* Press release…
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan released the following statement Wednesday:
“First and foremost, we need to ensure the health and safety of members, staff and the general public is considered at all times when thinking about a return to Springfield. While the governor’s actions have reduced the curve and saved lives, it’s clear that Illinois is not out of the woods. Just yesterday, Illinois saw an all-time high in deaths, and it was recently announced that another 136 people died today.
“While I am eager to see a return to normalcy, we are talking about people’s lives, and any plan for a return to Springfield must have the health and safety of all those involved as a top priority, including the communities the members represent.”
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* Gov. JB Pritzker at his media briefing today…
Although nearly half of those who have been tested did not fill out their demographic information, of those who did 7.6% self-identified as Hispanic. Of these, more than 26,000 individuals, nearly 16,000 of them have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s a positivity rate of 60%. That’s nearly three times our state average.
As a point of comparison, for the half of people who left their race blank on their forms, about 18,000 tested positive for the virus. That’s 10%. We don’t know what portion of those unknowns might also qualify as Hispanic or Latinx. But what we do know is that our data from the start, until today, shines a concerning spotlight on which of our residents are most likely to get sick from COVID-19.
Remember to pardon all transcription errors.
* More from the governor…
Decades of institutional inequities and obstacles for members of our Latinx communities are now amplified in this pandemic. And while we can’t fix generations of history in the span of a few months, we must advance equity in our public health response today, everywhere and anywhere we can. My administration has made it a priority to enter into testing partnerships in as many areas around the state as possible, with a focus on communities, home to significant populations who are more vulnerable to this virus. We now have over 200 public testing sites in Illinois, a third of which are located in communities with a significant Latinx population, measured here as greater than or equal to 17%, which is the Latino population number statewide. […]
Of the seven drive-thru sites that the state does formally run, each offers bilingual support for Spanish speakers. And as we build on our existing contact tracing abilities at local health departments, we will continue to make a push for robust relationships with trusted partners in Latino communities and ensure our tracking capabilities reflect Illinois multilingual diversity.
* More…
At this time, face coverings are required in public situations where social distance cannot be maintained. And that applies only to those who are medically able to wear a mask.
I recognize that this is a new practice for many in Illinois and the entire United States, but it’s on us to change how we think about face coverings. Protecting your fellow Americans by wearing a face covering in public is a collective act of patriotism. And doctors will tell you it’s one of the best things that we can do for public health right now. There have been reports of misplaced assumptions about masks, leading to incidents of racial profiling against Latinx,and black Americans, especially men, as well as you know phobic attacks against Asian Americans. And I want to call on the public to help us stop these hateful incidents by speaking out and standing up for others in your community. If you witness or experience mask-related discrimination or any form of discrimination, please report the incident to the Illinois Department of Human Rights
* On to questions for the governor. Governor, what would you say to those who say Democratic governors are trying to keep their states closed for as long as possible in order to make better cases for federal bailout funds?…
I can only speak for this Democratic governor and I certainly have talked to enough, a number of others and I’ll just say that we are listening to the scientists and the epidemiologists, the doctors about what’s best for the people who live in our states. And that’s what we’re doing all of us. Indeed, I’ve talked to many of the governors across the nation. They have shared their epidemiological findings, as well they’re experts with us, and we have terrific ones here that we’ve shared with them.
* Can the governor provide more clarity to churches regarding holding services, should they plan not to hold services larger than 50 people until their region has moved to phase five?…
Well you know that in phase three there can be gatherings church gatherings of 10 or fewer and phase 4 is 50 or fewer. So that’s the guidance that’s been given to me. I’m not the one providing that guidance, it really is what the scientists and epidemiologists are recommending.
* As an entrepreneur at heart could you talk about what areas of business and industry you see emerging post pandemic and how they might benefit state government?…
That is really interesting. So I guess I’ll just say that I think there are going to be a number of new businesses that get started as a result of this. I think you’ve already seen that at least before there is a vaccine. There are lots of entrepreneurs who have started mask and face covering businesses, others who are trying to address the medical needs that are associated with people who are in isolation, or people who are COVID positive. And of course, I think there’s no question there’s going to be an advanced effort to provide to make sure that we are ready for the next pandemic, and all the things that may be required for that whether it’s technology on your iPhone or other device, or making sure that we’re, you know, producing the PPE in the United States that will be available. So I think there’s there’s an awful lot that I can see happening after this pandemic is over.
* We’ve heard reports saying IDPH has hospital resource numbers are incorrect in the Edwardsville region. Is IDPH aware of any discrepancies and if so are they working to correct them, she mentions that the numbers on the resource website are higher than some of the hospitals are saying they have available…
Dr. Ezike: IDPH has a repertoire of a lot of information and the information that we have is what information has been given to us, so we have information that comes from each hospital. Every day we pull that information at midnight, the information we get from whoever is assigned to give it to us is what we have. If there are errors, we recommend people have the people who are entering that data give the correct information but information out is what was the information in.
* How can people safely open their quarantine circle, if at all, to family and friends who have also isolated? Can we safely hug or visit moms for Mother’s Day?…
Dr. Ezike: The whole point of where we are now is that, I think we’ve tried to stress that we still don’t have a cure, we still don’t have a vaccine, so we really aren’t that far from where we were a month ago or before we started the stay at home order. So, our elderly people are still at high risk, and we’ve had them, essentially, you know shelter in place, even you know my mother, or the kids can only drop something off at the door because we don’t want to expose her to any additional risks. So that really hasn’t changed and so we really don’t want to put anyone at risk especially our most vulnerable. So that really hasn’t changed.
Virtual hugs are still, I would say the order of the day. Expanding your circle will increase your risk of infection. It’s that simple. The more people you’re around the higher the risk of contacting a contracting the virus from someone in this new expanded circle. So, again we are trying to minimize the risk for everyone that’s why staying home with that nuclear established cell that you’ve had is the best way forward as you expand that you are absolutely increasing the risk of contracting the virus.
