In Carbondale, restaurant owners and chefs came together to launch the Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen, providing meals for local organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, offering pickup and delivery to customers and supporting area restaurant workers. In Quincy, the Lutheran Church of St john is running a mobile food pantry, to help deliver essential nutrition to nearby rural communities. The Divvy bike system in Chicago has announced another 30 days of free rides for all healthcare workers throughout the month of May.
As always, please excuse any transcription errors.
* On to questions for the governor. Very high numbers again this week. I know a lot of that is due to more testing, but have you found any other trends or any other explanation for seeing so many more infections after weeks and weeks of staying home?…
No, it really is a function of doing more testing. And in fact what you’ll find is a lower infection rate. If you do the math here of how many tests done as a denominator and how many positives as a numerator, you’ll see that we’ve come down on average, from what was around 21 or 22% infection rate to something in the high teens.
So I think that’s something for people to look at the gross number of cases you know of positive cases, really isn’t any indication of much other than that we’ve done more testing indeed if we tested everybody in the state we would have a much much higher number.
* Can you reiterate wearing a mask? I’m sure you’ve seen through Chicago today, a lot of sidewalks packed, a lot of public spaces very packed. You’ve said if you can social distance outside you don’t need it. Have you changed your thoughts on that at all?…
No, that’s still what people need to do and I’m glad you asked.
Face coverings are vital for people to wear. In fact, it may be the most important thing that you can do to save other people’s lives, to keep other people from getting infected and to protect people in your own home. If everybody does it, if everybody goes out and takes a mask with them and puts it on make sure you’ve got it on when you are in public and in an area where you’re not likely to be able to keep six foot distance, then you are protecting other people.
One more thing I noticed that people don’t feel like, well, if I’m walking along the sidewalk, and there’s no one six feet behind me and no one six feet in front of me going the same direction. People feel like why do I need to wear a mask? Well you know why, it’s because someone may be coming the direction toward you. You are going to be within six feet of that person for at least a few moments as you pass that person and the next person, and the next person.
So wearing a face covering is extraordinarily important, and I speak, not just over the city of Chicago in areas that are highly populated but even downstate where it’s true that if you’re not around other people you don’t need to be wearing that mask or that face covering. But when you do go shopping, if you go to the grocery store, you’re going to go into a park or something else, where you know you’re probably going to run into other people, you should bring that face covering with you.
* What is your plan if more people are out violating the stay at home order?…
Well, first of all it is local governments and county governments that should be enforcing the social distancing and wearing face coverings and so on.
We need to continue to message to people that it’s not acceptable to gather in large groups or to not wear a face covering. That’s extraordinarily important for us to do. People need to take care of each other, and for the most part people really are. But I know people need to be reminded some people make mistakes, and maybe even purposely gathering groups they think they’re being defiant and that’s okay. I believe me I understand when I was younger I you know felt like I wanted to be defiant to this is not a moment for that this is life threatening to be defiant in this moment about not wearing a face covering or gathering in large groups, you are putting others at risk and your own self and your family.
* Between nursing home outbreaks and the mental health toll this pandemic is taking, are there discussions about ways to uniformly facilitate video communications in nursing homes between loved ones outside and the elderly inside?…
Many of the nursing homes and indeed people who are working in nursing homes are actually helping to facilitate that for the people who are residents of those nursing homes. It isn’t something that the state has a program for, but it is something that I recognize is very important in so many people have a device of some sort, even seniors in a nursing home, often have some kind of device these days, even if it’s simply an iPhone or a, you know, small handheld device. So we want to encourage that because it has been a while now you know we had to impose a strict lockdown of nursing homes, even before the beginning of our disaster declaration in the state. We’ve had nursing homes, not accepting even family members to visit. And I know how hard that is for people but it’s vitally important. Even as difficult as nursing homes have been as a you know a spreading ground for coronavirus and it’s just a fact of life that these congregate settings are well you know the, the fact is that that shutting them down to outside visitors has helped a lot to keep many of those homes either COVID free or fewer infections.
* What is the state doing to curb the number of COVID cases at long term care facilities? If people believe their loved ones are in serious danger because of the lack of care, how can they get them out?…
Dr. Ezike: So, very challenging question in terms of how to curve, we have our strategies, but we know as we look even as to our partners, facing the exact same thing across the state and even in other countries, it’s still a challenge. Let me tackle your second part of your question, if individuals want to take their loved ones home.
I don’t think there’s any rules against that, and we know that congregate care settings are difficult in terms of two people being to a room, being several maybe sometimes several hundred people in a fixed location. So, by its nature, it’s very challenging and if people want to have their loved ones at home and are able to take care of their loved ones, there’s no restriction on that at all. And I think, obviously families can take wonderful care of their loved ones and so full encouragement to do that if people aren’t in a position to do that.
But in terms of what we’re trying to do again, we put out the guidance before there was ever a case in a single nursing home, we started at the end of February and put out clear guidelines where we started, people said initially Oh, that’s too cruel to say that there won’t be visitors, and we were doing it with these, senior citizens in mind that we wanted to decrease their opportunity to be affected by people coming from outside. So we initially put in the the no visitors. We said that people have to be checked all staff have to be checked anyone with symptoms anyone with a fever.
There was, you know, questions that had to be reviewed that you have to attest that you are safe to come to work. We wanted to decrease all the outside people that were coming in for different reasons. The group gatherings had to be had to be stopped. We couldn’t have lots of volunteer groups coming in, again, trying to balance between, some of these social things that really help brighten people’s spirits. But then things that also threaten people’s lives, knowing that the vector, the way that the virus comes into the facility is through people coming from outside the residence or there they didn’t go outside, they didn’t go outside to contract that virus.
* This one from Greg Bishop at the center square. Protester say economic damage from the shutdown is doing more damage to the health and well being of families and individuals, leading to depression, self harm, domestic abuse, lost education opportunities for children, medical procedures put off and many other major societal problems. How do you weigh all of those costs?…
Well, Greg. You’re right. These are all some of the damages that are being caused by coronavirus, there’s no doubt about it. So, you know, we weigh these things in the mix, there’s no doubt.
At the moment,as you know, we continue to climb this curve, though at a much slower pace, the curve that has,increasing the number of hospitalizations and ICU beds filled in our state.
And it’s true even in areas in southern or Central Illinois, it is in Chicago and Cook County in the collar counties. So we’re weighing them. There’s no doubt I want people to get back to work and trying to find safe industries, safe ways to get people back into their jobs, whether they work in an office factory, a food processor or a restaurant or a bar.
These are all things that we’re trying to weigh in the mix and and again there’s a lot of factors to consider as we’re trying to reopen the economy but very importantly, we’ve been listening to the CDC guidance on this. And of course the expert epidemiologists that work for the state as well as for many private institutions in Illinois.
* Also from Greg, with the challenges your authority and the courts, why not have the legislature, wear face coverings as the public is now required to do so when grocery shopping or going back to work and have them come back for a special session to clear up your authority?…
They have the ability to come back and they would i would assume and I would, in fact it’s required that they wear face coverings when they do so.
* And from Amy Jacobson wind radio at your joint statement with Mayor Lightfoot last night you said quote, We must stay the course until data shows further progress and a reduction of new cases and as widespread testing comes online. We are thankful for all the new testing sites you opened up around the state, but wasn’t flattening the curve, based on hospitalizations, because the more people we test the more people we will likely have positive?…
I’m not sure how that last part is related to hospitalizations, but I’ll try to answer the question.
Anyway, we still have increasing hospitalizations or flattened hospitalizations, some areas. And so we need to watch those numbers and have them coming down. A Again I would point once again to the plan that the CDC and the White House put out as a guide for when can you really begin to look at reopening and it’s after you get through the peak, and sometimes that peak is kind of flattening and I’ve been talking about flattening for some time. Truthfully, as we’ve been talking about flattening and bending the curve, as I have indicated, we’re still going up by a little bit.
But whatever you would call it, at the moment we’re not going down. And that’s what we really need to do. Hospitalization is a very important number for us all to pay attention to, ICU beds also very important number to pay attention to, again, the case rate, I would look at the infection rate and not the total case numbers. And then I would look at the per capita infections in all across the state, you know, just because you see a certain number of cases in a county and saves that doesn’t seem like many, it may be that there are very few people live in that county.
* Rebecca at capital news Illinois. This is my semi weekly check in. How are you both doing in terms of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and after some awful protest signs Friday?…
Well, thank you and my family and I are fine.
And well, I will say that the people who were protesting, there were quite a number of people who seem to have been carrying signs filled with hate. There were people carrying signs with swastikas on them, suggesting that they believe in either that they believe in Naziism or they think it’s okay to throw the invective at people with a swastika.
What I can tell you for myself is that I have spent decades of my life fighting against bigotry and hatred. I helped to build a Holocaust museum, I’ve worked with Holocaust survivors. The meaning of that swastika is apparently unknown to the people who are carrying it or if it is known it is a demonstration of the hate that is among us.
Having said all that, these were a few hundred demonstrators, and there are millions of people in the state of Illinois, really good people who are doing the right thing, protecting each other during this extraordinary crisis. And I am so grateful to live in a state with those millions of people.
Dr. Ezike: All is well with me and my family. I continue to hear about people who are more directly affected. I am fortunate. I have a job and I have my health, my prayers go out every day to the people who are not as fortunate, who don’t have the income and who are struggling and so I understand how difficult this is everyone is bearing it differently. And so again, thank you for the concern for me, but the goal is to work for the people who are being disproportionately affected by this pandemic and that’s what we’re all doing and that’s what we’ll continue to do.
