* Gov. Pritzker began by going over what I told you late yesterday about the lack of PPE supplies from the federal government. But he also announced that the private sector was coming through. His conclusion…
Illinois is acquiring PPE to compensate for what we haven’t received in our federal requests. But we are doing so while running up against obstacles that should not exist. I have medical professionals and first responders begging for things that they need to keep them safe, but so does Governor Cuomo in New York, so does Governor Dewine in Ohio, so does Governor Inslee in Washington State.
We’re all doing everything that we can to do our jobs, which is to protect our residents and to make sure our health care workers have what they need. We need the federal government to use the defense production act, to help the states get what we need. It’s the federal government’s job to make sure that a nurse being properly equipped in Illinois doesn’t come at the cost of a doctor being ready for work in California.
It’s the federal government’s job to make sure that we have a cohesive, prepared, robust national response. It’s the federal government’s job to make sure that cash-strapped states are not paying more than they should have to for supplies. That we are not watching prices go up by the hour, because we’re competing against one another, yet for the common good.
I’m an Illinoisan and I’m the Governor of Illinois. And I’m going to do everything that I can to protect our residents and get us through this crisis. I said I’d fight like hell for you. And I’m doing that every minute of every hour of every day. One way or another. We need these supplies, and I have a whole team of people whose singular focus right now is working the phones across the world to get as much PPE as possible shipped to Illinois. They’re the force behind the 2.5 million N95 masks, 1 million disposable surgical masks, 11,000 gloves and 10,000 personal protection kits that I just announced.
And again, I’m an Illinoisan, but I’m also an American. And so long as I know that there’s action that the White House can take things like aggressively wielding the defense production Act, or actually buying and distributing the supplies that they say they’re going to buy and distribute. I’ll do everything in my power to make that clear on behalf of the people of this state, and the more than 300 million Americans who don’t call Illinois home. Because that’s the very baseline of what we all deserve.
* Press release…
In another effort to build supply to protect those on the frontlines, battling this pandemic, Gov. Pritzker announced today that the state has executed contracts to purchase 2.5 million N95 masks, 1 million disposable surgical masks, 11,000 gloves and 10,000 personal protection kits.
While medical facilities across the state do have their own stocks of PPE and uses their own vendors to source additional PPE, the administration’s procurement effort aims to supplement their existing supply during this period of heightened need.
* Mark Denzler with the IMA was able to find 171,000 MREs and 350,000 N95 masks…
Thank you Governor Pritzker for your calm and steadfast leadership during this pandemic. I’d also like to thank the brave men and women who are on the front lines every single day, including women and men in manufacturing, Illinois is facing extraordinary times the rival, some of the greatest challenges in our history. Well the headlines are grim and the task is daunting. Illinois manufacturers once again stand ready to answer the call conquer obstacles and lead the way forward.
Over the last few weeks, the Illinois Manufacturers Association has been inundated with offers from companies across Illinois. Some manufacturers are ramping up production of current products, while others are repurposing their facilities to meet the need. Liquor manufacturers are making sanitizer, clothing manufacturers are making masks and grounds plastic injection molding companies are making parts for testing kits. This new essential equipment task force will help these companies collaborate, break down regulatory barriers in Washington DC or Springfield, provide medical standards and testing and help review the validity and safety of these products. Importantly, these products will remain in Illinois, to help our families and our neighbors.
* On to questions. Pritzker was asked about the crush of people trying to file for unemployment insurance and couldn’t get through…
First of all this is just an unprecedented number of people that are seeking Unemployment Claims during this time period. I don’t think we’ve ever seen this before even in periods during the 2008-2009 crisis. Having said that, we found over the weekend and over the last you know couple days of the week that the systems that we had that were supporting the online applications wasn’t robust enough to take all of the applications that were coming in at one time. And so we’re porting that system entirely over to a much more expansive foundational software system and server. So we won’t have any of those problems going forward. So we’ve taken care of, I think the online problem.
The phone line problem is another issue. We had to take non essential staff and push them up to the front lines to answer phones to make sure we answered any questions we would like anybody who needs to apply for unemployment though, to go to the website it really will be. It’s now a, you know, as I say it’s on a new platform, we’ll be able to take many more at the same time, we want to fulfill on people’s need during this crisis and we’re going to.
* How do you balance protecting the public health, while protecting civil liberties…
So to be clear, we’re trying to protect people’s health and safety. That’s our number one job here. There’s no attempt here to limit peoples’ civil liberties. People can go outside, they can do an awful lot of the same things that they were doing before was simply asked that non-essential businesses closed during this time period, and that people make a special effort to stay home.
* He was asked about supplies…
I was on the phone trying to get ventilators. I talked to two CEOs yesterday afternoon, speaking to them about acquiring ventilators from that we need to build up as many ventilators as we can. I should also point out that earlier today, I reached out to the President of the United States, he returned my call a little [later in the] afternoon and I spoke with him directly about our need for N95 masks and for ventilators. And as you know, it’s very important that we acquire as many of these as we can. I have called for him to invoke the national defense production act and actually utilize it because I know he’s invoked it but not utilized it in any industry. And when I call these ventilator manufacturers and I gave this example to them. In one case, they told me I was competing with FEMA to acquire ventilators, so I’m competing against the federal government to get ventilators for the state of Illinois, and the federal government is not distributing ventilators to the state of Illinois so I’m literally working against, you know, a competitor.
I just want to give you the second example if you don’t mind, I called another manufacturer of ventilators, and he pointed out to me that well I would be competing with countries other than the United States, so as I put an order in I better put in as big an order as possible in order to put myself higher on the list of priority to get ventilators from that manufacturer. Now, here I’m competing with my own federal government, I’m competing with countries outside the United States to get things that we need to, to keep our people safe and healthy.
The President was very responsive, frankly. He didn’t so much like the idea of invoking the defense production act, but he did say, you know what do you need. Let me see if I can get that for you and I, you know, gave him some numbers I told him what we had ordered from the government already. And he said let me work on that. And so I really thought it seems like he’s being very responsive to what I asked for and I hope that we’ll be able to receive those items in relatively short order.
* The governor was asked about rumors that the National Guard was armed. He deferred to his Adjutant General…
It’s great to actually get that out in front of the media today, dispel any rumors that the National Guard has any weapons. We’re not doing any police action, we’re not, you know, doing any kind of work at all like that.
What we are doing is supporting testing within the Rosemont area this week where we just stood up a new testing facility. We have 100 personnel that are taking care of testing now these are professional doctors or nurses or medical professionals that are supported by logistics folks. They’re there to manage that line and to help our neighbors, our community, folks in our community to get through and be tested. Today they started out with the first responders, they started testing them early this morning to get them through and make sure that they’re good to go on their test. And then they’re opening more and more up to the public as we go forward. They’re also supporting as the governor talked about PPE that personal protective equipment. They’re also supporting accounting for that distribution, as we get more and more of that coming in as governor talked about the large orders coming in. They will be helping warehouse sad they’ll package that up, they’ll ship that out, along with one way Department of Transportation, in conjunction with Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the Illinois State Police will be moving that distributed around the state to different drop areas. We’re also doing hospital assessments, we’re going in with our specialized engineering team that we have out of our civil engineering team out of their national guard. And they’re going around the state assessing hospitals that had been closed down previously that maybe provide additional capacity so they’re actually looking at the heating, the plumbing, electrical throughout those facilities and identifying which ones are easy to quickly turn on if we need that additional capacity and which are not. We’re also providing support with operations planning and management so when the governor talks about the professionalism that’s brought out by the National Guard, these are these are your citizen soldiers your, your soldiers that work for the Army and your Air Force SOC personnel that work for the Air Force, that are trained in many different skill sets. And unlike a flood where a lot of times we’re doing a lot of security and management and supporting flood operations. This time they’re bringing out some really key healing needed specialties such as medical and logistics and transportation. That’s what your National Guard brings, unique capabilities and capacity, when the state runs out of capacity, because we have so many people working. They come forward and they provide that extra lift. So you’ll see trucks around the Chicagoland area, you’ll see when we show up in camouflage we tend to draw a crowd.
But we’re not bringing weapons, we’re not bringing anything like that we’re bringing our professional skills to help out.
* What is the Illinois hospital bed capacity and how close to reaching it are we right now and what is the state’s ICU bed capacity and how close are we to reaching…
We’re going to be talking about that tomorrow. We’re right now we’re in you know decent shape across the state
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 236 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including three deaths in Cook County; two men in their 80s and a man in his 90s.
Monroe is now also reporting a case. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,285 cases in 31 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to 99 years. Cases by county can be found on the IDPH website, as well as a list of local health departments who will have the most up-to-date information.
* If this virus gets into a prison or a jail, it can spread very fast…
Rikers had 8 confirmed cases Friday, 38 Saturday, now 60.