* More tests mean more cases, but with several days of 2000 plus cases a day, when might we see that reflected in our hospitalization numbers? Is there a good percentage of how many people will enter hospitals from these counts? Also, is there a percentage of COVID-19 fatalities that have included comorbidities?…
Dr. Ezike: In terms of cases go on to have a certain percentage of people who end up in the hospital, a certain percentage of the people who end up in the hospital ended up in the ICU. So we know that about 30% of our total positive cases have ended up in the hospital so, potentially, we could see that going forward. Again, we’re looking at the number of people who have been tested and as we’ve expanded testing, we have some less sick people who have had testing. So maybe that 30% won’t hold going forward but from previous numbers we’ve had about 30% of people end up in the hospital. So assuming we had the same mix of people getting tests that could be the same, but again, as the number of people tested disbanded, maybe this, the illness the baseline status of those people might not be exactly the same.
The last question was, is there a percentage of COVID-19 fatalities that have included comorbidities. Almost 90% of the fatalities have had an associated comorbidity, and we’ve seen that in in data across the world. Mostly, I actually have to add age, so age isn’t necessarily a comorbidity but it puts you in a higher risk status so we have seen people over the age of 65 who’ve talked about heart disease we’ve talked about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, diabetes, so there’s a list of conditions which are quite common in our population, along with elevated age. Please don’t forget pregnant women or people who have been recently pregnant are also at high risk, anybody who has an immunocompromised status may be a recent cancer patient or somebody who’s actively going through chemotherapy. So there are a lot of people that form that group that are in a higher risk category.
* Governor, the Restore Illinois plan will last for months or even years until we have a vaccine, a treatment or herd immunity. Do you plan to continue issuing 30 day disaster declarations and executive orders the whole time, or would you rather legislate the plan with the General Assembly knowing you might have to negotiate on some points?…
I don’t want to be in the position that I’ve been in which is to put in emergency orders.
But I’ll say that we’re going to work through this together I’ve certainly been in communication with many many legislators have worked with them to determine what aspects of these emergency orders need to be changed altered I talked yesterday about how we’ve included their opinions in the restoring Illinois plan. I hope that we’re out of this situation of COVID-19 being prevalent and no treatment and no vaccine out we’re out of the situation as soon as possible. And I’m, you know, watching very carefully to see if there’s a treatment or a vaccine that will come. Available very soon, but we’re no doubt about it we’re going to have to keep, you know, on top of this do it as best we can, you know, I’ll work with the legislature in any way that they would like to work together, but my job and their job is to help keep the people of Illinois safe and healthy.
* In terms of determining whether a certain region is ready to move to the next phase, will infection data be weighted for congregate settings like prisons and residential homes since they’re not necessarily representative of the community?…
I’ve heard this question before, but I want to point out that there are staff people who go in and out of these facilities all the time. And so even if you were to keep everybody in a nursing facility that’s a resident, which is the case now unless somebody checks out and goes home with their family, that you have staff coming in and out literally every day multiple shifts. Many of those people live in the areas that those nursing homes and prisons exist. And so I don’t think people should ignore the idea that there’s an infection in one of these kinds of good settings, thinking that it doesn’t have any effect on the community. So no we’re not ignoring those when the calculations are made about infection rates and, and the number of people who go into the hospital with COVID-19
* The CME plans to reopen its options pits as early as three weeks after Illinois stay at home order lifts. The exchange is asking traders to sign waivers and accept the risks because it can’t guarantee safety once the floor opens. Can you comment?…
I really can’t. I’m not sure what the circumstances are that are requiring that.
* One of our readers had to communicate to a fearful and scared group of employees at the office would be opening up June 1. Will employers be given guidelines about how to safely open up offices?…
Yes, in fact, we’re working with industry groups and with workers representatives unions and others as well as obviously with IDPH and experts in epidemiology and and understanding COVID-19 to make sure that the rules that are put in place for each industry. Manufacturing is different than warehousing is different than offices and so on.
All those rules will be made clear to people and indeed as you look in the plan that we put forward, you’ll see reference to IDPH safety guidance. And of course social distancing and face coverings will be the norm.
* Would you please reply to some of the pushback from business groups, especially restaurants, who say giving them no hope of even partially reopening until the end of June is much tougher than nearby states in near certain to result in mass permanent closures?…
Well, my first response to that is that I’m not the one that’s writing those rules for restaurants and bars, it is doctors and epidemiologists that I’m listening to.
And indeed, as many people I think understand these are situations where you are naturally going to be putting people close to one another, their servers who will be serving food which can transmit the disease, the infection, bartenders and so on. And so all of these things are playing a role in the decision making, I think by the doctors and epidemiologists. And, look, I also think that the public understands this and even if you flung the doors open on bars and restaurants today I think many people would say, I don’t want to be in a public location like that where it is more likely that things might be transmitted. But we very much want to get to opening the restaurants and bars, we need to see what the effect is on our hospitalizations and and infection rates across the state as we gradually open the economy. And as we saw, you know it is written into stage four phase which is just the next phase right after this phase three that might come up for some regions in June.
* Governor you are in charge of the State Fair. Given your own criteria is there any realistic way to consider holding the fair this year?…
I think it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to hold our state fairs. I’ve been to the state fairs, I think many people have you know that this will be many people packed together in buildings or even on pathways. So I do not believe that we’ll be able to open the state fair. But I do want to point out to people that as something I said yesterday, and I’m very hopeful for and that is, we have many treatments that are in the works. The researchers and experts are hard at work now there’s one that’s been emergency approved by the FDA called remdesivir. I hope there will be many others and maybe by the time these larger events roll around we might be able to have a treatment that’s very effective. And then I think there is the possibility.