* The debate over the graduated income tax will be even more intense because of the pandemic. Can you address concerns of businesses that say it will be a greater burden on them if it’s passed?…
For those who are making that claim, the fact is that when you earn, if you earn a lower earnings in a year, you pay lower taxes. When you earn higher in a year you pay higher taxes. There is nothing new or changed or different about the effect of the graduated income tax during this moment, than there was, you know, four or five months ago before we knew about this pandemic.
Other than that, I think it’s needed perhaps now more than ever. We very much need to alleviate some of the burden on the working class and middle class and people who are striving to get to the middle class, and to also pay for the services that the state has needs to provide, as well as to to deal with the structural deficit that already existed in the state. Not to mention now the shortfall that will exist as a result of the attack of the coronavirus.
* Many protesters I spoke with in Springfield said they didn’t care about the rising number of cases and that’s because they feel that COVID-19 is a hoax. There are also several protesters with racist signs directed towards you. What would you like to tell those protesters?…
I think I said what I wanted to about that, I just you know I will defend to the death or right to be wrong and to say it out loud.
But the fact is that, they look at the facts and they understand that the experts are trying to protect them and the elected officials that are standing on the you know the right side of this are trying to protect them. And so I’m very hopeful that nobody got sick as a result of showing up at a protest and not wearing a mask and not adhering to social distancing norms
* COVID Act Now, which works in partnership with Georgetown and Stanford, claims Illinois are not number is 1.11. You told WJPS Radio this week that it’s 1.25. What is the latest Illinois number as far as you can tell?…
Dr. Ezike: At the beginning was well over three. And as you do the mitigation strategies, obviously that’s not the original R Naught number anymore and the effective R has fallen to our last number about 1.2 something. So again depending on what numbers you’re using but, again, the point is that it definitely came down thanks to the mitigation strategies because people work so hard to stay at home and to help limit the transmission of this virus and so we’re very proud that it came down and, you know, we hope that is not going to see a significant rise as people, as if people change their behavior factor you can stay there.
* This next one’s from Hannah, the daily line, after about a week of a pretty big dip in the positive test rate of those tests and for COVID-19 yesterday’s positive test rate was back up to 21%. And today’s rate is back down to 16%, obviously more testing is yielding more confirmed cases but is there a way IDPH can break down more details about the people who are newly confirmed cases, wouldn’t it be helpful to know if these new cases are concentrated among healthcare workers or grocery store workers in order to both protect them and protect the uninfected public?…
Dr. Ezike: There is a lot of data coming in in terms of, you know, having thousands, maybe I think we had 15,000 come in and so depending on where the samples are coming in from each day. If they’re from a higher risk group, if we did mass testing in a long term care facility. We know that rates of positivity if there was an outbreak there would obviously be higher than if we had a drive thru where we had people who didn’t necessarily have symptoms, but felt that, you know, they had risk because of some of the work they do so again it depends on where the samples are coming in each day.
We don’t even have the time when I get the information from the last 24 hours that’s not even enough time to be able to figure out how many healthcare workers, how many you know to break it down like that, but I know it’s important to understand how many healthcare workers have been affected, we’ve been sharing the long term care facility numbers. Again, we will continue to update the long term care facility numbers and show you that that is a significant proportion of the cases and unfortunately, of the fatalities as well. So we’ll continue to be as transparent as possible.
* The governor has made his feelings, clear about antibody tests. Can you describe any benefit these tests may have and since the lab say they are reporting the results of these tests of the state, what are you doing with them?…
Dr. Ezike: Yeah, so I know there’s a lot of excitement around the antibody test. We would love to be able to say definitively that the results of this test state that you have been exposed and that you have immunity, we’ve already heard from the World Health Organization that we’re not sure exactly how to interpret the results. So we have to be tempered in our response to the test.
But, as people get tested as we learn more as we go forward, we will be able to make more deductions if we see people who had positive antibodies we’ll have to figure out like what level of antibodies was protected so if you had a certain level and then we see that that person goes on to have another COVID infection that would suggest that that level was not protective. So not having the full data, but we will continue to amass it as more and more people are getting the antibody tested. That’s how we’ll be able to make useful deductions and be able to go forward and be able to interpret this important information
* We saw the week of April 25, and with 680,000 weeks of unemployment claims WBEZ reported angry people showing up in unemployment offices. What’s the latest on staffing and capacity at IDs and how big is that backlog?…
I think I reviewed this yesterday but I’ll try to, to, to repeat some of it today. First of all, there is not a backlog in the sense of people have filed something in there and it’s not officially filed. People go online, they create an account and they fill it out and that is then a filing. People call up and file with somebody over the phone and that becomes a filing.
It’s sometimes hard to tell exactly how many people are waiting. What we know is how many that we’re processing it IDES on a regular basis. And that number has significantly increased the, as the weeks go on, as you can imagine, more and more people are filing. Our rate of filing as I say has gone up, a rate of processing rather has gone up and so there is, we are reporting to you kind of what we know about the incoming and what we’re able to to reveal about the incoming processes. We have increased the frontline staffing answering the phones, we have increased the number of people who are working behind the scenes on the IT systems and increased the amount of work. We have outside contractors that are continuing to make sure that that system is up and running as, you know, as much time as possible. It is still this 10 year old system that’s been bolstered, you know from underneath but in the end we’re going probably to have to replace the system. Significant improvements need to be made in the future but it won’t be able to happen during these first months of the coronavirus outbreak.
* If someone is sick with COVID symptoms but not severely ill, is it better for them to just stay home and not get tested for COVID-19 in order to conserve tests for those who may be higher risk or should they get tested?…
Dr. Ezike: If someone was exposed to someone who was laboratory confirmed to have COVID and then they develop similar symptoms, I guess it’s not a big stretch to guess that that person has COVID. Also obviously they would qualify to get tested if they want to be tested.
But if they’re not in the high risk category and are able to stay at home, they’re able to care for themselves that they’re able to connect with a medical provider and just check in, in case the symptoms did progress. That is fine if the person wanted to know for sure to be added to the account. That is fine too.
So, it’s not a directive in terms of what the right way to proceed. Either is fine, but the most important thing is probably to talk with the medical provider and make sure that you’re sharing your symptoms, so that we can make sure that there’s not a point where the symptoms progress that needs acute medical care. But if you’re fine and you’re healthy and you stay home and isolate and identify people who you may have been in contact with even two days before let those people know, so that they can be aware that they have been exposed and that they might need to stand down because they potentially will show some symptoms so that part of the self contact tracing if people are able to help identify people who they have exposed. That’s really helpful to alert other people that they need to be watching out for the development of symptoms.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,450 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 105 additional deaths.
Boone County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
Clinton County: 1 male 80s
Cook County: 1 female 20s, 1 female 30s, 1 male 30s, 1 female 40s, 1 male 40s, 3 females 50s, 8 males 50s, 5 females 60s, 7 males 60s, 8 females 70s, 8 males 70s, 6 females 80s, 12 males 80s, 7 females 90s, 2 males 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 females 80s, 5 males 80s, 3 females 90s, 2 males 90s
Jefferson County: 2 females 90s
Kane County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
Kankakee County: 1 male 70s
Lake County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
McDonough County: 1 male 70s
McHenry County: 1 male 60s
Sangamon County: 1 female 70s
St. Clair County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 90s
Will County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 58,505 cases, including 2,559 deaths, in 97 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 15,208 specimens for a total of 299,896.
The Illinois Department of Veteran’s Affairs is reporting one resident at its LaSalle Veterans’ Home testing positive. Testing efforts are underway at the facility.
To date, almost 300,000 tests have been performed across the state.
As of midnight, 4717 people were in the hospital with COVID-19, of those 1250 patients were in the ICU and 789 patients were on ventilators.
…Adding… Hannah…
Beginning with the rate of those tested for Covid-19 whose tests come back positive. Today the rate was back down to 16.1% after a spike yesterday. pic.twitter.com/r6Fimn4PtX
Throughout the day, several protesters displayed signs of hatred and racist messages toward Gov. Pritzker. For example, Jackie Fletcher drove over two hours from Morris to participate in the protest. Fletcher proudly displayed a sign “Heil, Pritzker” with a swastika. The Pritzker family is Jewish and started their life in Chicago after fleeing pogroms in Kyiv. However, the protester had “Re-Open Illinois” on the other side of her sign, as “some people get touchy about swastikas.”
* The Nazis were present at both rallies, as confirmed by the AP. Take a look at the way this Chicago protester twice wrote the letter “B”…
This was one of the signs at the “Re-open Illinois” event today. She assured those that she was not a Nazi, and stated, “I have Jewish friends.” Thank you for representing yourself and your “movement” for what it is. pic.twitter.com/CcIX2SVu6s
OK, now look at the font of the letter “B” on the Auschwitz death camp gate…
Anyone who took the time to copy that unique, deliberately upside-down Auschwitz “B” onto a sign protesting a Jewish governor who helped build a Holocaust museum knew exactly what she was doing.
* But, for the most part, many of the protesters appeared to be various forms of crackpots…
“Give me liberty or give me COVID-19,” read one sign
Some nurses gathered at the Thompson Center to express support for keeping the stay-at-home order in place. One of those nurses said he was frustrated by the insults hurled at him by some of the protesters, whom he said berated him and offended him with a sign that he said read, “Nurses are Nazis.”