Emergency is accelerating while NYC officials sit on their hands & De Blasio shrugs off space issue. Only 23 ppl released from Rikers so far. FAR FAR FAR FAR smaller jails around nation have released dozens more. https://t.co/fWE2b5frul
A number of Cook County Jail detainees — including “serial stowaway” Marilyn Hartman — have been quietly ordered released this week to help relieve jail crowding amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The hearings to formally release the detainees began this week, unannounced and separate from the two duty courtrooms that remain open to hear emergency matters during a widespread court shutdown.
* Press release…
Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart continues to address the threat of COVID- 19 by implementing comprehensive precautionary measures across the Sheriff’s Office to ensure the health and safety of staff, detainees and the public.
Sheriff Dart previously activated the office’s 24/7 Critical Incident Command Center, which has been tracking COVID-19 related concerns in the Sheriff’s Office. To date, there have been few concerns, and no known cases of COVID-19 at the Cook County Department of Corrections. Incident Command is also communicating with public health and law enforcement agencies about ways to help prevent the spread of the virus. Through these communications, our staff have also been kept updated on ways to protect themselves.
A correctional officer at the Cook County Jail has tested positive for coronavirus, the sheriff’s office announced Sunday.
The officer most recently worked in the jail’s Residential Treatment Unit, the wing for inmates who need medical or mental health attention, and Cermak Hospital, the on-site medical center, Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman Matt Walberg said. The officer is now in isolation at home.
The sheriff’s office has contacted employees who may have had contact with the officer and advised a “small number of staff” to self-quarantine for 14 days, though none have shown symptoms, the sheriff’s office said.
In an attempt to speed the release of detainees from the Cook County Jail amid coronavirus concerns, more judges will take the bench this week in Chicago’s main criminal courthouse to formally release people who are not believed to pose a safety risk.
Prosecutors, sheriffs and the Public Defender’s office already have been working together to agree on which jail detainees could safely be released, and have brought about 100 of those cases before a judge for review.
Seventeen non-violent, petty offenders have been released over the last few days from the Macon County Jail as corrections staff attempt to limit the risk of contagion from the coronavirus.
No cases of the virus have shown up in prisoners so far and Sheriff Tony Brown said he was being careful to strike a balance between public health concerns and public safety. […]
All over the country, sheriffs are taking a look at their jail populations and assessing risks. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell hasn’t gone as far as any prisoner releases yet but, quoted in the State Journal-Register on Sunday, he said 20 non-violent offenders had already been identified as candidates for potential early release.
Sangamon’s inmate population was the same as Macon County’s — 262 — but trending down from a recent high of 330.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration is still considering releasing Illinois prisoners and youth at juvenile detention centers as the Coronavirus continues to spread throughout Illinois. […]
Groups like the John Howard Association, the Uptown People’s Law Center and the Children and Family Justice Center at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law are pushing for some incarcerated adults and youth to be sent home to prevent the rapid spread of Covid-19 should it enter either an adult or youth prison facility. […]
The Department of Juvenile Justice has seen a decrease in population over the last several years, but currently houses approximately 225 youth in five facilities statewide. The largest of those facilities — in Harrisburg and St. Charles — house approximately 80 incarcerated youth.
A coalition of nearly 30 organizations on Friday published an open letter to Pritzker asking for the careful release of some incarcerated youth from the Department of Juvenile Justice, pointing out that the facilities “do not and cannot maintain standards similar to congregate healthcare facilities.”
*** UPDATE *** It’s happening…
Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced that two detainees have tested positive for COVID-19.
The detainees tested positive on Monday, March 23, and are currently being held in isolation cells at Cermak Health Services, where they have been housed since exhibiting flu-like symptoms on March 20.
One of the detainees, age 42, has been in custody since late December 2019 after he was ordered held in lieu of $250,000 D-bond on charges of Aggravated DUI. He was housed in the Residential Treatment Unit at the time he became symptomatic.
The second detainee, age 18, has been in custody since mid-February 2020 after he was ordered held without bail on charges of Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm. He was housed in Division VI at the time he became symptomatic.
…Adding… Press release…
Following a hearing before Cook County Judge Leroy K. Martin earlier today, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx released the following statement regarding the urgent situation at the Cook County Jail and emergency bail hearings to expedite release of detainees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the interest of both public health and safety during the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has been working around the clock with the Cook County Sheriff and Public Defender to ensure any individuals who are not a threat to public safety are released from Cook County Jail. This weekend alone, prosecutors reviewed more than 1,200 cases. We will continue this process and agree to appropriate releases for the duration of this pandemic, to limit the number of people in our jail and reduce the number of people needlessly coming to court while recognizing there are both public health and safety risks that some detainees may pose. The only way to carry this out responsibly is to address these risks on an individual, case-by-case basis and per the Court’s order this morning, we will do so with increased capacity and continued urgency,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
In light of COVID-19, last week the CCSAO stopped prosecuting low level, non-violent narcotics offenses to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by limiting the number of people coming to court. In addition, the Illinois State Police will not be providing chemical testing during the pandemic.
* It just boggles my mind that United States Senators were still having large lunch meetings as late as Friday and that the Senate’s pool was still open yesterday…
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus, his office announced Sunday afternoon, bringing the pandemic into Congress’s upper chamber for the first time. […]
Reports from congressional insiders indicate a fair amount of worry among Paul’s colleagues about their possible exposure. Paul was at the Senate Republican lunch meeting on Friday and he was reportedly swimming in the Senate gym’s pool on Sunday morning.
1) Act like you’re a carrier;
2) Remember, you’re the virus’ food;
3) Practice social distancing;
4) Don’t be a Covidiot.
Gov. JB PRITZKER has gotten generally good marks for updating people about the COVID-19 crisis.
Now think of one person whose deep thoughts on crisis management you wouldn’t give a plugged nickel to hear? Let’s stipulate a person not currently holding elected office.
If you thought former Gov. ROD BLAGOJEVICH, congratulations. We think alike.
Blagojevich offered his opinion on how to handle the coronavirus crisis in a letter in the Chicago Tribune. Now as multiple people have reminded us, testimony at his trial showed Blago hid in a bathroom to avoid dealing with complex issues, so maybe his insights are a bit clouded.
The Tribune is losing its mind.
* WIND radio host…
Elmhurst Cigar House will be this center of resistance against home confinement & We do have a unique way Of "Social distancing", if you say something pro socialist or stupid you get thrown out on your ear. We do not accept link cards but when you get Gov cheese check come over
Kane County sheriff’s deputies spent Monday morning at Northwest Baptist Academy in Elgin, planning to ask parents to keep their children home from what was believed to be the last open school in the state, but school officials decided to move to e-learning before the start of the school day.
Undersheriff Patrick Gengler said his office had been in talks “all weekend starting Friday” with the school, which is part of the larger Northwest Bible Baptist Church community.
A man has been charged with aggravated battery to a police officer after yelling “corona” and coughing in a Chicago cop’s face, according to police.
Chicago police officers responding to a car accident in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Sunday saw Anthony Ponzi, 21, of Wilmette in a “highly agitated” state, slurring his speech and foaming at the mouth, according to an arrest report.
When an officer tried to check Ponzi’s eyes for signs of impairment, Ponzi yelled “Corona, OK” and coughed directly on the officer’s face —so close that the officer “immediately felt particles of saliva/breath,” according to the arrest report.
Chicago Police were called to a River West bar after neighbors say it was flouting the state’s mandatory shutdown of in-person service at bars as coronavirus continued to spread.
At about 9 p.m. Tuesday, officers were called to Richard’s Bar, 491 N. Milwaukee Ave., for a report of an ordinance violation, according to a law enforcement source. That was less than 24 hours after the Gov. JB Pritzker ordered all bars and restaurants closed for at least two weeks beginning Monday night.
Chicago police broke up at least two house parties Saturday night as dozens of people there defied orders to stay at home and keep away from large groups during the coronavirus pandemic.
* But this goesway beyond all that. Way. From the ADL…
As the coronavirus continues to spread globally, ADL’s Center on Extremism is tracking extremists’ use of the virus to advance their racist, conspiratorial agendas.
Such bigoted beliefs and conspiracies include ideas such as:
Jews are using coronavirus to profit and expand global influence
Chinese eating habits are responsible for the spread of coronavirus
American diversity and immigration are contributing to the spread of coronavirus
Humans made coronavirus as a bioweapon or to make money selling vaccines
Governments are using coronavirus to implement martial law and confiscate guns
Some online extremists are even calling on those with symptoms to “weaponize” the virus and target “nonwhite” communities.
We are also following media reports of racist incidents targeting the Asian American and Jewish communities, in part based on these hateful beliefs.
Given this new reality, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote a joint USA Today op-ed on the need to confront rising hate during this crisis.