* Some suburban republicans say the four groups hamstring communities with low COVID-19 numbers by lumping them with Chicago, could you respond?…
Remember that these regions are based upon the hospital regions for the emergency medical service regions that have been set up for decades by the Department of Public Health. So really they’re not based upon how many COVID positive people are in your particular village or town or city, but rather how many hospital beds and and health care workers how much health care is available. If and when there is a surge.
And let’s be clear, the virus hasn’t gone away. It is still out there, and nothing that we’re doing now is changing that fact what we have changed what has made things better. What has reduced the number of potential infections and the number of people going into the hospital and dying, is the fact that people have adhered to the stay at home order. And so the more we turn the dial up of, you know, allowing more and more interactions to occur in business and otherwise, the more risk that we’re taking. We’re going to be watching very closely, we all want the economy to open. I want it as much as anybody. And I’m the one, you remember I’m a business person, at least before I became governor I was a business person and I’m the one who’s debating these things with the scientists and epidemiologists, and they’re making cogent well founded arguments and I’m listening to the science.
* You’ve said all along that a 14 day decline is the benchmark you need to see to lift restrictions. Now it’s 28 days. What changed?…
I would say a couple things. There are a lot of differences between the White House plan that was put forward and our plan. But as you can see from the various plans across the country, each one has a slightly different set of criteria. What we’re watching for is the effect of the on hospitalizations on infections and so on.
But remember, we made changes just on May 1. So even if we were to watch this for just 14 days, what we’ve seen already is things are flat, not declining. So if I were to follow the White House plan to the letter, we would not even have begun the 14 days that is suggested in the White House plan. But instead what I’m suggesting is that if we have hospital beds available, if we have the ability to provide health care for people, and we can see that there’s a maintenance of that ability over a period of time, then we will be able to open things up. And I think honestly it might even be, because it’s different than the White House plan, indeed, you know, makes things more available to open up than the White House plan would in Illinois. I think we’re gonna have to be very careful. That’s why we have these 28 day periods.
* Some mayors decided to open up their city on May 1, could that cause businesses to lose their license if operating before the IDPH approves the region for their respective phase?…
They could. And you know the state often licenses some of these businesses so they absolutely could, and we will be looking at each of those businesses to determine whether we have the ability to do that. And when we could do that.
* The Lake County Sheriff’s office said Monday they will not issue tickets or be able to enforce the two-person a boat rule because they have not received any guidelines for for specific citations. Will you be providing more guidance to local authorities for enforcement?…
We absolutely can do that. I mean, it’s important that people adhere to the two person per boat guideline, it was really intended, we wanted people to be able to go out to go fishing, to be able to enjoy being on the water. But it’s important that people be able to enjoy social distancing while also being safe out there on a boat. So, we do want enforcement to take place and we’ll certainly be working with law enforcement as they ask us for assistance.
* With bordering states opening earlier in many cases, how will that affect your Restore Illinois plan both health wise and economically?…
Well, it certainly may make it more difficult because we will see potentially infections across the border. I can’t speak to the decision-making that’s been made in those states. What I can say is, I know that Governor Holcomb in Indiana shares the same goals that I do, which is to make sure that we’re keeping people safe and healthy. But I’m listening to the epidemiologists about what their best recommendations are in terms of timing and how we open these industries up. And I’m going to follow that, I’m going to do what’s best for the people of Illinois. I know people of Illinois want to do what’s best for themselves, which means to me, not going into these places that clearly are going to be, you know, potential hotbeds of infection, and then coming back into your community or into your home.
* This morning, you’re well aware of certain House Republicans held a press conference, they are calling for a couple of things. One, they want the legislature to come back into session. They say IDPH has provided safe guidelines for doing that. What would you say to Speaker Madigan and Senate President Harmon about getting lawmakers back into session? Republicans want to work with you and compromising as legislators for how we go forward and they feel you’re kind of just dictating a one person show…
Well that’s kind of crazy let’s just start with this. I have talked to the leaders on the Republican side, many Republican legislators. I’m frequently reaching out, listening to them ,I take a lot of notes, and I’ve done a lot of the things that they’ve asked. Along the way they are legislators I have great respect for the legislators on both sides of the aisle. And I am listening to them, they are acting as legislators and as a legislature, they are meeting in working groups, I know that Republicans and Democrats are sitting down talking about the budget they’re sitting down and talking about the Department of Human Services they’re talking about the various functions of government, they’re doing it, you know in committee style, Zoom conferencing and elsewhere and otherwise. So they’re doing exactly what I think they would be doing if they were in session having committee meetings, and they absolutely have the ability to get together in session. That’s one of the reasons that we didn’t just provide that, you know, for no reason we wanted to make sure that the legislature knew there are ways to do this now. Let’s also be clear that there are legislators who are concerned about getting together in, 177 of them, add in staff and all the other staff that work for them not to mention all the other people who work in the Capitol, and maybe members of the public. I mean that could be a potentially dangerous situation. That’s why we need the legislature to ask us for get you know what guidance they may need in order to get together, which were, you know, shown you that we’re willing to provide.
* Mayors out in DuPage County are saying how can you lump them in with Chicago, you’re going to kill our businesses. Other you know communities are saying, we’re being lumped in with larger areas where there’s a bigger problem, why not break it down closer to the 11 separate EMS districts and do it that way?…
Well, again, we were trying to this is all based upon hospital availability. We thought it would be better and more manageable for everybody if it was done in this number of regions I’m sure that there are a lot of opinions about how you could draw the lines. I know I spoke with one or another DuPage County mayors who want to just to draw the lines around their city.