“People were telling me that I wasn’t a real nurse, that I was a paid actor,” said Paul Pater, a University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital emergency room nurse and Illinois Nurses Association board member, who organized the counter-protest. “Some of the things these people say kind of don’t make sense because they’re worked up in a frenzy. They were saying, ‘You’re not a hero. You don’t have valor. You’re stealing valor from the troops.’ ”
The majority of people participating say they don’t care about the state’s growing number of cases and deaths. On Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced 3,137 new COVID-19 cases and 105 deaths since Thursday. Illinois has 56,055 cases and 2,457 Illinoisans have died since the pandemic started.
“The people here have taken time to look at the numbers and educate themselves and feel safe enough to go out and do something like this,” said protester Elton Wood. No matter what experts say…”It’s, it’s, it’s the greatest hoax in the history of the world,” said Theresa Johanson. “Not that it’s not killing people. Yes, but I think it has an end goal that’s not something any of us want.”
An “end goal”? These folks can apparently convince themselves of just about anything, except for, you know, reality.
* I had a good question today, but now it’s too late to post it. Drats! Let’s instead take a look at what the governor said today in response to a question…
So I just want to make sure I’m hearing that right because that sounds like news to me that you’re saying before May 30, if there is a region with low hospitalization low ICU availability of ventilator that region may open?…
Yes, if it’s heading down the other side of this slide that even the national plan proposed, that is for 14 days on a downslide of those numbers. Then absolutely. Listen, I want as much as everybody else does for everybody to get back to work and for us to move toward normalcy.
But I also want to say that I’m not going to do it until we know people are safe and it isn’t going to be because some protester has a sign that says, you know, liberate Illinois.
He also said there would have to be regionally adequate hospital bed and ICU and ventilator capacity before he’d open ‘em up.
* The Question: Your thoughts on this? And make ‘em quick because I’m shutting this thing down soon.
* Gov. Pritzker today introduced Dr. Wayne Duffus, who is the state’s new acting chief epidemiologist. He comes from the CDC.
The governor focused today on contact tracing. Make sure to pardon all transcription errors…
But let’s start with the basics. What is contact tracing? Well it means making sure that you get notified if you’ve had contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 so you can do what’s necessary to keep you and your family and your community safe. Contact tracing means we will let people know before symptoms start that they could become ill. In the context of a very infectious virus, this is our primary tool for identifying potential asymptomatic spreaders so that they can self isolate quickly and slow the spread of the virus to their contacts, keeping more people COVID-free for longer.
And that last factor is key because it demonstrates why contact tracing is so important to all of us together. It means a reduced rate of spread fewer outbreaks and an all around healthier Illinois contact tracing isn’t a new concept. It’s been around for many years and Dr Duffus will talk a bit more about that history.
The difference now is that in order to move safely back toward normalcy, Illinois, the United States and frankly the whole world must contact trace on a never before seen scale. Contact tracing has played a role in our COVID-19 response since the earliest days of this pandemic as local health departments around the state have aggressively sought out each COVID positive person to identify all their close contacts, and then encouraging those contacts to opt into monitoring programs and to follow recommendations. That was when we hit a manageable number of cases and contacts that county health department’s existing staffs could handle. Of course, as we all know, over just the last few weeks COVID-19 has reached a massive scale of spread statewide and nationwide and existing public health management infrastructure simply can’t keep pace. No doubt, as we all live through this pandemic, I think we’ll all have a lot to consider about our failure to invest in public health in this country, but we’ll save that conversation for another day.
Right now we have to deal with what’s right in front of us, and that’s getting to the other side of this crisis. Here in Illinois we’ve had more than 50,000 known cases to date, largely in just a 60 day time frame. Their contacts are 50,000 sets of family, friends, coworkers commuters classmates, and other contexts. It’s an unprecedented public health challenge. So we need an unprecedented solution to meet this moment.
To do that, Illinois will be building on our existing infrastructure and expertise to shape a massive statewide contact tracing operation, gradually building over the coming weeks, and then scaling up an army of contact tracers by the hundreds, and then by the thousands.
Right now based on our current rates of spread, we’re looking at a benchmark that could approach 30 workers per hundred thousand residents. But to be clear, that number can and will diminish if we see greater success in our public health measures, particularly our new face covering requirement.
Already we’ve identified groups of Illinois residents quickly willing to scale and be part of our efforts, undergraduate and graduate students, volunteers, retired health professionals, local health officials, community health workers and new hires. And if you’re interested in being a part of that, keep an eye out for more information on how to get involved in your community in the coming weeks.
A significant part of this program involves technology. When an individual tests positive for COVID-19, a contact tracer will reach out to them through an app, through email, a text, or a phone call. And because not everybody can or will use technology, some will require follow up even with a safe in-person visit. If the COVID positive person can’t be reached in some other way, then step two, interviewing the COVID positive person asking them to gather their contacts and retrace their steps over the past 14 days. This is what allows us to significantly slow the spread of the virus.
Because connecting with those who’ve been exposed allows us to do three important things.
One, notify them that they’ve recently been in proximity of someone who has tested positive. Two, recommend that they seek a test and self isolate. And three, offer them resources on how to access any needed assistance to prepare them for self isolation, things like alternative housing, food delivery or medication.
Privacy is an important aspect of maintaining trust in contact tracing. So to be clear contact will remain anonymous looking backward and pointing fingers doesn’t help anyone in this situation, it’s about what we do next to keep each other as healthy and safe as possible.
Remember, we aren’t reinventing the wheel here. Contact tracing has been done in every pandemic and major outbreak for many years. In fact, that’s why Dr. Duffus is an experienced expert at it.
The governor then went on to congratulate the new graduates of the Illinois State Police academy.
* Dr. Duffus…
We are using a benchmark of 30 workers per hundred thousand population. Illinois has a population of 12.7 million residents approximately. So doing the math, 12.7 million divided by 100,000 gives 127. If the benchmark is 30, you multiply that out, you get 3,810 individuals as our estimate of how many individuals will be needed.
However, note as well that these individuals do not have to work continually, because we’re driving down the numbers testing positive, because of the continuance or adherence to non pharmaceutical interventions. They don’t all have to be hired all at once. And so the numbers speak to the total over time.
It is also very reasonable to start with an initial number, say 10% of that total say 300 workers, but they’re strategically placed in the regions that are most impacted. By working with the many individuals and institutions who shall detail below, we will have the capability to surge as needed. Think of how we use the National Guard’s may think of this as a dial and not a switch.
Also by deploying technology as a first contact with individuals, the number of workers needed will be fewer. We plan to implement that virtual Call Center, which will enhance efficiencies and only the most hard to reach individuals will actually require a visit. So imagine a homeless individual somewhere with no connectivity or very skilled person to always be on the leading edge of the pandemic we’ve organized the IDPH staff into a command center of subject matter experts are tasked with reviewing data daily and be ready to make recommendations based on chosen indicators of success, the umbrella.
So, who will be engaged to assist with contact tracing Illinois? Contact tracing is a skill that can be performed by anyone who’s bright interested, and has a charming personality.
I got a nice chuckle out of that “charming personality” line.
* On to questions for the governor. How soon are they hired, how soon are they trained, how much does this cost?…
Dr. Duffus: Some of the components of training will involve as a basic computer skills, privacy and confidentiality. So you can imagine someone who’s a graduate student, for example, or someone who’s a retired professional, someone from a local health department, they don’t really have many of these skills, we would just have to tailor it for the COVID pandemic. They’re established training programs and pandemic training that’s already ongoing. And so once we identify individuals are ready and able to go we can start as soon as possible.
Start date?…
Dr. Duffus: Well, we’d like to start at the end of the month. We’d like to start at the end of the month I probably would do a soft rollout. So we’re getting all the pieces that we need together and trying to uncover any potential limitations that may arise before we actually roll up.
Gov. Pritzker said the cost would be “somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million,” which is twice what Massachusetts budgeted.
* Obviously you’ve seen outside I would think when you arrived at Thomson If not, there’s a rather large crowd they’ve been here all day. They’ve also been at the state capitol. Lots of frustration. Don’t they have a point that some places in the state and I have multiple questions I could name all the people but everyone asking, why not go ahead and open the regions where the hospital bed use is low or the ventilator use is low, why not?…
So let me begin just by saying that there are a few hundred protesters today, both here and in Springfield, and they’re exercising the right to free speech and we ought to defend to the death their right to exercise that right, even when they’re wrong.
But I’d like to call everyone’s attention to the millions of Illinoisans who are staying at home and helping to keep people safe and healthy. They’re the ones who deserve to be commended today. They’re the ones who are keeping people from getting sick and dying.
As to the question of regionalization, which by the way many of the signs and the people out there are not talking about that, they’re really not. They’re just saying open everything up. They have some concept that somehow that’s going to be safe for everybody.
It is true that in areas of the state where we have a lower number of COVID-positive cases and a lower number of deaths. Those are the more likely areas that we’re opening up, and you saw that I made changes in the executive order that was put forward today. That includes things like opening up state parks which are downstate not in Cook County, and that opened up things like golf courses and other things they’re easier to open up downstate than they are in the collar counties or Cook County. And of course the same thing is true of the elective surgeries that we, it’s easier to open up those hospitals downstate to elective surgeries and many of them needed to stay solvent. And so, we are in fact looking at all of the ways in which we can take into account the local circumstances in every part of the state.
But I do also want to point out to people that well that’s true there are areas of the state that have a low case count, and a low infection rate. There are also areas of the state that’s where you would say they have a low case count, a low death count, but it’s a very high infection rate and the percentage of people who are dying is higher.