The federal Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp this week urging Georgia to allow a controversial sterilization plant in Cobb County to reopen amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Sterigenics, near Smyrna, has been shuttered since summer. It is one of a handful of facilities permitted to use the carcinogenic gas ethylene oxide to sterilize single-use medical devices.
The letter, which was obtained and published by the Cook County Record in Illinois, cites the current shortage of “personal protective equipment” (PPE) such as gowns, respirators, masks, and gloves as a compelling reason to allow the plant to resume operations.
“Due to the recent challenges with the closure of some commercial sterilizers, such as the Sterigenics facility located in Cobb County, the supply of critical PPE during the COVID-19 outbreak has been further limited,” it reads. “FDA is asking for your assistance in helping to increase the supply of PPE to help protect against COVID-19 by working with Sterigenics to allow for the appropriate sterilization of PPE.”
Amid a sustained threat of continued legal and regulatory action from the state, activists and trial lawyers, Sterigenics opted not to attempt to reopen the Willowbrook facility, despite reaching a deal with the Illinois Attorney General’s office that should have allowed it to do so, subject to emissions controls and other requirements even more strict than those set in Illinois’ new EtO law.
At the same time, a sterilization facility operated by medical device maker Medline in suburban Waukegan also remained offline, after Medline voluntarily pulled the plug on the sterilization facility late last year to meet new EtO emissions standards set by a new Illinois state law in 2019, in response to concerns over Sterigenics’ alleged actions.
In a statement, the FDA declined to answer whether it had sent a similar request to the state of Illinois concerning its shuttered EtO plants.
However, the agency said: “In the face of this rapidly evolving National Public Health Emergency, there is increased need for certain essential medical devices that require sterilization. We understand that sterile PPE are rapidly falling in short supply. Therefore, the FDA is seeking assistance from state and local governments as well as from facilities to increase the supply of PPE needed for healthcare personnel to protect against COVID-19.”
I asked the governor’s office if the FDA has made a similar request of Illinois and was told it has not heard from the agency about this.
* I was told by spokesperson Eleni Demertzis that this statement from Leader Durkin “is directed at anyone making partisan attacks during this crisis”…
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement on recent partisan attacks regarding the coronavirus pandemic:
“Fighting for our state through this pandemic is neither a Republican nor Democrat issue. We share a common enemy and share the same goal of working together to eradicate Covid-19. As in all emergencies, time spent on blame or fault provides little or no merit nor solutions. Despite the challenges, the time is now and we must be vigilant and united to defeat this virus.”
In light of the coronavirus crisis shutting down the economy and wreaking havoc on the small business community, the Illinois Opportunity Project stands with the Illinois Business Alliance in calling on Gov. Pritzker and the General Assembly to remove the graduated income tax from the ballot in November.
The country is in uncertain times and experts are still unsure of a timeline when life can go back to normal. Small businesses have been forced to shut down, lay off employees, and fear they won’t be able to survive this downturn. The federal government is doing everything in their power to keep the small business community from collapsing. The last thing they need is higher operating costs come November if the graduated income tax passes.
Gov. Pritzker has stated that we shouldn’t bring politics into these trying times when people’s lives are at risk, but it is important to protect the health of our state and to protect our small businesses and their employees.
Before the outbreak, small business owners gave Illinois an “F” for friendliness. They have been forced to withstand two record breaking income tax hikes since 2011, a minimum wage hike, and are now bracing for another hit come November if the graduated income tax passes.
Illinois Policy projected that the graduated income tax would cost 56,000 jobs and $14 billion in forgone economic activity. Illinois cannot afford more job losses, revenue, or people.
Small businesses employ two thirds of Illinois’ workforce and for too long the political class in Springfield has taken them for granted. The graduated income tax was a bad idea from the start, but due to the current circumstances, the results could be catastrophic. Gov. Pritzker and the legislature must do right by the state’s biggest job creators and remove the graduated income tax from the ballot permanently.
* I asked Quentin Fulks at Vote Yes for Fairness for a response…
The Fair Tax is fundamentally about fairness and ensuring we have a tax system that works for all Illinoisans, which will be especially important as we work to help those who are hurt the most by the coronavirus crisis.
In such an uncertain and challenging time for our state and our country, it’s disappointing that opponents of the Fair Tax are trying to use it to score cheap political points. Like so many Illinoisans, we’re focused on doing everything we can to combat this virus and save lives
The virus that causes COVID-19 remains for several hours to days on surfaces and in aerosols, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found.
The study suggests that people may acquire the coronavirus through the air and after touching contaminated objects. Scientists discovered the virus is detectable for up to three hours in aerosols, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
“This virus is quite transmissible through relatively casual contact, making this pathogen very hard to contain,” said James Lloyd-Smith, a co-author of the study and a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “If you’re touching items that someone else has recently handled, be aware they could be contaminated and wash your hands.”
The study attempted to mimic the virus being deposited onto everyday surfaces in a household or hospital setting by an infected person through coughing or touching objects, for example. The scientists then investigated how long the virus remained infectious on these surfaces.
* This is good advice…
Remember to disinfect everything before you bring it in the house. If possible, leave non perishables outside for 2-3 days before bringing it indoors. https://t.co/L42XcsWQyd
A friend of mine sprays all packages, etc. with bleach. Or, have packages delivered to your garage. If you don’t have a garage, have them placed in your car trunk and leave them there a while.
The viability of the virus on clothing depends on the type of fabric. For example, germs are easier to wipe clean off leather or vinyl because they aren’t as porous as fabric. Practice routine washing of your clothes on the hot water setting because it will help kill the virus. Use the same process for the dryer. If you’ve been in a crowded area like public transit and could not practice social distancing, it’s a good idea to wash your clothes when you get home or at least put them in a laundry basket until you can wash them.
Roseland Community Hospital has operated at about 90% of capacity each day since nearby MetroSouth Medical Center closed last year.
And that’s before the coronavirus outbreak hit.
So Roseland, a so-called safety net hospital that serves predominantly low-income families on the city’s far South Side, is now bracing for a wave of patients to come through its doors.
“I think even a single hospitalized COVID-19 patient causes an overburden for us because it brings staffing issues and concern of the virus transferring to other people,” said Dr. Terrill Applewhite, chairman of the Roseland’s COVID-19 task force. “Even though we are facing this crisis, we are still dealing with everyday ailments.”
In that sense, Roseland is not alone. And it’s not just bed space about which hospitals are concerned.
Illinois hospitals used to have a lot of excess bed capacity, but that started changing about five years ago as hospitals began closing. Anyway, go read the whole thing.
Those hospitals in small-town America that have survived rely heavily on moneymakers such as elective surgeries, physical therapy and lab tests to make their razor-thin margins work. But, according to the Chicago-based Chartis Center for Rural Health, almost half of them still operate in the red.
So the added financial hit from the coronavirus outbreak could be the final straw for many rural hospitals — exposing the complicated business dynamics at play within the United States’ critical public health infrastructure.
“This virus, and what it is causing for these hospitals, is the perfect storm that will close these hospitals at a time this country critically needs them,” says Robin Rau, CEO of Miller County Hospital in southwestern Georgia. “This is going to be the death blow to them.”
While the virus is mild for the vast majority of people, the concern is so many people in Illinois are getting it that “even the small number of people who have trouble recovering is more than our health care system may be able to handle,” Pritkzer said Saturday.
That’s proven deadly in other locations: Italy’s health care system was overloaded by the sheer volume of cases there and doctors and hospitals haven’t had the resources to care for people who could otherwise be saved. That’s led to a surge of deaths there — 5,476 as of Sunday.
Days after it began to ramp up drive-thru testing for patients who may be infected with the novel coronavirus, the Advocate Aurora Health hospital system announced Friday that it has suspended that program because of a national shortage of test kits and processing materials.
Advocate said in a news release that state health officials and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association were seeking “to conserve tests for those in critical need.”
“It’s an ongoing issue for all our hospitals in Illinois and across the country,” said Danny Chun, spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. “There are very limited supplies of testing kits, nasal swabs and reagents — chemicals used to test the specimens — in large part due to the very small rollout of test kits by the federal government.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday mandated that all hospitals in the state increase the number of beds in their facilities by at least 50 percent as part of a multipronged effort to ensure that an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases won’t overwhelm the medical system.
Cuomo, during his daily coronavirus briefing, encouraged hospitals across the state to aim for a 100 percent increase. The governor has repeatedly cited statistics showing that the state currently has about 53,000 beds, but projections show there might be a need for as many as 110,000 within a few weeks.
* I’m loving the Illinois National Guard’s Twitter content…
The latest false rumor is that the Illinois National Guard is shutting down highways within or out of the state. This is completely false. The Illinois National Guard is only supporting COVID-19 medical missions or missions to increase the capacity of the medical community.
“There have been a lot of rumors circulating around that are completely inaccurate,” he said. “Rumors that there’s going to be martial law that’s going to be imposed, that we’ve called out the guard or the military somehow to impose their will upon the state of Illinois. Those are all false. I want people to take a deep breath.”