And so my view is that no matter how we drew these lines, there were going to be people who might complain but remember why they were drawn. They were drawn because we want to make sure that there is healthcare availability, I had to point out to some mayors in areas that are around the Chicagoland area that many of the people that live in their villages or in their towns or in their cities, go into the city of Chicago on a regular basis, perhaps on a daily basis. And so when they say, well, but they’ve the problems in Chicago, but not here. That’s just wrong. You know the people who live there are going to places where there is a, maybe a higher infection rate and coming back to their village or their town.
* Is it realistic to hold some parts of the economy at bay for a vaccine that doesn’t exist or may not exist for 18 months, and can you provide more information on what a highly effective therapy looks like?…
Well, I’m not the one holding back the economy to, you know, from stage five, the COVID-19 virus is. That’s the thing that’s been causing the very high infection rates, the hospitalizations and the deaths. So I would pay attention to the fact that that’s still out there and the fact the reason that these rates have come down over the last two months has been because of orders that we put in place, and the fact that people across Illinois are obeying those.
Dr. Ezike: I think it’s pretty clear if we had something that would decrease the rate of fatalities, if we could decrease the rate of people ending up in the hospital, you know, something that maybe can shorten the severity such that people don’t end up hospitalized don’t end up in the ICU, anything like that would be a complete game changer in terms of people could say, well, maybe I could go out because it’s less likely that I’ll end up hospitalized, it’s less likely that I’ll end up in the ICU, it’s less likely that I’ll die. Maybe it’s something that would cause a situation where elderly people weren’t so disproportionately hit and so if you interacted with Grandma, you think that there’s a treatment should she get the virus, there’s a treatment that she wouldn’t die so it’s pretty clear like if we have something that is effective that we know can actually decrease either hospitalization rate or fatality, that would be a completely different story than what we have now.
* Indiana’s not using nursing homes, healthcare workers or prisoners when it comes to their positivity rate. Is that a better way to determine the rate in the general public?…
Dr. Ezike: I think Governor Pritzker answered that very, very appropriately. People work there. There are hundreds and thousands of people in a single facility, whether it’s a group home or a prison or a jail or a nursing home. People are going in and out every single day, and those people returned to communities. So those facilities are not separate from the communities. They’re part of the community. People make deliveries to those communities. It’s definitely part of the community. So I can’t separate it and say that that’s not part.
If there are significant outbreaks in the community that is a significant warning sign because we know that that that infection is in the community, it’s in the staff that work there that go back to their homes every night.
Gov. Pritzker: If I may just add to that. Remember that the nursing home residents that live in that area get sick and need a hospital, and they need a hospital bed, and they need an ICU bed and they may need a ventilator. And so that’s part of why, you know, we have to include those because you’re talking about the availability of health care when people get sick in that area. That’s also true for prisoners in a prison inmates in a prison there. That’s also true for group homes. So it doesn’t make sense to me to exclude the people who live in those residential communities or in those congregated settings from the calculation.
* Hinsdale approved a plan to close a downtown street so restaurants can have more space for outdoor dining. Under your plan restaurants can open in phase four. Can they have their outside seating only?…
That’s not in the recommendation of the epidemiologists and, you know, curbside delivery, pick up, drive through, delivery to the home. Those are all things that have been considered acceptable by the experts.
* What has IDES completed to make sure that the system will be up and running Monday for 1099 workers? And just in addition to that, we’re hearing there is continual continual problems with the website, people just cannot get through, they’re having to make, you know, hundreds of attempts to even get through…
So a couple of things. One is we’re going to talk about this later in the week we’re going to have a complete presentation, so people can see what’s being done and you know in terms of people trying to get on the website. The website actually has very good uptime so you know the the idea that the website is crashing for everybody, that shouldn’t be the case that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Having said that, I’m sure there are people who have had trouble. But remember that the many many many applications have been processed, 800,000 applications or more, and the numbers of people that we’ve seen that are having trouble are, you know, a fraction of that. That doesn’t make it any easier I know and so that’s why we’ve increased so significantly the ability for people to call in. And I know that even that can be difficult sometimes but I would ask for people’s patience and, and those who are having significant difficulty, they may be logged in, but not able to get their benefits and that may be because there is an arbitration that needs to take place that hasn’t yet taken place, and we’re working through all of those.
* When can things get back to normal at nursing homes and when can families visit their loved ones?…
Yeah, it doesn’t address that I mean obviously when we get to phase five, when, you know, we will not have the same issues. But look the great concern here is that this epidemic this virus is so dangerous for elderly people and particularly those in congregate settings so I’m deeply concerned about it. I couldn’t speak to what the timing would be for lifting restrictions on nursing homes but perhaps Dr. Ezike has an opinion.
Dr. Ezike: So again it ties into the same thing that we’ve been saying all afternoon, and there’s nothing in this situation has changed to decrease the risk for that most vulnerable population. When there is a game changer, when there is a treatment that would be able to counter the devastation that we have seen thus far in our long term care facilities, we can think about listening . Right now trying to open up visitation to create more [garbled] for this group that has already been so hardly hit, it doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. It doesn’t seem like an act of protection, it actually seems that it would be increasing their risk.
* How quickly do you expect to hire the 3800 people that you say you need for contact tracing?…
The contact tracing effort which we have been talking about is a robust, you know, we gave the estimate about maybe needing maybe 4000 people. We are not going to have 4000 people start at once this month, we will start to on board some people. Of course remember that contact tracing is something that is done by every local health department already, now people are you know trying to identify the cases. But the problem is, as the numbers have grown, we’ve gone larger than the than the staff that’s in place can do. So we have people at the local health department, we have community health workers, we have different people who are already have already been engaged in this kind of work before we have some of the grantees of IDPH that already does this kind of work. We have people who have signed up to be volunteers, through Illinois help so we are going to be using the resources that are in place to get started and then we’re going to scale up with time to get the full number that we need. But it’s going to be a gradual process and not something where you know we’ll have 4000 in place next week.