So, look at Cook County versus some of these other areas in terms of infection rate or the doubling time, and they’re doing much worse or the same as Cook County or the collar counties. And so we want to be careful, looking at this from a hospitalization and hospital region perspective, rather than simply saying, well, gee, this is Southern Illinois and therefore we should open everything up because there are only a few cases well those few cases may only be a few cases but among a very few population also so we’re being careful about this we are in fact working on the plans for opening up for working you know we’re starting with the President’s plan, Dr Fauci’s plan, thinking that you know we have to get past the peak which we’re not past downstate or in Cook County or in the collar cache we’re not past it yet.
And once we get past that, you know, consistent downward trend of those numbers, gives us the indicator let’s move to the next phase.
* What about those regions, Indiana is saying today with their plan, if that region has passed its peak, could that region, open before May 30?…
Yes, I mean we absolutely are looking at all of the hospitalization numbers. Remember it has to do with how many hospital beds are available if there’s a surge, how many ICU beds are available if there’s a surge, how many ventilators are available in that area if that surges. Because it’s one thing to say well half of our hospital beds are ICU beds are available, but if that number is 35, right, that’s a very small number. And if the population is such that the 35 beds wouldn’t be able to cover that population if there was a surge, then we can are concerned about an area so it has to do much more than, with much more than just a population in an area. It has a great deal to do with how much health care is available in that area.
* So I just want to make sure I’m hearing that right because that sounds like news to me that you’re saying before May 30, if there is a region with low hospitalization low ICU availability of ventilator that region may open?…
Yes, if it’s heading down the other side of this slide that even the national plan proposed that that is for 14 days on a downslide of those numbers. Then absolutely. Listen, I want as much as everybody else does for everybody to get back to work and for us to move toward normalcy.
But I also want to say that I’m not going to do it until we know people are safe and it isn’t going to be because some protester has a sign that says, you know, liberate Illinois.
* Can you respond to the lawsuit filed on behalf of the town of Cicero regarding the City View multi Care Center, where there has been an severe outbreak of corona virus? Attorneys believe that IDPH failed to act on complaints and should the residents there be moved to an alternative care facility like McCormick Place?…
Dr. Ezike: So again, it’s a very unfortunate situation that again, we all know that our long term care residents are the most vulnerable, they’ve suffered the heaviest losses, specifically regarding this Cicero locale. Yes, there have, there was a major outbreak there as there have been over 500 outbreaks I think through the state, so it’s a major issue. We’re looking into it. Again, people think that, oh, if we identified some cases, if somebody comes in they should be able to stop it immediately. Unfortunately, the way this virus works, the way the pandemic is working, once you already have some cases, you’re just trying to mitigate. Given that people were already spreading potentially even before they were symptomatic. People have probably already been infected before you walk in the door, and so it’s just a matter of again trying to mitigate or control so unfortunately there’s not a way to turn off the outbreak as soon as you get in, but you try again to mitigate to decrease the number of people, additional people who can get sick so again we’ll be working through that situation, along with all the other situations, and I’ll leave it to the legal team to deal with whatever lawsuits there might be pending.
And McCormick Place is an option for perhaps some of those folks. So when we think about a McCormick Place we were thinking of that as an acute care facility for people who were on their way to home. And so when you think about what nursing home patient needs are compared to what is available at McCormick Place, depending on the level of independence of the nursing home patient, it may not be a suitable location and the rooms that are currently in use, you’d have to walk you know down the aisle, you know down the hall to get to a bathroom. They’re not beds that could protect against ulcerations for people who don’t move well so thinking about these cots wouldn’t we promote bed sores in a certain population so we have to think about all those things. And in terms of could they go to McCormick Place, but again we’re working through that very difficult issue along with many of the other outbreaks that we’re doing throughout the state.
* In the new order that is effective today, you have clarified the worship services can be held with 10 people. Those who filed their lawsuit yesterday feel as if you’ve cave to that pressure, could you react to that?…
No. All we were trying to do was to make more explicit that people do have a right to gather in groups of 10 or less, you know that is the case in the other orders too, but we want to make it more explicit that you can worship in a group of 10 or less just as you could as long as you’re socially distancing to be clear. But we just want to make it more explicit as we have in some other areas of the new order.
* The numbers revealed at large Latino communities are seeing a spike in the confirmed cases in the last few days, how do you tackle that spread in their communities, especially with the challenge of language, some of the top zip codes are Latino communities…
That’s right and this problem, this challenge for communities of color is well known to all of us now right, I think we’ve paid attention to it for quite some time now, understanding that the numbers really have been increasing as we increase by the way the number of tests that we’re doing. So we’ve opened up testing centers for example in Latino community predominantly Latino communities, to make sure that we’re getting the right information, and that we’re able to identify people who need to be treated or need to be told to self isolate and so on in these vulnerable communities. And let me just, I’ll add one more thing that I’d like to turn over to Dr Ezike who pays very close attention to these numbers to just to say that one of the things that I’ve been engaged in is trying to get the message out the word out in these communities talking directly through Univision and other outlets and making sure that we’re within our message is … and trying to get the message out … trying to get the message out that people do need to pay attention to this that they need to follow the rules to stay at home, and that you know there are various ways to seek testing, and to make sure that you’re getting the right health care.
* Virtual call center and new to a computer system is on target for May 11, but we are hearing gig workers should not expect to get money by that date, and clarify what people need?
I can’t speak to what date on which they will get, what are the other cards would be charged. What I can say is that we are going to be launching that but we would ask all the gig workers something very important for people who are independent contractors who are eligible could be eligible, they need to actually file their unemployment claim now under the current unemployment system, because it will make it much easier when we actually launch the independent contractor system for them to get paid. So file now, you’ll get a rejection, and we’ve said this many times you will get a rejection because you’re not currently employed somewhere that’s eligible. And then by you know in that May 11 week that we’ll be launching gig. Sorry, independent contractor payments, they’ll be ready to go, they’ll have an account already set up.
* What about cities and towns struggling to enforce mask or face coverings. Will there be a fine, will there be arrests are the police going to get involved? [This question has been asked multiple times.]…
We’ve left that up to localities to municipalities and counties to make those decisions about how they will enforce, whether it’s, as I’ve often recommended having police tell people, pull over, ask them to please wear a mask to remind people because a lot of people still don’t know that they’re required to wear a mask. Today is the first day that that is required, a face covering is required, even though, as you know for weeks now I’ve been encouraging people to do it and many people as I see are, not the protesters of course, but many other people are wearing their face coverings. So again the enforcement will be up to local municipalities and local counties.
* Center Square wants to know about state representative Bailey’s loss of today he voluntarily withdrew his TRO in inferring that your office and others may have illegally intended, kept information from the court. If he has documents proving the state willfully committed this evidence kept the evidence, how will you respond?…
I can’t answer some hypothetical. I really don’t know what representative Bailey’s intention is by withdrawing his lawsuit. I’m glad that he did, but I know that he intends to do something else. I’m not sure, you know, again if it’s more grandstanding or what.
But there is the other the second lawsuit that takes in everyone. Do you have any update on where that stands?…
No, although I did read that that lawsuit is not intended to be adjudicated anytime soon.
* Ravinia is now cancelled. Isn’t it time to make the call on all music festivals block parties events that draw thousands? Lollapalooza let’s throw that in there too [Those are all local decisions]…
All I can tell you is that we currently have an order in place that goes through May 30 that makes it clear that gatherings of more than 10 are inappropriate or against the order. And so I can’t tell you what July or August will look like yet. And decisions will have to get made either by municipalities or by the promoters of those concert venues or large gatherings at this point.
* There have been a number of emergency cases concerning COVID-19 when it comes to parental custody. There is a real concern from both attorneys and parents and some are using your stay at home order to cite sidestep custody agreements and deny parental rights. Is this something the governor’s office or your team is looking into and how can you protect parental rights during the pandemic?…
I appreciate the question. I don’t have an answer for, I don’t know the details of it, but I certainly, now that the question has been asked, we’ll certainly look into it. The likelihood is that our legal team knows about it.
* Perhaps, is there a need for more training at grocery stores? They, especially see grocery store workers touching their face, touching the items, people don’t feel safe. Is there more training needed for sanitizing?…
Let me begin by saying that this pandemic was a surprise to everyone, including the grocery stores, the grocery store workers, everybody. And so as we worked with the, the Retail Merchants Association and connected with grocery store owners across the state, we’ve encouraged them to follow a set of guidelines. Many of them really have done yeoman’s work and getting that done and so I would say it’s absolutely true that many people can go into a grocery store and see something a worker does and say gee I wish they hadn’t done that, or wouldn’t do that. And certainly not wearing a mask is unacceptable, not wearing a face covering for somebody who’s working there and somebody who’s shopping there either. And so obviously there may be a desire for more training. And I certainly would encourage the owners of grocery stores, as well as pharmacies and other places that have been open under you know the essential business openings. And this is gonna happen to have to happen across our economy. I might say, as we’re opening retail and other things, manufacturing, professional offices and so on. People are gonna have to be trained. This is so new for everyone even wearing a mask even out face covering is so new that, you know, certain kinds of jobs are going to require gloves, and a face cover certain kinds of jobs are going to require people to have a much more sealed face covering than the kind you might wear when you’re outside on your own, taking a walk or going into the grocery store so there is going to be a lot more training that’s required.