Pritzker said that while the rumors are largely spread on social media, there’s also “an effort by the Chinese government and the Russian government to feed into that paranoia that people have about what’s going on.”
Rumors that Decatur police are looking to pull drivers over to see if they are making non-essential journeys are just that — rumors, according to the city’s police chief.
Stories have circulated of drivers being pulled over and fined for contravening newly-imposed state-wide measures to limit non-essential travel in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
“No, absolutely not, we’re not doing that,” said Police Chief Jim Getz. “We’re not doing it and we don’t have time to do that anyway.” […]
Getz said his officers are following guidelines laid down by Pritzker’s office and the Illinois State Police. Officers will not be “proactively” stopping drivers at random, he said, but they may question them about the nature of their trip if they’ve been pulled over for something else, like a traffic infraction or if somebody has made a specific complaint about a person’s behavior.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources wants to clarify what the Governor meant by the executive order to stay at home. According to the office of J.B. Pritzker, as long as our sportsmen and women are fishing or hunting at a site which is currently open and they have the appropriate licenses and permits, they may continue to hunt and fish during the stay at home order. They were also made aware of a rumor that the upcoming hunting season is being closed, and wanted to let the public know that is completely false.
While coronavirus developments unfold by the minute and consume the attention of elected officials, legislation is piling up in Springfield with no easy answer on how to address it. Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered Illinois residents to shelter in place starting Saturday, and the legislature’s spring session has been indefinitely sidetracked.
House and Senate leaders canceled a session for the last full week of March and are working to postpone deadlines for bills that normally would be moving through committees. It’s possible lawmakers will work into the summer — eventually — if the pandemic is under control by then. But what about now?
First of all, Pritzker didn’t issue a “shelter in place” order. As I’ve already explained, that’s for things like hurricanes. Do better.
Still unresolved for taxpayers: property tax relief, which Pritzker and other Democrats promised as part of their push for a graduated income tax. One was not supposed to happen without the other. To get votes to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot and move the state from a flat income tax to a graduated one, supporters of a graduated tax promised property tax relief. And they set up a big task force to study the issue. […]
Springfield lawmakers face numerous issues with deadlines approaching and the clock ticking. No one suggests they return to the Capitol until the pandemic has eased. And it’s possible that emergency health-related matters will have to be addressed. But other policy issues, too, demand attention. Relief for property taxpayers is one of them.
* Rep. Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) sponsored the task for legislation and cc’d me on his response to the Tribune…
I read the editorial about property taxes in the 3/23/2020 issue of your paper.
Right now, the health and safety of everyone in Illinois is our top priority. Period end of story. There’s nothing else that’s more important.
We are well-aware of the challenges property owners face in Illinois. That’s why several bills have been introduced including my future legislation offering a real comprehensive consolidation package.
However, the best thing we can do is let our Governor focus on keeping the people of Illinois safe and giving our doctors and others on the front-line the opportunity to stay ahead of this pandemic.
All of us in the legislature have an agenda that’s been put on hold during these unprecedented times. Don’t you think we wish things were different? Don’t you think we want to legislate?
When all is said and done, and none of us know how this is going to end, we will pick up the pieces and get back to work.
I hope all of you are taking the recommended precautions and keeping your families and communities safe.
“We know now, just the fact of community spread says that at least 1%, at the very least 1% of our population is carrying this virus in Ohio today.”
That was Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton speaking on March 12, when Ohio had only five confirmed COVID-19 cases. One percent of Ohio’s population would be about 117,000 cases. “Community spread” means the virus was transmitted by someone from inside the community, not someone who brought it in from outside.
”Whenever you know of two people that have it due to community spread, then you can assume that 1% of your population has it,” explained Acton’s press secretary, who cited a 2017 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, according to the Cleveland ABC TV affiliate.
Illinois has about 12.7 million people, so 1% of that would be 127,000. As of March 20, Illinois was reporting 585 known COVID-19 cases, with five deaths.
”Basically, our people don’t refute their numbers,” said Gov. J. B. Pritzker’s press secretary Jordan Abudayyeh via email.
Whew.
”If the trajectory of cases we’ve seen in Illinois this past week continues,” Abudayyeh said, “a week from now we could see approximately 3,400 more total cases than we have now.” That was on March 19.
”If the assumption is made that 20% of these cases are severe,” Abudayyeh continued, “approximately 650 new cases could need hospitalizations. Again, this assumes the trajectory will continue as it has this past week.”
Gov. Pritzker said last week that his administration had been looking to other states and countries to see what Illinois should emulate and what Illinois should avoid doing. He singled out Italy, saying he’s trying to make sure “we don’t end up in the situation that Italy is in.” Italy’s total number of deaths (3,405) surpassed China’s yesterday. China’s population is just under 1.4 billion. Italy’s is a little over 60 million. So, yeah, don’t do what Italy did.
On March 8, Italy sealed off much of its northern half. The next day, the entire country was put on lockdown. On the 8th, Italy had 7,375 confirmed cases and 366 deaths. By the 9th, when the entire country went into lockdown, the country had 9,172 confirmed cases and 463 deaths.
Italy’s median age is 10 years higher than the Illinois median of 37.4, and that is very likely driving up that country’s death rate since it hits the oldest the hardest. China’s median age is about a year older than Illinois’.
But it’s impossible to compare confirmed Illinois cases and Italy’s because, as of March 20, Illinois had tested just 4,286 people, compared to Italy’s 206,886. Italy’s first confirmed case was on January 31, seven days after Illinois’ first confirmation.
The governor can’t do a whole lot about the testing situation because the federal government has so thoroughly botched its handling of this pandemic. But the state is making some progress. Pritzker told reporters last Thursday that as of Wednesday, Illinois was able to conduct more than 1,000 tests.
“And in just a few days,” he said, the state “will be increasing that to more than 2,000 tests per day.” But even at that rate, it would take 18 more days to catch up to where Italy was at that time, adjusting for population size. (Italy has five times as many people as Illinois.)
The governor is cautiously aggressive. He wasn’t the very first governor to close bars and restaurants and cancel parades, but he was among the first, for instance.
You can almost see Pritzker’s thinking play out if you pay attention to what he says. He telegraphs his actions, which, frankly, is a good thing. He broadly hints that he will do something, which gets everyday people debating the topic among themselves. He does not suddenly announce anything out of the blue. Slamming people with surprises before most are ready could erode confidence. Just look at the mess in D.C.
When it comes right down to it, we have to assume that Ohio is right and this is basically everywhere. We should start behaving like we are already carriers. We shouldn’t have had to wait for a government order to stay at home if we could.
And so, I believe the governor was right to order most Illinoisans to stay home as much as possible for at least 16 days, the third governor to do so.
The only way to defeat this virus is to take away its food; and we’re the food.
* I thought the governor’s tone during a CNN interview yesterday was unfortunate, so I wrote about it…
Stick to indisputable facts, which are mostly on your side. Presenting cold hard facts is more than enough to make your case that the White House continues to fall far short.
He toned it way down during his afternoon press conference and stayed on an even keel during an appearance this morning on The Today Show…
Illinois now has more than 1,000 cases of the coronavirus, and this weekend, the state began enforcing a strict stay-at-home order. Watch @GovPritzker's full interview with @savannahguthrie about that, the federal government's response and more. pic.twitter.com/UwqsLQXnFc
Yesterday the Governor was asked about extending the state’s tax filing deadline. To help Illinois residents/employers struggling, and to protect the public’s health, we are encouraging the governor to extend the state deadline just as the Federal government did.
You know there are challenges for the state of just cash flow, right? I mean obviously we receive a lot of those revenues typically in April and they’re planned for spending related to those revenues that come in in April. So we’re trying to figure out whether there’s federal borrowing or federal help that will come down the pike that will help. I think there are a lot of states will have this kind of cash flow issue. If they extend their deadlines to July, I think is when the federal government did, but we are working on it. We think that’s an important thing for us to evaluate and then do something about
The bottom line is Illinois can’t just print money like the federal government. Without some help from the feds, delaying tax day or cutting sales taxes by 25 percent (as Rep. David McSweeney wants to do) would be fiscally dangerous.
By the way, my “favorite” reporter question yesterday was the one about how the state intends to spend money in the rainy day fund. I literally laughed out loud at that one.
* One result of this crisis is that some government rules are being set aside because it turns out they’re not all that practical or urgent in these trying times. For instance, the FAA stopped prohibiting large hand sanitizer containers in airline carry-on luggage last week.
Along those lines, I’ve never quite understood why the REAL ID program was so all-fired necessary…
Federal law mandates that as of Oct. 1, people who want to fly domestically must have a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, which involves a tighter screening process.