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* Dr. Ezike at today’s media briefing…
We have over the last 24 hours 14,974 tests with 2,270 being positive, that’s a 15% positivity rate. We’ve run a total of 361,260 tests for COVID-19. And we’ve had a total of 68,232 total cases. Over the last 24 hours, we were limited to 136 new COVID deaths, which brings our death total to 2974.
In the hospital we have 4832 individuals who are hospitalized with COVID 19 illness. Of those in the hospital 1231 are in the ICU and 80 patients are currently on ventilators.
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,270 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 136 additional deaths.
Cook County: 2 males 40s, 1 female 50s, 6 males 50s, 8 females 60s, 8 males 60s, 1 unknown 60s, 10 females 70s, 12 males 70s, 14 females 80s, 7 males 80s, 7 females 90s, 4 males 90s, 1 unknown 90s, 2 females 100+
DuPage County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 2 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s, 2 males 90s
Kane County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 3 females 90s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+
Kendall County: 1 male 30s
Lake County: 1 female 60s, 2 females 70s, 2 males 80s, 4 females 90s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+
LaSalle County: 1 female 80s
Madison County: 1 female 80s
McHenry County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s
Peoria County: 1 male 50s
Rock Island County: 2 females 90s
St. Clair County: 1 female 80s
Will County: 1 male 60s, 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 3 females 90s, 1 male 90s
Winnebago County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 68,232 cases, including 2,974 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 14,974 specimens for a total of 361,260.
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COVID-19 roundup
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release from the Illinois Conference of Churches…
The Leadership Team of the Illinois Conference of Churches (ICC) believes sheltering-in-place guidelines save lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. We support careful, evidence-based steps to re-open the economy.
We believe that the health and safety of our wider community rises above individual autonomy in this unprecedented global emergency.
Limiting public excursions for anything but essential purposes and exercise and the wearing of masks in public while practicing social distancing are practical ways of showing respect for the communities where we live and serve.
But we don’t like it.
Those we love and serve are hurting.
We grieve the myriad losses our communities are experiencing, not the least of which is the loss of life. Even in the midst of this crisis, more have died in this country from the coronavirus than in the Vietnam War. Business owners, closed now for weeks, wonder how long and if they can hold on. Teachers and parents are struggling with teaching from home. Our front-line workers have held the line steadily with grace and courage. While some families are enjoying down time and togetherness, economic and social stresses are tearing others apart. Our state must rely on science-based directives so that we will properly protect the people who live here.
While the CARES Act, unemployment benefits, and other programs are helping some, many people fall through the cracks. Small businesses, the homeless, the seriously disabled are struggling. There is evidence that the fault lines of race and economic disparity that have always divided our communities may widen. The pandemic has caused many problems for Black and Brown people because of employment as essential workers. Many are not eligible for the stimulus money or unemployment. Health care is not an option for part time workers while pre-existing medical conditions plague Hispanics and African Americans.
While we do not know what science will indicate about coming back together for worship, movies, concerts, and even haircuts, we are hopeful that human kindness, not to mention the grace of God, will flourish just as wildly as springtime is blooming across our state.
We are in prayer for our beloved state and her people, particularly mindful of those whose lives and livelihoods are most endangered.
The Leadership Team of the Illinois Conference of Churches
We represent approximately seven million Illinois Christians in 13 denominations.
* We talked yesterday about IRMA’s report of problems at retail establishments caused by mask-haters. From the Sun-Times…
Stores have done their part to institute the policy meant to curtail the spread of the virus, said [IRMA CEO Rob Karr], whose association represents hundreds of retailers statewide. Under Pritzker’s extended stay-at-home order effective through May, merchants have posted signs and played recordings over sound systems about the face covering requirement.
“But retailers are in no position to enforce it,” Karr said. “We can’t physically restrain anyone, so anyone can walk right by, and we can’t do anything about it.” […]
“But it doesn’t take a huge problem. It takes one argument that turns into something more serious,” Karr said. “We want to avoid something tragic.”
Karr called on the state to issue “a clear direction that local law enforcement have the responsibility here” in enforcing the face covering requirement.
* This is a 430,000-square-foot facility employing nearly 2,000 workers that produces enough food for nine million meals each day…
There has been an outbreak of COVID-19 at a JBS USA pork processing plant in Beardstown, with at least 30 people having tested positive for the virus, officials said Tuesday.
“I can confirm an outbreak,” said Melaney Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The plant is located in Cass County, which as of Tuesday reported 44 positive cases including the infected JBS plant workers, according to Teresa Armstrong, public health administrator. There have been no COVID-19-related deaths in the county. […]
Armstrong said it is possible that beyond the 30 people who work at the plant — either for JBS or for contractors who provide services such as security, cleaning or cafeteria work — live in other counties and are being reported as cases there, she said.
* Tribune live blog…
Latino communities in Illinois see uptick in COVID-19 confirmed cases: ‘Physical distancing is a privilege’
For National Nurses Week, we asked Chicago-area nurses what their new norm looks like. Here’s what they had to say.
DuPage sheriff criticized for holding parade at same time people are being told to avoid large groups
Indiana Dunes closing Porter Beach due to crowds, park officials say
Child abuse cases spike in Kane County during COVID-19 stay-at-home order
New community college program will train people to be contagious disease contact tracers
Hinsdale to close downtown street so restaurants can have more space for outdoor dining
Fermilab physicists help design low-cost ventilator to fight COVID-19
Cars.com lays off 170 employees to cut costs during COVID-19 pandemic
Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago canceled due to coronavirus
Former CPS head Barbara Byrd-Bennett, convicted of corruption, moved from prison to Ohio halfway house as part of COVID-19 program
‘Mommy’s not coming back.’ Another Chicago-area nurse dies of COVID-19.