* Mark Maxwell as well as Amy Jacobson, they’re asking, again, ventilator usage down, you sent ventilators back to California. There are open hospital beds and ICU beds, 23% of all hospital beds in use, the curve is flattening. Just one more time, why continue to lock down?…
Well they think that maybe they think that’s an accident. I think it’s an interesting pair you just threw up there. Mark Maxwell and Amy Jacobson. But I would say that I, look all I can say is this. Yeah, we, you know, we have bent the curve. That’s what’s happened. You know the saying. Whoa it’s not an accident, here the, the death, the number of deaths is that was expected is many fewer than the number of ICU beds that are filled, many fewer ventilators, many fewer needed. It’s not an accident. It’s not an accident it’s and it’s not like this, this virus has gone away, either.
It’s because people are adhering to the norms that we put out there. And we’ve asked people to wear face coverings, we’ve asked people to wash their hands we’ve asked people to stay home. It’s very difficult for everybody to have done that, but they are doing it and that is succeeding.
And so people should understand the relationship between the bending of the curve, you know the lowering of the need for ventilators, and the fact that we have these mitigation efforts that are working. So when we say well gee let’s end the mitigation efforts, guess what happens in the absence of mitigation efforts? The rate of infection goes up again, the R Naught as we’ve called it, it goes up, the number of ventilators ICU beds and hospitalizations goes up.
* Rock Cut State Park in Rockford is now open and it was initially not on your list of parks that would open. What changed in your decision to open that park?
These are decisions that are being made by the Department of Natural Resources and as they’re able to figure out how to staff these parks properly, which entrances to have open and closed and what activities can be done in a park safely.
* Politico: There’s been a lot of talk about grocery store and restaurant workers being the heroes in this pandemic, but they are still at the bottom of pay benefits and protections will the revised state budget address any of those issues?…
Oh, I hope that we will be able to recognize the heroes here. You know that we have challenges with our state budget that we’re going to have to address. But the people who have come out and done this amazing work in this very difficult time ought to be recognized and I’m looking at ways in which we could do that. I would ask employers to recognize them as well.
* Can you say whether laying off state workers or skipping payments to the state pension system are options you’re [eyeing] to fill the budget shortfalls? Also what specific things do you want lawmakers to act on when they returned to Springfield?…
I’m not looking at skipping pension payments. What was the other question that was asked, or laying off state workers, laying off workers.
Look, we have to look at everything but that is not something that we’re currently looking at. Remember in a pandemic and, this thing is ongoing, it’s not going to leave us, you need state services more than ever.
Think about the damage that’s done. If we lay off state workers in areas like DCFS or in domestic violence and challenging domestic violence and overcoming that in dealing with our healthcare system. You know this is not a time for us to further defund and further hollow out government from where it already has been in a relatively low level.
* On Wednesday Rep. Hammond said the people in her district quote boots on the ground, know more about what’s good for her district than someone governing from a podium in Chicago, in her words. What is she missing?…
Well I’ve been happy to be in contact with Rep. Hammond. Actually just in the last 24 hours I had a very nice conversation with her, exchanging ideas about how we could open things up, the ideas that she’s getting from her constituents, including as you’re implying, that they know what’s good for their area. That’s true.
I think what they don’t maybe don’t have access to is the epidemiologists and the scientists and the data. And so, you know, we’re looking at that to make sure that we’re keeping everybody safe in her district as well as every district. But you know evaluating and trying to weigh against the, we have epidemiologists and data that may say one thing, and a desire, as I do, a desire to let everybody get back to work. And so we’re we’re balancing those all the time.
* What are you planning on doing now that the East Peoria mayor said this morning he’s going to defy the stay at home extension and allow more businesses to reopen beginning today?…
People who defy the order and who simply go out, and go about their business as if there is no pandemic, and certainly leaders who are encouraging that, I would suggest that it’s a good thing that we’ve expanded testing across the state because a lot of people are going to get sick and need to be tested in those areas. And frankly it’s a good thing that we’ve left hospital beds available for people because they’re going to end up in the hospital.
* Two weeks ago you supported efforts to shut down drive in Easter service and compared cars to [garbled]. Yesterday you issued an order encouraging drive-in services. Why the change? Have your thoughts evolved, or have the lawsuits filed by charges persuaded you?…
I’m just, I’m listening to the science as its evolve. As you know, in many states there are experts and nationally there are experts who have said that it was more dangerous to do one thing than another. And, you know, as the thinking about this has evolved I obviously am listening to it.
This is a novel coronavirus should remind everybody we’re doing the best we can to make decisions as the science dictates. And so we know we want people to be able to worship, we do we want people to do it safely. We hope that the parishioners and their faith leaders will follow the guidelines that are being suggested by the science and the data.
* We know you’ve heard from people wanting your order changed or lifted. Have you heard from business owners or others supporting the order?…
Many people in fact, the vast majority of people that we hear from are people who support the order, want us to make sure that we’re continuing to evolve the order, but believe very strongly that keeping people safe and healthy is the thing that we should balance more in favor of. Today as we try to look at all the treatments that may be available, I want to remind everybody that as I have said for weeks and weeks now, that in addition to testing and tracing, having a treatment available would really make all of what we hope to do here much easier. An effective treatment that we’ve just heard recently, some have been reporting on TV on the major networks, about certain kinds of treatments that have proven effective or more effective than others, that may be receiving emergency authorization from the FDA, and I’m so pleased to see that because we all you know if you can add that to the testing and tracing. As I said, the three T’s are critically important for us to really open up the economy.
* Why has Illinois not waived the WARN Act notification requirement? As soon as businesses were forced to close they were in violation of the act for not giving 60 days notice…
We have loosened the requirements on people during this, that they are still notifying us but not required to fit entirely within the regulations of the WARN act so we haven’t done away with the WARN act, but the enforcement of it has been severely loosened and we’ve talked to many businesses that have called about that.
That was my question. I’ll be asking for more info soon.
Today, IDPH reports 3137 new cases of COVID-19 here in Illinois. For a total of 56,055 across the state.
This unfortunately includes a total of 2457 deaths of which 105 were reported since yesterday.
To date, we have run 284,688 tests with 14,821 being performed in the last 24 hours.
Regarding hospital data, as of yesterday 4900 people were in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those 4900, 1263 patients are in the intensive care unit and 777 patients are on ventilators.
I’ll post the press release when I get it.
…Adding… Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 3,137 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 105 additional deaths.
Adams County: 1 female 60s
Clinton County: 1 female 80s
Cook County: 1 female 30s, 1 male 30s, 2 females 40s, 1 male 40s, 2 females 50s, 1 male 50s, 5 females 60s, 13 males 60s, 5 females 70s, 10 males 70s, 9 females 80s, 12 males 80s, 5 females 90s, 2 males 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 3 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
Jackson County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
Kane County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
Lake County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Madison County: 1 female 70s
McHenry County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 100+
Sangamon County: 1 female 80s
St. Clair County: 1 male 60s
Whiteside County: 1 female 90s
Will County: 1 male teens, 1 female 60s, 2 males 60s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 56,055 cases, including 2,457 deaths, in 97 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 14,821 specimens for a total of 284,688
First, please note that the session days scheduled for next week (Tuesday, May 5 through Friday, May are cancelled. The deadline for House Bills out of Committees, which had previously been rescheduled for May 7, will be extended to Friday, May 15. The 3rd Reading deadline for House Bills, which had previously been rescheduled for May 15, will be extended to Friday, May 22. The deadline for Senate Bills out of Committees will be extended from May 15 to Friday, May 29, and the 3rd Reading deadline for Senate Bills will be extended from May 22 to Sunday, May 31.
A surge in unemployment stemming from the coronavirus shutdown of large parts of the U.S. economy is starting to push some state jobless funds toward insolvency.
At least a half-dozen states already have notified the federal government that they could need to borrow billions of dollars to pay unemployment benefits because their own trust funds are running out of money.
While the shortfalls won’t prevent unemployed workers from getting government aid, the federal loans could lead to higher taxes for businesses in future years to repay the debt.
U.S. Treasury data shows California, Connecticut and Illinois all expect to borrow soon from the federal government to prop up their unemployment funds. Officials in Massachusetts, New York and Texas confirmed to The Associated Press that they also have notified the federal government of their anticipated need for loans.
* Press release…
A Cicero-based nursing home, the Illinois Department of Public Health and Governor JB Pritzker are named in a lawsuit filed today by Town of Cicero over an uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak in the long-term care facility and that IDPH has “failed to act” despite being alerted two weeks ago, according to the Town’s attorney.
“The Town of Cicero has been incessantly ringing the alarm for weeks to both City View Multicare Center and the Illinois Department of Public Health about the risky and deteriorating conditions in the nursing home,” said Town Attorney Michael Del Galdo, who is also the managing partner of the Berwyn-based Del Galdo Law Group, LLC. “Those warnings have been ignored by City View and Governor Pritzker’s state public health department.”
The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Friday, May 1, is seeking an injunction against the facility and wants IDPH to move patients out of the facility and into either the recently reopened Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park or the underutilized McCormick Place field hospital.
On March 31, according to the suit, Town officials sent City View a warning letter alerting management to violations concerning failure to quarantine patients, failure of staff to wear PPE, failure to monitor the temperature of individuals entering the facility, and failure to provide masks for patients with respiratory illnesses to wear.
On April 1, City View reported its first two confirmed COVID-19 cases. By April 30, 175 residents and 41 staff have tested positive. Nine residents and one staff member have died. […]
“Under the law, IDPH was required to investigate Cicero’s complaint within 24 hours,” said Del Galdo. “But IDPH has ignored the complaint, making mockery of the governor’s recent ‘prioritizing’ of nursing homes.”