But given that all driver’s-license facilities are closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, it appears thousands of people won’t be able to make that deadline. […]
The nation’s governors are on it, seeking an extension of the deadline by a year or more as the infectious respiratory disease disrupts daily life across the U.S. […]
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Deerfield Democrat who pushed to extend the tax filing deadline, said postponing REAL ID is a no-brainer.
“I think there will be a lot of deadlines that need to be evaluated and REAL ID is one of them,” Schneider said.
Thoughts on other stuff that should be delayed, modified or abandoned?
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard predicted the U.S. unemployment rate may hit 30% in the second quarter because of shutdowns to combat the coronavirus, with an unprecedented 50% drop in gross domestic product.
Bullard called for a powerful fiscal response to replace the $2.5 trillion in lost income that quarter to ensure a strong eventual U.S. recovery, adding the Fed would be poised to do more to ensure markets function during a period of high volatility.
“Everything is on the table” for the Fed as far as additional lending programs, Bullard said in a telephone interview Sunday from St. Louis. “There is more that we can do if necessary” with existing emergency authority. “There is probably much more in the months ahead depending on where Congress wants to go.”
During a severe viral outbreak, state governments are likely to be squeezed financially from separate directions: increased Medicaid payments, new costs associated with virus containment, and falling state tax revenue. Projecting the budget impact of declining taxes is a straightforward exercise. In 2018, state governments collected about $1 trillion in total taxes.13 The $480 billion in general sales taxes and gross receipt taxes collected by state governments is of particular importance.
Reduced purchases of some goods and services during a severe outbreak (e.g., meals out and hotel stays) would mean lower tax revenue. A 30 percent decline in this revenue source for six months would create a $72 billion budget shortfall. A $72 billion state fiscal support program from the federal government would cover this sales tax shortfall.
In addition to the federal-to-state fiscal support I describe here, there would likely be other reasons related to COVID-19 for the federal government to aid state and local governments, such as medical costs and virus containment. Financing these costs in the form of additional grants to states could be considered in a separate Congressional act.
Nearly all states face balanced budget requirements for ongoing expenses. Failure to support states fiscally would put these governments in the difficult position of either raising taxes or cutting back on expenditures. Burdening citizens with additional taxes during a virus outbreak would be ill-advised. And, generally speaking, if state government expenditures made sense from a cost-benefit perspective before a viral outbreak, that cost-benefit calculation would likely hold during the outbreak. Thus, it might also be ill-advised to cut back on that spending just to satisfy a balanced budget requirement.
That was almost a week ago, so it could be worse now.
* I told you over the weekend that legislators are submitting questions to the governor and his office is responding to them in writing every day. Here’s one from the latest Q&A…
Childcare
Q: A healthcare provider is looking to set up a temporary daycare location for their healthcare workers. Can they get any reimbursement for this from the State?
A: Per the Governor’s Executive Order 10, all child care programs are closed; however, home day care programs can care for up 6 children. Where possible, children should be kept at home. The Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, in partnership with IDHS and IDCFS, has established a structure and system for child care providers to apply for an “emergency child care license” to provide care for essential workers. Please refer to the following link for additional resources: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/OECD/Pages/For-Communities.aspx.
Liquor
Q: What will happen to liquor licenses that expire soon?
A: Due to the hardships on liquor license holders as a result of the COVID-19 virus outbreak, all licenses expiring on March 31, 2020, April 30, 2020, and May 31, 2020, are extended until July 31, 2020. […]
Housing
Q: Is there consideration for reimbursing local housing agencies for making arrangements out of current homeless prevention funds? Are there other plans for assisting with homelessness / those seeking shelter in places where shelters are no longer taking new clients?
A: Through local continuums of care, DHS is making $6 million available for isolation housing for those who are experiencing homelessness. Homeless service providers will also receive a 5% increase in funding. Visit the Department of Human Services for more information.
Also in that new guidance is a clarification on auto dealers. I told you yesterday that the governor’s office said auto dealer sales were not deemed an “essential” service. But this is from the new Q&A…
Q: Are car dealerships essential services?
A: Car dealerships may stay open for repair and parts. Car dealerships may also remain open by appointment for individuals who need to purchase a car for essential travel. Showrooms should be closed. For further guidance, please call DCEO’s helpline 1-800-252-2923 or CEO.support@illinois.gov.
* Here are the Q&As I’ve been able to collect thanks to a generous legislator…
…Adding… The Illinois House Republicans have put together a website to answer your questions. Click here. Also, click here for a good Tribune explainer.
The State of Illinois requested personal protection equipment (PPE) from the strategic national stockpile (SNS) managed by the federal government.
State of Illinois request:
• N95s - 600,000
• Surgical masks - 900,000
• Gloves - 400,000
• Gowns - 24,000
• Goggles - 4,000
• Face shields - 120,000
• Respirators - 4,000
• The following was requested for continuity of government (public safety workers):
o N95s: 600,000
o Gloves: 1.2M
o Goggles: 20,000
MARCH 12:
The State of Illinois received a shipment of PPE from the SNS containing:
According to IDPH an additional SNS shipment will begin arriving today. The amount of this shipment is expected to be the same as the shipment we received on March 12.
* I put the numbers together for you…
• Respirators requested - 4,000
• Respirators received - 0
• Goggles requested - 67,500
• Goggles received - 0
• Hand Sanitizer requested - 85,000 bottles
• Hand Sanitizer received - 0
* Press release from Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island)…
URGENT PUBLIC NOTICE: Early this morning, I was contacted by the Governor’s office regarding policing and public safety in Blue Island. I have since learned that Mayor Domingo Vargas made a unilateral decision at 1 a.m. Sunday (today) to suspend all police department activities. At no point did the Mayor’s office contact my office, any member of the City Council or any other local leaders in making this rash decision.
In response to this action by the Mayor, my office has made contact and arrangements with both the Cook County Sheriff and Illinois State Police to ensure that Blue Island residents have police patrolling our community. While this is not a long- term solution, please be assured that there are County and State police available should residents need their help. Residents should still call 911 if an emergency. I am also in frequent communication with the City Council and am calling on our alderman to convene an emergency meeting to address community policing during this crisis.
Our first responders are heroes because they remain on the frontlines during this crisis. In the event that a first responder falls ill with COVID-19 or any other illness, there are state-mandated protocols in place to protect both the employee and any others coming in contact with that person. These protocols are in place to ensure that we can protect both individual officers while not threatening the safety of the general public. Based on current information, these vital protocols were not followed by Mayor Vargas when making his decision.
I am in frequent communication with both local leaders and the Governor’s office and will be providing daily updates as we work through this difficult time. We are also asking that anyone who is in possession of safety masks, gloves or other equipment consider donating those items to the Blue Island police and fire departments as we are facing a national shortage on protective items for first responders. Residents are invited to call my office at 708-396-2822 or email robertbobrita@aol.com with questions or concerns.
Together, as a community, we will get through this.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response. From Jordan Abudayyeh…
The Governor’s Office urges local governments to act responsibly as we overcome the challenges COVID-19 brings us. Police officers are essential employees who do valuable work to protect and serve. The health and safety of all Illinoisans are the Governor’s top priority and the administration is working with ISP to inform local governments on proper protocols. The Governor would urge leaders in Blue Island to follow guidance from the CDC and IDPH.
* Sen. Michael Hastings…
“Our first responders are doing a phenomenal job in the south suburbs responding to COVID-19 calls. I’ve been on daily calls with them regarding planning and potential issues moving forward. Unfortunately, we are already seeing the effect when our law enforcement officials are exposed to this virus. We’ve had exposure at four of our local police and fire departments already.
On a positive note, whether it’s getting PPE or prioritizing testing for first responders, Governor Pritzker has been overwhelmingly understanding and helpful to our requests.
Similar to my experience in Iraq, bad things will occur in this battle. We’re going to have to be one team, one fight regardless of who you are or where you live.
Blue Island Mayor Domingo Vargas made the decision Sunday. Vargas told NBC 5 a police department employee tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and although the person hadn’t been at work for at least a week prior to the positive test, officials are looking into whether the individual was in contact with other city or department employees.
Today marks the 14th of these daily briefings, two full weeks. So I want to start by saying how appreciative I am to the many members of the media, and to the public who tune in to these press conferences every single day, and help us to get the word out to the broader population of Illinois.
This also feels like an appropriate time to offer an apology to the woman who called my office this week angry that I’ve been interrupting the Bold and the Beautiful, and wanting to know that I too look forward to the days when we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
All kidding aside, getting accurate information disseminated and squashing irresponsible rumors is so critically important, as we waged the battle against COVID-19. So thank you to our residents, for sharing the information that I share, every day with your friends and your neighbors your family, and your social media networks. Thank you again to the reporters and the press who are continuing to do this work in such a difficult time.
* He went on to speak about President Trump…
One final thing. I refuse to spend more time on this than it deserves. So I want to quickly address Donald Trump’s tweet today before you asked me.