* Sun-Times live blog…
State rep wants to talk about race, face masks and why a cop stopped him outside a South Loop store
Amazon warehouse worker tests positive for COVID-19 after demonstrating for safer conditions
Uber to lay off 3,700 workers and CEO to waive salary
22nd employee contracts COVID-19 at Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s office
‘Stay Home Save Lives’ gear inspired by Lightfoot memes to aid coronavirus relief
Two people are dead among 85 workers at CPS schools who have tested positive for COVID-19, officials say.
5 more Chicago Police Department employees test positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Will future generations understand what the Virus War of 2020 was really like?
Lake County judge tests positive for COVID-19
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Question of the day
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Today was supposed to be cheesecake day at the comptroller’s office. I will have to settle for morel pie from Maldaner’s…
* The Question: What do you miss the most from the pre-pandemic era? Explain.
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Republicans, biz groups knock Pritzker’s plan
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dan Petrella at the Tribune…
Republican lawmakers in the Illinois House on Wednesday gave scathing reviews to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s regional five-phase plan to reopen the state’s economy.
“This plan does not work,” House GOP leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said on a videoconference.
“This plan presumes that the governor shall rule the state for the upcoming months — and possibly much longer — if the vaccination is not available,” Durkin said. “I took an oath of office to faithfully discharge my duties in the coequal branch of government called the legislature. I did not abdicate nor relinquish my elected responsibilities to the executive branch.” […]
“Speaker Madigan, you set the calendar,” Durkin said. “Mr. Speaker and the House Democrats, get back into the game. Get your head out of the sand, and let’s go back to work.”
* Finke…
Under the timeline and criteria set out in the plan, [Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington] said, it could be “months or years” before the state fully reopens.
Durkin said the state’s hospitality industry will be destroyed under the timeline of the plan. If everything goes well, the earliest Phase 4 could be achieved is the end of June, he said.
“That will force bankruptcies and closures. This plan does not work,” Durkin said.
* More…
* Greg Hinz…
“Business is happy that he has a plan,” said Todd Maisch, CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. “They’re not happy with this plan.” […]
Under Pritzker’s order, “The earliest we’d be able to open is on June 26,” Illinois Restaurant Assn. President Sam Toia said. Those restaurants initially shut in early March. “I don’t know any business that can go 16 weeks with 80 percent or more reduce income and stay viable.”
Toia urged Pritzker to move restaurants from phase four to phase three, which sets lesser standards for testing, et al. Restaurants should have to require staff to wear masks and other personal protective gear and at least initially limit capacity, as has happened in some other states, Toia said. But moving restaurants to phase three would allow some to reopen by Memorial Day weekend.
“We obviously care about the health and safety of our team members and customers,” Toia said. “But let’s be realistic.”
I really think these folks are way over-estimating the eagerness of people to go back to eating in restaurants and using public restrooms. Right now, you’re only as safe as the covidiot closest to you.
After 9/11, lots of folks were criticized for still thinking they lived in a 9/10 world. I just don’t think the restaurant business, regardless of any executive orders, is going to be what it was for a while.
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What Darren Bailey has wrought
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) last month…
I’ve been talking with a lot of the health professionals, and I’m hearing a concise message that it’s time to get back to work.
The link is now broken, but I asked Rep. Bailey back then who he was talking to and here’s what he said via email…
I communicate directly with all of the County Health Departments and hospital officials in my district frequently. My comments are based on these ongoing conversations.
* Fast-forward to today when Rep. Bailey was interviewed by Fairfield radio station WFIW…
The law of Illinois in a pandemic, and any kind of a crisis such as we are experiencing, each county should be governed, monitored, laws or monitoring should be put in place, as each county public health office deems fit. If they need help, then they reach out to the state and the state can come in and help.
Fairfield is in Wayne County and the county is in Bailey’s district.
* But the way Rep. Bailey describes how he believes the system should work is not actually happening in Fairfield. More from WFIW…
The Barb Wire Grill in Fairfield opened yesterday and has weathered complaints filed against it to the Wayne County Health Department. After releasing a statement discouraging congregate settings in restaurants yesterday, the department approached the Wayne County State’s Attorney to render an opinion for a closure order from the Circuit Court.
* That health department statement was signed by the county’s public health administrator and two medical doctors who are both official county medical advisers. You should read the whole thing, but here’s an excerpt…
(W)e are finding it difficult under the current political landscape to impress upon sections of the population that we are not out of danger and that widespread community transmission could still occur. Once we experience widespread transmission, it will likely result in a medical surge forcing mass care and fatality management issues which may not be sustainable.
I’m guessing those folks weren’t on Rep. Bailey’s call list last month. /s
* Back to the story…
State’s Attorney Kevin Kakac said he was approached by the health department to render an opinion for a closure order from the circuit court. Kakac said the health department would have to produce, quote, clear and convincing evidence that the public’s health and welfare are significantly endangered by a person or group of persons who have been exposed to, or that are reasonably believed to have been exposed to COVID-19. Kakac says the department would have to prove all other reasonable means of correcting the problem have been exhausted and no less restrictive alternatives exist because Wayne County has had only two positive tests, both of which are out of quarantine. Kakac believes there is not currently a legal basis to support a closure order.
So, the public health departments “told” Bailey to open up when at least one didn’t, and while Bailey says local public health departments have all authority over these matters, they don’t, at least not in that county.
Great.
* Let’s move on to the restaurant owner, who says she will remain open…
Nobody says that I can’t. Nobody said that I can’t have people come in. The governor’s order, you know, he says that we’re not supposed to have dine-ins. But it goes against the Illinois constitution. And he was only able to do that for 30 days. And I think it was April 9th it ended, and he cannot extend that. That’s why Darren Bailey has taken him to court and is suing him.