According to the suit, “Other than a response from IDPH that they were “working with” City View, the Town has not seen any demonstrable impact from purported assistance from IDPH – City View’s destructive practices have continued after the complaint and notice to IDPH.
“Having found IDPH’s response to be woefully lacking, on April 30, 2020, the EOC [Emergency Operations Center] coordinated an additional investigation of City View by Director [Sue] Grazzini personally to corroborate ongoing compliance failures still not corrected there.”
In a turn of events, Rock Cut State Park opened its gates on Friday after previously being left off the list of state parks allowed to accept visitors.
Rock Cut, the largest state park in the region, is among 35 additional state parks reopening Friday that were not on the state’s original list of 24.
State Sen. Steve Stadelman said in a news release that he worked with Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Colleen Callahan and representatives of Gov. JB Pritizker’s administration to get Rock Cut added and that those discussions led to 35 more parks reopening.
Pritzker says coronavirus contact tracing is a key to reopening Illinois. Public health leaders concede the system isn’t ready yet.
Chicago’s pothole artist blesses the city with coronavirus mosaics in Uptown
Illinois spent more than $200 million battling coronavirus: What is the money for?
Suspension of civil and criminal court operations in Cook County extended to May 31
State bar exam postponed until September
Chicago announces mask giveaways, local modifications to state’s revised state-home order: No golfing in city parks
Amid stay-at-home order, summer camps face uncertainty
In neighborhoods where it fights violence, GoodKids MadCity raises money for those struggling during pandemic
Mask sewing project among Chicago refugee groups leads to new career goal: ‘This is my job’
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says city government worker layoffs a last resort, but preferable to a property tax hike
City officials say O’Hare’s massive $8.5 billion expansion project is moving ahead. But bleak outlook for air travel could force it to scale back.
Man apologizes for throwing Chicago house party caught on video that went viral, says he was honoring 2 slain friends and didn’t realize health risks of packed crowd
He was supposed to retire after 34 years as a surgical tech. Instead, he died after testing positive for coronavirus.
At least one nurse here in black scrubs counter-protesting. Several cars driving around the perimeter, some in support, some in opposition. pic.twitter.com/pCasAV0bED
* But just thank your lucky stars you don’t live in Michigan, which has some truly bonkers protesters. The quote in my tweet is from today’s Kass column…
"Friday’s protesters in Illinois and Chicago will be mocked as they were in Michigan as crazy 'right wingers.'" I seriously doubt Illinois protests will be this crazy https://t.co/CtV0RouAdO
* The Senate Democrats put out a well-made and even touching video. It’s definitely worth a watch…
From Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and members of our Democratic Caucus, this is a thank you to all who are serving our communities through this very difficult time. #AllInIllinoispic.twitter.com/M27VLXpYbp
Thinking about how different people and groups are reacting to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, how would you say each of the following is reacting: The federal government
Not taking the outbreak seriously enough 45%
Reacting about right 48%
Overreacting to the outbreak 8%
Thinking about how different people and groups are reacting to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, how would you say each of the following is reacting: Ordinary people across the country
Not taking the outbreak seriously enough 53%
Reacting about right 35%
Overreacting to the outbreak 12%
Thinking about how different people and groups are reacting to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, how would you say each of the following is reacting: Your state government
Not taking the outbreak seriously enough 10%
Reacting about right 75%
Overreacting to the outbreak 15%
Thinking about how different people and groups are reacting to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, how would you say each of the following is reacting: People at your place of employment
Not taking the outbreak seriously enough 34%
Reacting about right 57%
Overreacting to the outbreak 9%
Do you approve or disapprove of the way your state governor is handling the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Strongly disapprove 6%
Disapprove 8%
Neither approve nor disapprove 16%
Approve 38%
Strongly approve 31%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Your city government
Not at all 5%
Not too much 12%
Some 48%
A lot 35%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Your state government
Not at all 7%
Not too much 15%
Some 40%
A lot 37%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: The White House
Not at all 20%
Not too much 25%
Some 33%
A lot 22%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Congress
Not at all 12%
Not too much 32%
Some 43%
A lot 12%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Donald Trump
Not at all 36%
Not too much 17%
Some 23%
A lot 24%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Joe Biden
Not at all 20%
Not too much 22%
Some 43%
A lot 16%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: The CDC
Not at all 4%
Not too much 9%
Some 41%
A lot 47%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Hospitals and doctors
Not at all 1%
Not too much 2%
Some 27%
A lot 69%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak? - Pharmaceutical companies
Not at all 7%
Not too much 18%
Some 46%
A lot 28%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Scientists and researchers
Not at all 2%
Not too much 6%
Some 34%
A lot 58%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: The police
Not at all 6%
Not too much 12%
Some 48%
A lot 34%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Banks
Not at all 10%
Not too much 26%
Some 46%
A lot 18%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: The news media
Not at all 16%
Not too much 24%
Some 42%
A lot 18%
How much do you trust the following people and organizations to do the right thing to best handle the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: Social media companies
Not at all 20%
Not too much 38%
Some 30%
A lot 12%
Do you approve or disapprove of the way President Trump is handling the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Asking people to stay at home
Strongly disapprove 3%
Somewhat disapprove 4%
Somewhat approve 18%
Strongly approve 75%
Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Requiring most businesses to close
Strongly disapprove 6%
Somewhat disapprove 10%
Somewhat approve 31%
Strongly approve 54%
Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Cancel sports & entertainment events
Strongly disapprove 3%
Somewhat disapprove 5%
Somewhat approve 19%
Strongly approve 73%
Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Closing K-12 schools
Strongly disapprove 4%
Somewhat disapprove 5%
Somewhat approve 20%
Strongly approve 71%
Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Limiting restaurants to carry-out only
Strongly disapprove 3%
Somewhat disapprove 7%
Somewhat approve 24%
Strongly approve 66%
Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Tracking people’s cell phone location to find out who was in contact with a sick person
Strongly disapprove 27%
Somewhat disapprove 23%
Somewhat approve 25%
Strongly approve 26%
Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Restricting international travel to the U.S
Strongly disapprove 2%
Somewhat disapprove 5%
Somewhat approve 20%
Strongly approve 73%
The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public’s Policy Preferences Across States253 Do you approve or disapprove of the following measures which federal, state, and local governments could take to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the next 30 days: Restricting travel within the U.S.
Strongly disapprove 4%
Somewhat disapprove 9%
Somewhat approve 33%
Strongly approve 54%
When should the country reopen the economy and resume business activity
From April 17 to 26 we conducted a large, 50 state survey, the results of which are presented in this report. The first section of the report looks at the nation as a whole while the second section focuses on individual states and comparisons across states.
We surveyed 22,912 individuals across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. The survey was conducted on 17-26 April 2020 by PureSpectrum via an online, nonprobability sample, with state-level representative quotas for race/ethnicity, age and gender. In addition to balancing on these dimensions, we reweighted our data using the same demographic characteristics.
A bit old, but there’s a lot of data to cover. We’ll start with the non-political stuff.
* These are only the Illinois results, which had somewhere around 590-600 responses, depending on the question…
Have you or someone in your household experienced any of the following as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Had to start working from home 40%
Had their school or university closed 33%
Had to stop or scale back work to take care of their children 6%
Had to stop or scale back work to take care of someone who had COVID 19 2%
Had to take a cut in pay due to reduced hours or demand for their work 18%
Was laid off or lost a job 19%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Getting coronavirus yourself
Not at all concerned 9%
Not very concerned 19%
Somewhat concerned 37%
Very concerned 33%
Not applicable to me 2%
The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public’s Policy Preferences Across States197 How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Family members getting coronavirus
Not at all concerned 6%
Not very concerned 13%
Somewhat concerned 32%
Very concerned 47%
Not applicable to me 2%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Being able to receive health care
Not at all concerned 16%
Not very concerned 23%
Somewhat concerned 34%
Very concerned 25%
Not applicable to me 3%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Losing your job
Not at all concerned 13%
Not very concerned 13%
Somewhat concerned 19%
Very concerned 25%
Not applicable to me 28%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Financial hardships
Not at all concerned 11%
Not very concerned 19%
Somewhat concerned 28%
Very concerned 35%
Not applicable to me 7%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Problems with education
Not at all concerned 9%
Not very concerned 10%
Somewhat concerned 20%
Very concerned 21%
Not applicable to me 40%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Problems with working from home
Not at all concerned 16%
Not very concerned 17%
Somewhat concerned 16%
Very concerned 15%
Not applicable to me 37%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Problems with childcare
Not at all concerned 12%
Not very concerned 11%
Somewhat concerned 10%
Very concerned 15%
Not applicable to me 52%
How concerned, if at all, do you currently feel about the following: - Staying connected with friends and family
Not at all concerned 23%
Not very concerned 27%
Somewhat concerned 27%
Very concerned 19%
Not applicable to me 5%
How much, if at all, has your life been disrupted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
Not at all 4%
A little 14%
A moderate amount 29%
A lot 25%
A great deal 29%
In the last 24 hours, did you get any news or information related to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak from the following sources
Friends and family 47%
Radio news 23%
Podcasts 6%
Local TV 53%
Network TV 53%
Cable TV 38%
Late night comedy shows 11%
In the last 24 hours, did you get any news or information related to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak from the following sources
Print newspapers 15%
A news website or app 30%
A health website or app 14%
A government website or app 19%
An organization website or app 10%
A search engine website or app 21%
A social media website or app 36%
In the last 24 hours, did you get any news or information related to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak from the following sources
CNN 35%
Fox News 37%
MSNBC 18%
President Trump’s press briefings 40%
How often do you talk to people about the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, either in person, over the phone, or electronically
Never 4%
Less than once a week 4%
Once a week 7%
A few times a week 25%
Daily 38%
A few times a day 22%
I feel well-informed about the current state of the COVID-19 outbreak
Strongly disagree 1%
Somewhat disagree 6%
Neither agree nor disagree 12%
Somewhat agree 45%
Strongly agree 36%
I feel well-informed about steps I can take to protect myself from the virus
Strongly disagree 0%
Somewhat disagree 2%
Neither agree nor disagree 10%
Somewhat agree 34%
Strongly agree 54%
I feel well-informed about government guidelines with regard to the outbreak
Strongly disagree 4%
Somewhat disagree 6%
Neither agree nor disagree 12%
Somewhat agree 39%
Strongly agree 38%
In the last week, how closely did you personally follow the health recommendations listed below: Avoiding contact with other people
Not at all closely 2%
Not very closely 4%
Somewhat closely 25%
Very closely 70%
In the last week, how closely did you personally follow the health recommendations listed below: Avoiding public or crowded places
Not at all closely 1%
Not very closely 4%
Somewhat closely 20%
Very closely 76%
In the last week, how closely did you personally follow the health recommendations listed below: Frequently washing hands
Not at all closely 0%
Not very closely 4%
Somewhat closely 14%
Very closely 82%
In the last week, how closely did you personally follow the health recommendations listed below: Disinfecting often-touched surfaces
Not at all closely 2%
Not very closely 8%
Somewhat closely 26%
Very closely 64%
In the last week, how closely did you personally follow the health recommendations listed below: Wearing a face mask when outside of your home
Not at all closely 12%
Not very closely 11%
Somewhat closely 20%
Very closely 57%
We’ll get to the political/government questions in a bit.