One of the things that’s been most heartening here in Illinois is the degree to which Republicans from all over our state have reached out to me to ask how they can help. Even people who have had profound political disagreements with me in the past have been among the first to call or text me asking what they could do to help Illinois in her hour of need.
When it comes to volunteerism and charity and stepping up in a crisis, Illinoisans of all political stripes are doing their part.
Now, I’m a pretty even-keeled guy. But even I’m finding it hard to contain my anger with Donald Trump’s response to this national crisis. I have doctors and nurses and first responders begging for masks, equipment and more tests. And I have a floor full of staff who are working day and night to hunt down the supplies that our healthcare workers and our first responders need, and the supplies we know they’re going to need.
We’re doing that because Donald Trump promised to deliver for all the states weeks ago. And so far has done very little.
So apparently the only way to get the President of the United States to pay attention is to go on national television and make noise about it, which I won’t stop doing until we get what we need. I said I would fight for the state and I will with every breath that I have and I meant it.
I said that the other day, that this is a time for serious people, not the carnival barkers that are tweeting from the cheap seats. All I can say is, get to work, or get out of the way.
This will be updated. And please pardon all typos because I’m using Otter for fast transcription.
* On to questions for the governor from the media. Will Illinois be extending the tax filing deadline..
I want you to know that we’re working hard to figure out how we can do that. You know there are challenges for the state of just cash flow right. I mean obviously we receive a lot of those revenues typically in April and they’re planned for spending related to those revenues that come in in April. So we’re trying to figure out whether there’s federal borrowing or federal help that will come down the pike that will help. I think there are a lot of states will have this kind of cash flow issue. If they extend their deadlines to July, I think is when the federal government did, but we are working on it . We think that’s an important thing for us to evaluate and then do something about
* Concerns about the health of older healthcare workers coming back to the profession, as Pritzker asked yesterday…
For those who are older, we certainly want people to take extra care. We wouldn’t want anybody who deems themselves to be at risk or falls into a high risk category to come into the healthcare profession and be exposed to COVID 19.
There are ways for healthcare professionals, even who are older, to participate and help us, and not be as exposed to COVID 19. In other words, there are a number of people who will be in hospitals or in health care centers that don’t have COVID 19 that simply are people who are heart attack victims or have some other condition that that need hospitalization. We’re trying to separate those people out from people who have covered 19, and make sure that we are serving both needs, but not spreading the virus. So, there will be and are places where one can work that are lower risk than just going into a hospital emergency room or serving COVID19 patients.
* We’re hearing a number of employers are giving essential employees documents akin to an affidavit for proving that they are indeed essential or law enforcement requiring this…
No, but let me be clear. You do not need to have papers or a permission from your employer, when nobody’s being stopped on the streets. And unless they are in fact seem to be directly violating the stay at home order in which case, a police officer or somebody else may just ask you please go home or are you in fact going to your job or going somewhere that is essential. Just to encourage people to do the right thing. So there’s no stopping people and asking for papers that’s going on.
* How will you measure how effective the stay home order is…
…One of the things that the doctors have said, the researchers have said is that after about eight or 10 days after the stay at home order’s put in place, we may begin to see the increase in the number of cases reported start to diminish their acceleration. Let’s say, instead of being exponential, maybe they’ll be growing at only a geometric level.
And remember these numbers will grow even after we may have slowed this significantly. They will grow because of more testing being available. We’ll be able to test more and more people know exactly who has it. But we may begin to see and this is up to the statistician and the modelers, we may begin to see it, a bending of this curve, you know, even after less than two weeks and so that’s why we wanted to put this in place for long enough to be able to see what effect we’re having. And we’ll watch it very closely. I mean I want very much as everybody else does, to begin to go back to normal as soon as possible. But let me tell you what the most important thing is that needs to happen. And it’s something that’s a little out of all of our control. But it is in the hands of the tremendous researchers that are here in in Illinois in Chicago, many of them in Champaign, and also all across the United States and the world. And that’s they’re researching treatments and therapies, and they’re getting closer.
There are two or three that have been in trials even now, one of which seems more effective than others but we won’t really know until we get the full results of those tests but the truth is that we’re going to rely upon them to help us with treatments. Once we get treatments I think all of us will feel a little bit of relief that we know that we can save lives. We know that we may be able to, you know, bend this curve, even more. And then of course finally getting a vaccine to protect people entirely from it will be the most important thing we can do
* How much money are we taking out of the state’s rainy day fund to help medical facilities and testing centers…
So I think many of you know that the state for many years didn’t have much of a rainy day fund. And I want to say that we’ve worked hard. So far I’ve been in office now 15 months and we’ve worked hard to look at ways that we could build up that rainy day fund.
Well now as you can imagine in this crisis, there’s no way to build up that fund it’s a very very small fund in the state of Illinois.
Having said that, all the states in the United States need help from the federal government. That’s why you’ve seen in some of these stimulus packages for example support for unemployment benefits, unemployment insurance. As one example but we’re all going to need help with our state budgets because revenues are declining in every state as we have had to slow things down to keep people at home. But also we’ve seen an increase in expenditures because we have social services that we want to make sure we’re providing for people who may be suffering economically, financially from this virus, so we have a lot of needs I would say that we can’t meet with a rainy day fund in our state. And so we’re going to do everything that we can to meet those needs no matter what
* Is there some where people can call to denounce if their place of employment is open and they don’t think it should be…
I would encourage people to call the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. We have a hotline where people can find out if their business does in fact meet the requirements of an essential business operation in the executive order.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 296 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including an infant. IDPH also announced three deaths. The deaths included a Cook County man in his 80s, a Chicago man in his 80s, and a McLean County woman in her 70s. Jo Daviess, Livingston, Rock Island, and Stephenson counties are now also reporting cases. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,049 cases in 30 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to 99 years.
Health officials are still learning about this new virus and information and guidance is rapidly evolving. At this time, it is still unknown if a pregnant woman with COVID-19 can pass the virus to her fetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no infants born to mothers with COVID-19 have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. In these cases, which are a small number, the virus was not found in samples of amniotic fluid or breastmilk.
* Today’s graph…
…Adding… Illinois is up to 8,374 completed tests. Positive movement, but not nearly enough.
* The Illinois National Guard is on rumor patrol at its Twitter page…
The latest rumor is that the Illinois National Guard have set up checkpoints in Chicago or the Chicagoland area. This is absolutely false! Here's the truth: Our 45-Airmen medical team has moved up to the Chicagoland area where they are setting up a mobile COVID-19 testing site.
Importantly, Section 12(e) of the order provides that “Gas stations and auto-supply, auto-repair, and related facilities and bicycle shops and related facilities” are essential businesses that can remain open. In other words, motor vehicle dealerships, both the parts and service department and the related sales department are essential to the health and welfare of Illinois residents and may remain open
* A legislator asked the governor’s office about this topic…
Q: Car dealers appear to think they are essential services? Perhaps being open for service calls but new sales? Where can they receive more guidance?
A: Only auto-repair is considered an essential operation.
*** UPDATE *** Last night’s Q&A updated the position…
Q: Are car dealerships essential services?
A: Car dealerships may stay open for repair and parts. Car dealerships may also remain open by appointment for individuals who need to purchase a car for essential travel. Showrooms should be closed. For further guidance, please call DCEO’s helpline 1-800-252-2923 or CEO.support@illinois.gov.
* Legislators are submitting questions to the governor and his office is responding to them all at once every day. I have asked to be put onto that list so I can post them here. A helpful legislator forwarded a few to me today. That auto dealer guidance was in yesterday’s email…
* Remember the other day when Liz Uihlein sent an email to legislators complaining about the media overblowing COVID-19 and asked them “at what point do we go back to our normal lives?”
And in the Midwest, Uline, a major distributor of packaging materials and industrial supplies, kept its work force going through the week, despite complaints from employees, including those crowded into its call centers, working side-by-side in cubicles.
“Nothing’s really changed,” one employee said. “It’s just nerve-racking.”
Employees received an email Thursday from the Uihlein Family, owners of the $5.8 billion company and big donors to Republican causes, thanking them for their efforts and saying that the “White House called upon us twice with huge orders” this week.
The same day, a manager at one Uline call center sent a note to employees.
“If you, or family members, are under the weather with cold/allergies — or anything aside from Covid-19,” it read, “please do NOT tell your peers about the symptoms & your assumptions. By doing so, you are causing unnecessary panic in the office.”
* The President of the United States has clearly decided to allow governors to take the frontline lead on the COVID-19 battle. His Department of Homeland Security and the CDC have issued several bits of “guidance” to the states, but not orders.
That has resulted in a patchwork-quilt response across the country. Our restaurants and taverns were closed on March 15th, but Wisconsin’s weren’t closed until two days later. Missouri’s governor has still not ordered them closed. That state hasn’t shut down much of anything, although individual school districts and municipalities are making closing decisions themselves.