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The full Wehrli-Mitchell exchange
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As we discussed earlier this morning, Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) tweeted that Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell is the one who told him to “get a life” weeks ago…
Same Deputy Governor texted me to “Get a life” when I raised concerns about how IDES was handling unemployment claims. Anger management issues should never be on display when responding to a member of a co-equal branch of government @cljmitchell
I asked Wehrli for a screen cap of the exchange, but he declined.
* I also asked Mitchell and the governor’s press secretary and she sent it to me…
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* From Jordan Abudayyeh…
Members of our staff are working long hours under a lot of stress. Lawmakers have continually asked for open lines of communication and members of our administration are always willing to discuss any issues that arise. But this crisis has made it clear there are two types of people: those who rise to the challenge putting aside ideology to help and those who snipe from the sidelines instead of offering constructive solutions.
Thoughts?
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Credit Unions Responding To COVID-19 Crisis
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
During times of national crisis credit unions step forward to take action in support of their members and communities. While many credit unions are offering extra financial support and relief through the COVID-19 pandemic, they are also reaching into their own pockets and hearts to support their community. Credit unions have:
• Written letters to residents at VA Medical Centers to lift their spirits
• Made and collected homemade masks to donate to local hospital staff
• Donated hand sanitizer and PPE to local organizations and hospitals
• Organized mobile food bank events and food drives
• Delivered meal kits to the elderly
Credit unions are financial first responders during times of crisis; but the mission of credit unions goes well beyond addressing financial needs and focuses on people helping people. Visit BetterforIllinois.org for more information on the credit union difference.
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* Press release…
With workers at nearly 70 nursing homes across the state planning to go on strike because of unsafe working conditions, several Illinois Senate Democrats wrote a letter to the Illinois Department of Public Health and many local health departments Tuesday requesting to know the amount of Personal Protective Equipment that has been distributed to those nursing homes and the process by which it was distributed.
“The hardworking people who put their own health on the line to care for our state’s most vulnerable population should not have to do so without proper protection,” said State Senator Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago). “Workers shouldn’t be left wondering when and if they’ll get more supplies, and management shouldn’t have to find and pay for most PPE that is needed out of its own pockets.”
The request comes from members of the Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus who have at least one nursing home in the district they represent where management received strike notices last week. Employees of 64 nursing homes across the state sent strike notices to management, saying facilities do not have enough PPE, safety protocols, and adequate hazard pay.
In an effort to stand up for those workers in their districts, the group sent a letter to IDPH and local health departments to ask how facilities are chosen to receive PPE and how much PPE these nursing homes have received since the start of the outbreak.
“When our nursing home staffs aren’t afforded adequate PPE, that puts worker and resident lives in danger,” said State Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview). “PPE is scarce right now, but our frontline workers need these supplies in order to continue caring for those who need it the most.”
Late last month, WBEZ — a Chicago-based public radio station — reported 625 Illinois nursing home patients and staff have died from COVID-19. Nursing home deaths make up more than a third of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.
“We need to do everything possible to provide a safe environment for our nursing home workers, who day in and day out protect our most vulnerable loved ones,” said State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Schaumburg).
* HB5769 synopsis…
Creates the Personal Protective Equipment Responsibility Act. Requires an employer designated as an essential employer under a disaster proclamation issued pursuant to the Illinois Emergency Management Act or an executive order issued pursuant to the disaster proclamation to provide personal protective equipment to independent contractors and to all employees during the duration of the disaster proclamation or executive order. Defines terms. Authorizes the recovery of damages, including punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. Effective immediately.
* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…
A group of progressive lawmakers on Monday unveiled proposed legislation seeking a six-month “cancellation” on rent and mortgage payments for those impacted by the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. The proposal would wipe out rent payments for six months whenever Pritzker’s stay-at-home order eventually lifts, and it would defer home mortgage payments until late in the year. In addition, the bill would freeze rents and waive penalties for failing to pay property taxes. During a virtual press conference Monday, State Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago) said 27 percent of Illinoisans were not able to pay their rent in April. She cited a much higher figure for the city of Chicago — approximately 67 percent. “We can’t even imagine what’s going to happen in May,” Ramirez said. “We need to take immediate, proactive and bold action.” The draft proposal released by Ramirez’s office would make the relief available to anyone suffering “any negative financial, medical, or other impact, on an individual or household because of Covid-19 and associated governmental orders, including…loss of income, furlough, hour reduction or other interruption to employment due to workplace, school, and other facility closures; or increased household, childcare, health care or other expenses.” The bill would also establish a Housing Relief Fund that Ramirez said she hoped would be funded by another major stimulus package passed by Congress, which would also benefit small landlords.
* Phil Luciano…
Dave Koehler is tired of talking about toilets.
The Peoria senator and his staff have been pounded with calls from constituents wondering why the state has kept shut Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area and Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area. Many state parks got reopened Friday 1, but not those two.
The reason: they don’t have flush toilets and hand-washing sinks. Because of the coronavirus, the state insists state parks must provide both.
Koehler thinks that’s an overreach, especially as there’s an easy solution. Meantime, instead of helping constituents with unemployment benefits and other important matters, he has been busy explaining the state’s stringent bathroom requirements.
* Politico…
A confrontation was sparked the other day when state Democratic state Rep. Natalie Manley spoke harshly to a state Health Department worker about prisoners with coronavirus getting hospital care.
Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell responded with a text, telling Manley if anyone speaks to that employee again in such a way, “I will burn their house to the ground…the entire f—ing house.”
The governor’s office acknowledged the exchange got heated but said of course Mitchell wouldn’t burn down anyone’s home. “He was standing up for a public health employee who was berated for working to ensure prisoners were getting health-care,” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh told Playbook.