Breaking: State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) says he has asked an appellate court to *vacate* the restraining order he won against Illinois' stay-at-home order. (Full news release below.) #twillpic.twitter.com/UviyZ5HGjW
State Rep. Darren Bailey's lawyer has told the appellate court he consents to the lifting of the temporary restraining order entered earlier this week freeing him from Gov. Pritzker's stay-at-home restrictions. pic.twitter.com/r7ockGf84p
On the same day the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 141 deaths of Illinoisans diagnosed with Covid-19, a church in northwest Illinois lodged a federal lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker, alleging his stay-at-home order violated its pastor’s religious freedom.
In response, Pritzker’s administration inserted language into the governor’s new stay-at-home order that goes into effect Friday, specifying that Illinoisans may leave their homes “to engage in the free exercise of religion, provided that such exercise must comply with Social Distancing Requirements and the limit on gatherings of more than 10 people in keeping with CDC guidelines for the protection of public health.”
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said the language was added to “clarify” that places of worship can meet if they follow social distancing and CDC guidelines.
Earlier on Thursday, Pritzker responded to the suit filed on behalf of a church in the northwestern Illinois town of Lena by asking faith leaders to “put the health and safety of their congregants first.” He added, “Everybody has the right to sue.”
Churches were not technically closed by the previous stay-at-home orders, but they were prohibited from holding large gatherings, per CDC guidelines.
“All public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit are prohibited, except for the limited purposes permitted by this Executive Order,” the March 20 order said. An April 1 stay-at-home extension employed the same language.
* Thomas More Society…
In response to a lawsuit filed today by the Thomas More Society, on behalf of The Beloved Church and Pastor Stephen Cassell, Illinois Governor “JB” Pritzker modified his new Executive Order, released early this evening. The governor will now allow residents to leave their homes “to engage in the free exercise of religion,” placing it on the list of “essential activities.” The new executive order encourages churches to reopen for “drive-in services” and allows small in-person gatherings. Until today, Illinois was one of only 10 states that entirely banned religious services.
“Today, people of faith in Illinois stood up and secured a win for their first liberty: the free exercise of religion,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Vice President and Senior Counsel. “Calling religious freedom ‘non-essential’ was an insult to people of faith, but today we succeeded in returning this fundamental right to the ‘essential’ list. We can now celebrate the fact that the ban on religious services in Illinois has been lifted - every church and pastor in the Land of Lincoln can bring their flock together at least for drive-in services or small gatherings, as appropriate. This is a welcome waypoint on the road to that day when our churches are full again.”
The Pritzker administration had released its most recent Executive Order to the media several days ago. That draft included no religious freedom language, and at his press conference on April 30, 2020, despite repeated questioning about the Thomas More Society lawsuit and religious freedom, the governor made no mention of changing the order. Then, late this afternoon, Pritzker quietly issued his new order, which included previously unseen religious freedom language. […]
The Thomas More Society’s lawsuit will continue, as the new Executive Order provides only a partial victory for The Beloved Church and Cassell. That case is pending before United States District Judge John Z. Lee, of the Northern District of Illinois. The court has ordered expedited briefing on the Thomas More Society’s request for a temporary restraining order to allow Cassell and The Beloved Church to hold services this Sunday.
“Today when we started the day we couldn’t even drive on a church parking lot,” said Breen. “In fact you couldn’t even leave your house to go to a church service. Now you can do that. And, in fact, the executive order now encourages people to have drive-in services; which is a great recommendation, I’m glad that they added it.”
016: 5600 block W Patterson Caller says the neighbor cut his grass w/o his approval & now he's cutting another neighbor's grass, an ongoing issue#Chicago#ChicagoScanner
* Click here for the grim reality. The numbers are current as of this morning.
The hardest hit facility is the Ludeman Developmental Center in Park Forest, where 68 staffers and 155 (out of 334) residents have tested positive and three staff members and residents have died.
Two staffers at the Woodlawn FCRC have died from the virus.
* Meanwhile, AFSCME is planning a press conference tomorrow featuring DCFS investigators who will demand changes to the department’s investigation procedures in this new era.
* Dr. Ezike opened the press conference to talk about the importance of testing. The state tested 13,200 in the previous 24 hours and 269,867 in total, about 2 percent of the state’s population.
The governor then went over what the state has done to acquire things to allow them to do so many tests. And then he talked about new testing sites…
We’ve increased the number of public testing sites to 177 across the state. That’s up from 112 sites last Friday. These locations are entirely free, and they’re available in every region of the state.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* And then he talked about the new EO on May 1…
I want to briefly touch on the changes that continue those efforts to move toward opening up, giving Illinoisans more flexibility, where it is safe to do so.
Starting tomorrow, retail stores can reopen by taking orders online and over the phone, and offering pickup and delivery. Greenhouses and garden centers will be opening with specified social distancing measures in place. Many of our state parks will be open and many golf courses open with strict social distancing measures in place. And elective surgeries that have been put off due to the crisis can now be scheduled in surgery centers and hospitals in compliance with IDPH guidance as we open things up and make progress.
Tomorrow will be the first day where adults and any children over the age of two and everyone medically able to tolerate a face covering will be required to wear one in any public place where they can’t maintain a six foot social distance.
All these changes represent a shift in our approach to COVID-19, a shift made possible by the millions of Illinoisans who have stepped up by staying home and keeping each other safe. To the vast, vast majority of you who believe in the power of being all in for your communities, thank you. Thank you for all that you’ve done and all that you continue to do it truly makes me proud of the people of our state.
* On to questions for the governor. Can you respond to the federal lawsuit filed by the Western Illinois pastor claiming his first amendment rights have been violated, and that the governor appears hostile to churches by not allowing them to gather. He plans to hold services Sunday. What is your reaction to that?…
Well first of all, so many of the pastors and faith leaders across the state have been partners with us and working with their parishioners to make sure that they’re staying at home and staying safe, and I’ve been grateful for their partnership in that.
These are difficult times for parishioners and for those of us who worship to not be able to access sometimes in person, your faith later. Especially as you know anxiety has come over people, coronavirus is a very serious infection that’s in the air, it’s around us and it’s caused people to need that kind of counsel. Most faith leaders have found new ways to connect with their parishioners on zoom conferencing, I’m holding services by teleconference. And I would encourage people to continue to do that.
And I would just urge the faith leaders who are concerned about the length of this to just put the health and safety of their congregants first. I think that’s uppermost in everybody’s minds, certainly uppermost in my mind.
And I would have everybody focused on the fact that we’re still climbing this ladder of hospitalizations and ICU beds being filled. And until we get to the other side, even according to President Trump’s plan, we really can’t begin to open up until we have 14 days of down cycle of those numbers.
* Reaction to the lawsuit specifically and the charges that his first amendment rights are violated, and really how far will you go to enforce the stay at home if he says he’s holding services Sunday?…
We’ve asked everybody to do the right thing and as I say parishioners and their pastors really have done the right thing across the state. So you know this person is, you know, a bit of an outlier. But everybody has the right to sue and we’ve seen in multiple states now, people have filed lawsuits on various things having to do with the stay at home order, but we’re gonna keep doing what we need to do to keep people safe.
* Several counties have either a sheriff or a state’s attorneys saying they won’t enforce your orders. Why should other counties think your orders are enforceable if other areas are refusing to enforce?…
Again, I would point people to the fact that people are still getting infected. More and more people are ending up in the hospital and more and more people are dying. We had 141 people die today. And not all of them were in Cook County or Chicago. Some of them were in Downstate Illinois. And it’s important for us just to pay attention to the fact that until we get to the other side of this, once again, I would point to President Trump’s plan, and their suggestion, put together with national experts that we really need to be extraordinarily careful until we begin to see those numbers subside.