“These orders that the governors have led on, you know, I led with canceling gatherings of a certain size in our state and then we closed schools,” Pritzker said. “We moved on now to a stay-at home order. These should’ve been done nationally, they haven’t been.”
“Governor of Illinois, and a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News @CNN & Concast (MSDNC), shouldn’t be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings,” he tweeted. “We are there to back you up should you fail, and always will be!”
Pritzker tweeted back, “You wasted precious months when you could’ve taken action to protect Americans & Illinoisans. You should be leading a national response instead of throwing tantrums from the back seat. Where were the tests when we needed them? Where’s the PPE? Get off Twitter & do your job.”
* There is zero doubt that the White House has bungled its response from Jump St. and continues to do so. I mean, for crying out loud some supplies are so tight that the CDC issued this horrifying guidance the other day…
In settings where facemasks are not available, HCP [healthcare personnel] might use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort.
So, do we really want that very same White House taking a policy and action lead?
* Plus, Pritzker himself has regularly allowed local institutions to get out in front of him. Some public and private Illinois schools (including the Chicago Archdiocese) shut themselves down before Pritzker acted.
And to this very day, universities are all devising their own individual response policies. The following is the governor’s office response to a legislator’s question…
Q: How are State university employees to interpret whether they are essential or not? Any direction?
A: State University are still internally discussing that process and are encouraged to use discretion as each institution is unique.
Each state is also unique in its own way as well. So it stands to reason that the governor should heed his own advice.
* Governor, if you’re going on national TV again, stop patting yourself on the back and picking fights with the president. Stick to indisputable facts, which are mostly on your side. Presenting cold hard facts is more than enough to make your case that the White House continues to fall far short.
I’ve called you “Gov. Chillax” in the past. When you appear boastful and rattled these days, that rattles me. And if I’m rattled, imagine the message you’re sending to everyone else. /rant
Please remember that the grocery stores and gas stations and pharmacies will all be open tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday and every day after that. And they are being constantly restocked. In fact, you would be better off going to the store on Monday than you are today.
As I said yesterday, so many of us have neighbors who are vital to our future, our nurses our doctors our healthcare workers, our law enforcement officers, our firefighters and the ambulance drivers our grocery workers truck drivers our pharmacists, let’s be good to them. […]
Today I’m issuing a call to action in the fight against COVID 19. We’re in the middle of a battle and we need reinforcements. I’m asking all former physicians, nurses, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners and respiratory care therapists who have recently left the field, whether for retirement or a new profession, to come back and join the fight against COVID 19. We need your help now.
We’ll be waiving the fees and licensures so you can rejoin the healthcare workforce right away. On Monday, your health care license reinstatement form will be available on the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation website … These applications will be processed on an expedited basis, and we’ll be coordinating with hospitals and healthcare sites throughout the state to deploy these reenlisted medical professionals to the front lines. Also for medical professionals professionals whose licenses may be expiring, we are automatically extending your licenses, through the end of September.
Finally, for healthcare workers living at our borders,who may be practicing in cities outside of Illinois. We’re going to make it easier for you to also practice here. This will allow health systems in places like the Quad Cities and East St. Louis to deploy physicians where they are needed most on either side of the border.
This is hero’s work. And all of you have our deepest gratitude for your willingness to serve.
* Racism spike…
Lastly, let us remember that this virus is not tied to any specific ethnic group or race, people from every demographic every race, ethnicity, gender, or background, have been infected. Suggesting otherwise, or engaging in racist speech or acts is one of the most profoundly unAmerican things that I can think of. Instead, the current crisis should drive home to all of us just how connected we all are. We can choose how we want to come out on the other side of this. Let’s choose to be one Illinois.
* IDPH Director…
I have to share with you the additional cases. Se’ve added 168 new cases. And unfortunately, that includes a death. A gentleman in his 70s, who resided in Cook County.
That brings our total to 753 cases, with a total of six deaths. for each of the families, represented by these fatalities. We all offer our support, and prayers.
* Today’s graph…
* Back to the IDPH Director…
During this unprecedented public health emergency, stocks of personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, are being used rapidly. The availability of critical resources, such as gloves, gowns, eye protection and N 95 respirators is essential to maximize the state’s availability of this PPE. IDPH will release guidance to limit non essential adults’ elective surgery and other medical and surgical procedures, including dental procedures until further notice.
We are encouraging strongly all ambulatory surgery centers and veterinarians to donate PPE that is not immediately needed to assist healthcare workers healthcare facilities and first responders who are on the frontline actively responding to COVID 19.
Remember that I’m using Otter for transcription so I won’t be able to catch all of the typos.
* On to questions for the governor. The first two reporters have apparently not bothered to read the EO or even the press release. They asked some pretty obvious questions about what would and would not be closed. He was also asked again about enforcement, which he went over yesterday…
Well we are certainly asking the residents the citizens of Illinois to enforce themselves, to make sure that they follow the rules. We hope that people who might see somebody else doing something that’s against the order might say something to them. It’s not their job to intercede.
But if the law enforcement officers out on the streets would see something there. They certainly would say something to people there. Their next course of action if somebody were to refuse to comply, would be to get a cease and desist order from a court.
So if it was a gathering somebody’s having a picnic a large group of people who are just disobeying the order around the number of people who should gather which is limited to 10, they might need to go to a court to get a court order to get that party that activity to cease and desist in the extreme circumstance. An officer could charge somebody with reckless conduct, which is a misdemeanor, if they’re truly engaging in reckless conduct.
Most people will simply be making a mistake, they’re not standing six feet away from each other they’re standing a few feet. Those are the kinds of mistakes nobody’s going to hold anybody responsible for and we’re not encouraging police, we’re not looking to put people in jail or to fine them for this kind of activity. What we really want is for people simply to obey the rules.
This is about keeping everybody in our community safe, including the law enforcement officers, including your neighbors and your friends and your family members. But people are still encouraged to go outside and, you know, the weather allows to go on a walk to take your dog on a walk to take your child out, and so on. There’s nothing wrong with going to the grocery store, going to the pharmacy. You know, if you need to check up on a neighbor or friend.
Those things are all, you know, allowed and something that certainly I would encourage. I would especially encourage checking up on, calling your friends or people that you know who our healthcare workers and on the front lines who are our first responders, those are people who are so vital to us, and they should know how grateful you are. And I would hope you would ask them if there’s anything that they need that you might be able to do for them.
* Federal response…
I must admit that we’ve gotten no help from the federal government or, let me say, limited help because we did receive some PPE. When we put in an order we got 25% of what we asked for from the federal government. But I believe that we are acquiring at a reasonable rate, but I have an office of people several of them are dedicated to just this to getting into the supply chain and getting every item that we need to make sure that our healthcare operations and our first responders are covered.
* Recovery rates…
It is true that the vast majority of people will recover from having COVID 19. The problem is that the numbers of people, overall, who are getting COVID 19 are so large that even the small number of people who have trouble recovering is more than our healthcare system may be able to handle. And that’s why we’re all working so hard to make sure that we keep our social distance and that all of you obey the stay at home [order].
* For the IDPH Director: How confident are you about asymptomatic transmission…
Yeah, that’s a great question. So, we know that before you develop symptoms, you have to have the virus in your system. And the virus, you don’t get the virus replicates rapidly so you get the virus, and then it replicates in your system, and then you develop symptoms. So we know that from when you get the virus to when you get symptoms, there could be some time in there, maybe a day or two. And so, the issue is how do we think that virus that’s in your system now gets transmitted to another person. And so from what our best evidence shows, we think the majority of the transmission has to do with droplets coming out from sneezes or coughs potentially from contaminated surfaces, being touched and then introducing that virus into, into your mucous membranes, whether it’s your mouth your nose your eyes. And so that’s why the attention to cleaning surfaces frequently, and to cover your cough, and stay home when you have a cough. So, yes, we know that you could potentially have the virus at say Day Zero, but the likelihood of transmitting at that time is significantly lower which is why we prioritize people with symptoms, because we know the direct method by which people would transfer it to another individual.
* Question for the governor: We are getting tons of questions from people who work in manufacturing asking why they are not shutting down and are considered essential. Can you elaborate on what manufacturing sectors are essential and why…
So again I would direct everybody online to the frequently asked questions into the order itself it actually outlines quite a long list. The intention here is that there’s a supply chain of manufacturing that occurs, not just for the end product that you see on a shelf, but all the way back you know the brand that you see on the shelf is not just the brand itself but there’s a twist tie and there’s a plastic bag that holds the brand. Those are all manufacturers that are necessary in order for that good to end up on the shelf. The same thing is true for bottle makers for pharmaceuticals, for example. It’s not just the pharmaceuticals, but that someone makes the tops, someone makes the bottles, you can see that there’s a whole supply chain behind many of the things that are necessary for everybody’s daily life. And so we want to be, you know, to make sure that essential business operations includes all of the supply chain across the board.
