria Ines Zamudio and Elliott Ramos…
The COVID-19 virus is killing black residents in Cook County at disproportionately high rates, according to early data analyzed by WBEZ.
While black residents make up only 23% of the population in the county, they account for 58% of the COVID-19 deaths. And half of the deceased lived in Chicago, according to data from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
As of Saturday, 107 of Cook County’s 183 deaths from COVID-19 were black. In Chicago, 61 of the 86 recorded deaths – or 70% – were black residents. Blacks make up 29% of Chicago’s population.
The majority of the black COVID-19 patients who died had underlying health conditions including respiratory problems and diabetes. Eighty-one percent of them had hypertension, or high blood pressure, diabetes or both. […]
“It’s disturbing and upsetting, but not surprising,” said Dr. Linda Rae Murray, health policy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “This is just a reflection of the facts that we already know about these pandemics. People who are vulnerable will die quicker and won’t have as many resources.”
Discuss.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Press release…
The following statement was issued by SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana president Greg Kelley in response to news of the disproportionately high number of African American victims of the coronavirus:
CHICAGO–”News that a disproportionate number of African Americans, particularly Black males, die as a result of the coronavirus disease is shocking, yet not surprising. For far too long, officials have talked about and planned strategies to address economic and health disparities that exist among African Americans. The current pandemic demonstrates the dismal impact of their efforts.
“As a Black male, these statistics further heighten my concern for our members. They are the predominantly African American healthcare workers who are undervalued members of the workforce without whom no medical delivery would be possible.
“The person who transports patients, does the laundry, cleans the patient or prepares the food, and more, is likely to be Black. These same “essential” workers – people prone to underlying health conditions – have to labor without proper protective equipment, fight for decent wages and many can’t afford health insurance at the institutions where they work.
“The coronavirus is a devastating disease that we must work together to overcome. The bigger disease is the one that continues to perpetuate these conditions in the African American community. Let’s declare racism as a pandemic and put forth the proper resources to address it.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Better late than never, I suppose…
Calling it a “public health red alarm,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged on Monday that her administration will unveil a plan to address the coronavirus’ toll on black and brown Chicagoans after data showed they were being hit especially hard by the disease.
About 70% of Chicagoans who have died from COVID-19 are African American, Lightfoot acknowledged.
“It’s devastating to see those numbers and knowing that they’re not just numbers, they’re lives, there’s families and communities that have been shattered,” Lightfoot said. “That’s why we will be announcing a very robust and immediate comprehensive plan to address this.”
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