Manley dismissed the exchange, saying “this is not a story… The focus needs to be on how hard people are working… Legislators are working very hard, as is the governor’s office and all his administration.”
Some Will County legislators are upset about the number of Stateville prisoners being treated at some local hospitals. It’s been a bone of contention for weeks. From WJOL almost exactly a month ago…
Stateville Correctional Center is a hot spot of coronavirus. One-hundred and twenty-five people have tested positive for COVID-19, 30 employees and 95 inmates. But the issue of where to send very ill inmates remains. Currently, St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet is still taking a huge majority of sick inmates. Illinois State Senator Pat McGuire says despite a plan by the Lockport Township Fire Protection District, the deputy governor has not signed off on it yet.
McGuire is hoping WJOL listeners will call the Deputy Governor, Christian Mitchell and ask him approve the plan. Call 312 814 -2121 or email, christian.mitchell@illinois.gov.
Mitchell got flooded with angry calls and emails after that. Trouble is, nobody really knew what they were actually complaining about.
* Meanwhile, Rep. Grant Wehrli tweeted today…
Same Deputy Governor texted me to “Get a life” when I raised concerns about how IDES was handling unemployment claims. Anger management issues should never be on display when responding to a member of a co-equal branch of government @cljmitchell
I asked Rep. Wehrli for a screen-shot of the entire exchange. He politely declined, saying the tweet “speaks for itself.”
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* I had some questions about the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s unemployment application system, so I sent them to the Pritzker administration and the governor’s press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh sent me a response…
Question: How many new servers have been brought online to handle IDES calls and how many simultaneous connections can the system handle?
Phones system: maximum number of caller capacity increased from 160 to 1700, we have a contract with Deloitte to stand up a call center to bring on additional people to answer calls. [I followed up and was told that Deloitte is scaling up to 200 workers and that some started this past Friday.]
IBIS Application: more than a 10x increase in server capacity; implemented best in class, real time application performance monitoring; and performed more than 30 configuration changes to optimize performance
Question: About how long does it take to cross-train workers to meet the federal guidelines and is this an ongoing process? How many have so far been trained?
It can take a year or more to train a staffer working with unemployment to understand the unemployment insurance program. This includes claims filing for regular, federal, military, and combined wage claims, resolving monetary eligibility issues, responding to employer protests, understanding employer charging, properly identifying non-monetary issues, overpayments, integrity, etc. Continuous education in all of these areas is required.
The Deloitte call center agents have received basic training, consisting of how to complete a claim application and the benefit rights information, which includes, but is not limited to, when and how to certify, how to file appeals information, payment options, able and available to work, reporting earning on certification when applicable, etc.
Question: Does IDES have a call-back system for people who can’t get through? If not, why not?
Yes. The call center has a call back function for those who select it. The claimant will keep their place in line and the system will automatically connect them to an agent.
Question: Is there any update to IDES’ PUA [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance] launch date [for 1099 workers]?
* OK, but what about this CBS 2 report?…
Gov. JB Pritzker has said there is no real backlog on jobless claims in Illinois.
But on Monday night, our sources said the backlog is real, and getting longer by the day. […]
The [IDES] employee sent a screenshot of unemployment claims that are yet to be adjudicated – 12,440 to be exact. All are out-of-work people waiting for interviews to find out if they can even get benefits.
The IDES employee said most were filed back in March and won’t even get interviewed until late this month – if then.
* Response from Rebecca Cisco at IDES…
For the weeks ending April 11 – April 25, which are the most recent periods for which data is available, 99.9% of claims have been paid in a timely manner as measured by USDOL guidelines.
The number reported in the CBS story, which attempted to reveal a 12,000 claim backlog, is highly inaccurate, misleading, and misrepresentative. The 12,000 number represents a number of current assignments in a system created to assist staffers in keeping track of the workflow action items that need to be conducted on any given day. This number is not indicative of claims, nor is it representative of a backlog. Assignments do not affect or interrupt claimants receiving benefits. Furthermore, there simply is no backlog of claims currently being processed, nor is there a backlog of claims to be paid.
* Back to CBS 2…
But our IDES source says it’s true those 12,440 people are receiving benefits but are waiting for interviews to make sure, as reported, they are actually eligible to get them. If an interview later determines they are not eligible, some or all of these people will have to pay the money back to the state.
Well, yeah. That’s how the unemployment system works. First, the station was repeatedly crusading on behalf of people who couldn’t get immediate assistance because they’d been found to have committed unemployment insurance fraud or other misdeeds in the past. And now this nothing-burger? Weird.
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* Tribune…
Illinois could lose close to $560 million in gas tax revenue this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, which may delay some big state road and rail projects, according to a new report. […]
But the report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit think tank, found that with road travel down by almost half, the state could lose $296 million to $559 million this year alone, depending on different scenarios. […]
The scenario for state funding could be even worse than the report predicts, and could extend into next year and beyond, said Frank Manzo IV, report co-author and the institute’s policy director.
“If we do not have more testing, if we don’t have more treatments and a clinically proven vaccine… there is a chance that our estimate is conservative,” Manzo said.
* Press release…
“As part of the Rebuild Illinois plan, annual revenues from the state’s Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) were expected to increase from $1.3 billion to nearly $2.6 billion,” said study-co-author and ILEPI transportation analyst Mary Tyler. “After applying the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s (CMAP) estimates on pandemic related travel disruptions to three scenarios, with travel disruptions lasting from 6 to 10 months, we found that the state could under-perform expectations on MFT revenue by between $300 million and $560 million in 2020 alone.”
That upper-end estimate uses a 10-month disruption model, with the virus being most acute through August. The lower-end is based on a 6-month disruption, with the most acute period lasting through May.
The study is here.
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Open thread
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hmm…
Please keep your discussion polite and Illinois-centric. Thanks.
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