* He was asked about his optimism for the future…
I’m going to try to be measured in my answer to your question because as you know I’ve been deeply concerned. I would say frustrated and sometimes even angry at the failures of the federal government.
Let me say that there are people at levels below the political levels of government, who are working very hard to do the right thing. People have the experience that’s necessary to help us solve the challenges we have in the States, and I talk to them frequently. Sometimes I expressed to them my frustration. I simultaneously tell them you know that that I know that this is not their fault, specifically.
But I have to say that that my optimism has waned.
Honestly, because I said the other day that the federal government is like Lucy with the football and I feel like Charlie Brown. And so this has happened, a number of times now, weeks ago, you could look back at press conferences or comments that I made weeks ago, weeks ago we were promised tests that in fact we were told that right around the corner. I was told by people at the highest levels ‘Right around the corner, we’re going to see more and more tests.’ and then weeks went by. Now, are we seeing more tests? Yes, but not even at the numbers that were promised weeks ago. And now they want to sit you know they want to try to play games, about the numbers.
Pritzker continued…
All I can tell you is that that the great people of the state of Illinois, the people who work in our hospitals, the researchers the laboratory technicians, they’re the ones, the doctors here, they’re the ones who have actually figured out how to test and have spun up testing all across the state.
We, of course, our laboratories the state IDPH laboratories were the real front lines. They’re the ones who they put on a second shift. They’ve been doing more and more tests. I mean, they’ve had to put aside some other testing that they do in order to make sure that we’re getting the COVID 19 testing done.
So, I am frustrated. I mean I’m hopeful in a way that the commercial laboratories, and that the private sector will help us figure this out, because so far the federal government hasn’t.
Just one example, private companies have developed or are developing rapid COVID 19 tests that don’t take four or five hours to get an answer for, but something that takes that you could do on the spot. That would be a revolution here.
And so I’m, I’m hopeful in that regard that we’re going to get help. Because the ingenuity of the people of Illinois, the ingenuity of the private sector the ingenuity of the people working in the laboratories, at the hospitals all across our state is heartening.
After announcing the order, Pritzker spent considerable time trying to reassure people that the state at home order does not mean sealed up in the homes unable to leave.
“You’ll still be able to leave your house to go to the grocery store to get food. You’ll still be able to visit a pharmacy, go to a medical office or a hospital or to gas up your car at a gas station,” Pritzker said. “You’ll still be able to go running and hiking and walk you dog. Many, many people will still go to work. For the vast majority of you already taking precautions, your lives will not change very much.”
Pritzker said that agriculture, the news media, plumbers, Laundromats, banks, roads, bridges and mass transit will remain available.
“You can still pick up dinner from your local restaurant, pick up your prescriptions and just spend time with your family,” he said.
“This is not a lockdown or martial law,” added Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. “There is no need to change your normal purchasing patterns.”
But even as Pritzker and others were giving their daily update on the coronavirus, photographs were showing up on social media showing throngs in grocery stores stocking up on food and other supplies.
I blame the Chicago Tribune’s headline writers for at least some of that mass panic. The paper decided to run with a scoop about what the governor planned to do instead of waiting two hours to get their story right. The story was incomplete, but the Tribune’s headline used the word “lockdown.” Stores were quickly flooded with people. Inexcusable.
* And then even after the governor’s executive order was released, some media outlets continued using that word…
Pritzker issues lockdown order requiring Illinois residents ‘shelter in place’ starting Saturday at 5 p.m. https://t.co/gi4oDIhDW7
A totally irresponsible headline intended to drive clicks and make money from inciting panic. It’s a free country and they can do whatever they want. But that means I can also do whatever I want and I choose to call them out. Stop this nonsense before people get hurt.
Being prepared for shelter-in-place includes ensuring that the family or individual has a specified shelter-in-place location. When sheltering-in-place, individuals should ensure they have enough water, non-perishable food, blankets, communication equipment (such as radios), alternate power sources (including fuel for generators, first aid supplies, necessary medications, and durable medical equipment [e.g., wheelchairs, canes, and hearing aids] and consumable medical equipment [e.g., medical device batteries, catheters, and wound dressings]) to allow self-sustainment in that location for a minimum of 72 hours and a maximum of 14 days. The family or individual should plan to keep a well-stocked emergency kit available at home, at work, and in the car, to meet all contingencies.
Nobody has been ordered to do anything like that unless they’ve tested positive. And even then, many of those items above do not apply.
* Illinois’ order simply requires you to stay at home unless you need essentials or are performing essential work. And the list of exemptions is really long. So, click here and here if you want to know what you can and cannot do.
Ben Bradley is exactly right and sets the proper tone…
Here's the thing about the governor’s "stay-at-home" order:
It sounds scary; but it's essentially what most responsible people have been doing for the past week. You'll still be able to go out for groceries, gas, meds and essential work.
* Anyway, one of their headline writers may be horrible, but the Tribune is doing a fantastic job of updating readers with their live coverage. Here are some headlines from that page, which you should most definitely bookmark and visit often…
Chicago TV shows donate masks, other props for coronavirus treatment: Their doctors may be fake, but it turns out hospital procedurals like “Chicago Med,” “The Resident” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” are awash in authentic medical gear.
CTA bus driver has tested positive for coronavirus, officials say
COVID-19 is having a major impact on Chicago orgs assisting those in need. Here’s how you can help.
Saturday morning content: Keep having that quarantine sex, Chicago.
Coronavirus is keeping people away from animal shelters, so volunteers are needed immediately to foster pets.
‘We feel like we’re in this alone’: Nurses treating coronavirus patients plead for more protective gear
Grocers, delivery services scramble to hire thousands of workers to help with a crush of business driven by the coronavirus
You can order your craft beer for delivery in Illinois, says liquor commission
Illinois cannabis tax revenues that were earmarked for the state’s rainy day fund will now be used to help rural pharmacies in Illinois as the state grapples with the coronavirus outbreak.
The Illinois Comptroller’s office announced Friday that rural and small-town pharmacies being “squeezed” by low reimbursements will receive a combined $946,000 in payments from the state this week.
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza said her office is using cannabis revenues to give the 80 pharmacies servicing rural communities throughout Illinois their payments ahead of schedule.
“Our ongoing effort to support rural pharmacies that are being squeezed out by unfair competition and managed care policies now takes on added importance as communities fight the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus,” Mendoza said in a statement.
Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, this is Governor J.B. Pritzker from Illinois. I wanted to first express my gratitude to your staffs and to other working in the administration who we’ve interacted with. They’ve really done yeoman work in being responsive to us. And thank you, Mr. Vice President, for returning calls to us as we needed more help with answers to questions about testing. And, actually, that’s why I wanted to ask a question today.
We understand that there is drive-through testing that’s being stood up across the country. We hope to see it in Illinois — drive-through testing that the federal government has arranged. But we understand that there are only about 5,000 tests that will provided to us in Illinois for these drive-through tests — testing centers. And then there is no more promise after that. And so I wanted to try to understand what — if stand them up, what will happen? That — that’s perhaps, you know, a day or two days of testing. Obviously, that’s on top of the testing we already have now. But what will happen after the 5,000 run out? How will we get more?
* Admiral Brett Giroir, M.D., the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, responded…
And to be very clear, we gave the initial allocation based on what your state told us, but we want you to work through your FEMA system. We have plenty of tests on the back side. We have plenty of supplies on the front side. Work through your FEMA administrator to give your requirements and we will bring those back through the FEMA system to meet them.
There’s been great demand and great enthusiasm among the states for these drive-through centers, primarily for healthcare workers and we want to support you. We can certainly provide more than 5,000, but we didn’t want to give away so much at the beginning until everyone got set up.
That answer was interpreted by one of my subscribers as saying we only got 5,000 tests for drive-throughs because that’s all we asked for and that Pritzker should’ve asked for more. But, clearly, the admiral said the amount of tests were limited “until everyone got set up.”
* Even so I wondered why Illinois only asked for 5,000 tests. Here’s Jordan Abudayyeh…
Our team asked the federal government for 5000 tests because that was the maximum number of tests they offered.
OK, that makes sense. Illinois asked for the maximum.
Abudayyeh continued…
Since the very beginning of this crisis, our administration has demanded our partners at the federal level step up and assist us in our mission to save lives. Because the federal government has been unreliable and slow to act, members of our team are working every avenue in the supply chain to purchase more tests and personal protection equipment for our healthcare workers. What we’ve found is that the federal government has commandeered most of the supply chain and has yet to produce results for states asking for more supplies. Every time a member of this administration gets on the phone with anyone at the federal level we ask for more tests, so if they have more, like they claim, we look forward to our shipment arriving as soon as possible. As of right now, we haven’t seen them deliver on their promises.