* If people are starting to push back and saying well we’re not going to enforce this, we’re going to let you know people get away with. Going to church, for lack of a better phrase, by the way. Those were my words. What are you going to instruct you know the I don’t know state police or enforce state’s attorneys and district attorneys in various counties to double down?…
What I’m doubling down on is the fact that all the people who live in those counties are being put in harm’s way by those who are putting gatherings together of any sort, that are going to potentially infect others. And I’m doubling down on the idea that the health and safety of the people of those counties and of all across our state is at risk when people don’t follow the recommendations of the scientists, the doctors, the epidemiologists who are telling us that until we see a subsidence of these hospitalizations of infections, you heard they’re more than 2000 I think 2500 infections detected today, and that’s just a small fraction of those people who are in fact infected who don’t know that they are because we haven’t been able to test everybody. But we know that there are many, many people out there that are pre symptomatic, asymptomatic and yet have coronavirus. So if you put one of those people in a room full of parishioners, you run the risk that you’re going to get a kind of exponential run of this disease of this infection rather through a crowd of people that you love and care for.
* And I guess what I’m just directly asking is on behalf of all these folks is, will there be repercussions if there is a blatant defiance and other counties of your stay at home order?…
Nobody’s gonna, you know, run in and break up a gathering of churchgoers at that moment. But I will tell you that there are consequences of course. The state has the ability to enforce orders. But we’ve been looking to people to do the right thing and they should do the right thing. And I think the parishioners, by the way, ought to do the right thing and ask those who are faith leaders either not to hold those services or simply ask that they have something online that they can connect to rather than the potential for being infected.
* This is from Amy Jacobson, who writes verbatim smart public policy is not doing only what scientists say you as the governor have the power to convene Illinois lawmakers some who are not pleased with a 30 day extension. Don’t you think other voices from around the state representing their constituents need to be heard as well. Does the legislative branch have any role to play in this crisis or does the executive branch have total control?…
Well if Amy had read the executive order she would see that the legislature has the ability to meet. It is an essential organization under the executive order. I know that it’s very difficult and I’ve said this multiple times to get 177 members of the legislature plus their staffs together somewhere. And, you know, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It just means it’s extraordinarily difficult especially with all the processes of ledger, but this is something the legislators themselves will have to work out.
* Every newsroom is still getting dozens of complaints and from concerned people who are having trouble in a lot of cases simply getting online to certify we’re hitting roadblock after roadblock on the phone system. Any specific progress you can report in terms of overcoming those obstacles and any specific online updates that you can give us your online capacity has improved measurably?…
There’s no doubt the system’s started out unprepared for this unprecedented level of filings. But at this point, I must say, the ability to connect online is available to everyone. If they’re having trouble for some reason if they’ve filed earlier, forgotten their password, unable to get a password retrieval or something like that they may need to call in, we’ve expanded the number of people who are available to take those calls. There’s no doubt there are also people who no longer qualify for unemployment because either they filed a fraudulent form earlier, or there are some channel you know challenges to the veracity of certain aspects of the forms that they filed. And so, there, there are a lot of reasons why somebody might not be able to get through. But I will say that the systems themselves are actually operating reasonably well given that what we started with was a 10 year old system that’s been, as I said yesterday, one that you’ve had to, sort of, you know, build the plane while you’re trying to fly it with a lot more passengers than usual, so to speak.
* If I recall correctly you previously stated, you can only add so many call takers for unemployment claims because of federal training requirements, etc. Why not redirect and train other types of state employees like, you know, Department of Motor Vehicle workers, etc. to help process Unemployment Claims while they can’t do their regular jobs right now that’s something that you can do and should do [There is no such department in Illinois]…
It could have been done but it would have had to start a while ago because the training that someone gets to work at the Secretary of State’s office is very different than the training that it takes under federal guidelines to work at an IDES offers to take an unemployment claim. We’ve moved people, there are many more people answering phones today than there were when this whole process started. There’s no doubt about it we continue to try to build on that with IDs employees but I will say that that department has over many years, not been funded particularly well the systems haven’t been upgraded so it sort of started out in this difficult situation there aren’t a lot of resources people to draw upon, but we’ve drawn upon everyone that we can within the department to bring them all to the frontlines to answer these. It’s very difficult I must say, many of them are working overtime weekends and so on, to get done what they need to. And I will say that we’ve processed, many many claims I think you may know I talked about it a little bit ago that, you know, more than 800,000 claims have been processed already which is a ginormous number it’s you know it’s a significant multiple of any time before even back in the Great Recession. So, we’re actually at a decent point and IDs getting claims processed and people that are having have had extraordinary difficulty. Now should be able to get through their virtual unemployment call center, if you will, now that I’ve been running where staffers can work from home, it’s still in the works is when we have IDs employees working at home. But, and we have a, an offshoot for people who have questions that aren’t of a nature that require that federal training. That is a separate calling call center effort that we’ve been setting up
* Indianapolis and Marion County’s folks in Indiana announced that even though the stay at home order in Indiana has not been extended so in other words it lifts tomorrow. Marion County has announced it will not lift its own stay at home order until May 15. Could there be similar protocols in Illinois?…
So there are other orders that exist in Indiana and other states, and it is true that a county, or even a local government can have more stringent rules than the state has imposed. And that is what’s going on in Indiana and in some other states. And I know that there are places like, you’re in the city of Chicago, where there are some more stringent rules that we set out from the state imposed upon the city of Chicago, I mean that the city is imposed upon itself.
* Regarding the Indiana stay at home order. So with tomorrow being may 1 as of right now some businesses are planning to reopen in Indiana for example some shopping malls some that might not be far from Illinois border. What do you tell Illinois residents itching to get out of the house drive across the state to enjoy some shopping or something else that is open there that is not here?…
What we’ve told people and you know you’ve seen pictures of parties like in the city of Chicago happening where people are doing things that they shouldn’t be doing and that we know are dangerous for them. And I would just say that people need to use the common sense that they that Mother Nature, God gave them to not gather in those places to wear masks to keep six foot distancing to not participate in the activities that will put themselves and very importantly, their families when they come back from those places in danger.
* Do you still believe all of these officials who disagree with you are simply grandstanding or will you consider allowing local authorities to modify your new stay at home order, making it less restrictive not more locally? Do they know what’s best for their local areas or do you believe you do?…
Well, let’s start with it when he says, all of these local officials there are a few, and we’ve talked about them before, what we’ve tried to do is to follow the science, and I would encourage those who are thinking about breaking the rules to follow the science to, again, what we know is that people put themselves at risk when they don’t wear masks, when they gather in large groups. We know that people who are, who were going from place to place, and who are asymptomatic and not following any of the social distancing are putting other people at risk. And we know that in Illinois, we’ve seen the number of infections that come from one person who’s infected go down over time right, how many people get infected from the one infected person has gone down significantly over time. That’s not an accident. It doesn’t happen by nature that it went down, it went down because people stayed at home. It’s because people are following those social distancing rules. And so I would just suggest to to anyone that is considering breaking those rules that they’re really putting their citizenry in danger.
And I would just point out also to to those in Rockford, since he’s from WROK, unfortunately Rockford is a hotspot in the state, Winnebago county has quite a number of infections, and it’s something that we’re watching very closely. And it’s why people who live in that area and in the surrounding counties,need to be extraordinarily careful.
* Can you comment on the five republican congressman who sent a letter to you asking for regional reopening and you have I believe had a conversation with them as well and can you characterize that?…
I did actually we had a terrific conversation, it was the entire congressional delegation. I heard from I think three of the five congressmen who spoke up and had questions of, three of the five republican congressmen.
And it was a good dialogue and I don’t disagree with them that different areas of the state require different rules during this time. And that’s why we made some changes you see in this new executive order that goes into effect tomorrow. The state parks are not in, you know Cook County and Chicago right. The idea that people can get elective surgeries is much more available in areas outside of the collar counties and Cook County, because more infections exist, just by not the numbers in this area. And so, elective surgeries state parks golf courses and so on many of the things that we’ve opened up, just in this executive order that only is in effect for a month there is an indication indeed that of my recognition and our recognition that it’s different from one area to another, and we’ll be talking more about that as we put forward plans for reopening.
* A protest today called on you to lift the 1997 rent control preemption act and allow individual jurisdiction to deal with the rent issue. What is your stance on this and lifting that ban?…
As you know, this is a state law that’s in effect that the legislature can make a change to. And I know that many people have come to Springfield to talk about doing that. I’m, you know, for me, I want to make sure that people can pay their rent and that they’re not being pushed out from gentrification from their communities. So I would like to see changes made, but it is something a legislature needs to do.
* New York’s governor and the city’s mayor announced they’ll shut down mass transit overnight for deep cleaning. Any plans and talking to various mayors and cities to do that here?…
I would say that that’s something that the Mayor of the City of Chicago certainly should lead. We want to make sure that people are safe taking mass transit and figuring out what the right schedule for cleaning is I know they’re doing some of that now, I don’t know on what schedule and I would encourage them to look at that because as we open things up more and more people are going to take mass transit, buses, trains, etc. They need to know that when they’re taking it they’re safe.
* Response to the dropping rates of positivity and COVID tests that has happened in the last week?…
Dr. Ezike: So again, if, when we initiate we’ve gone through many evolutions of the testing criteria. If we go way back to January, February the testing criteria involved, having a contact with somebody from Wu Han, and having no specific symptoms, as we have relaxed the criteria. Obviously we are still attacking and say attacking we’re still targeting our high risk individuals people who are on the front lines if you will work in a grocery store or a pharmacy. But we potentially as we increase the number of tests you will potentially have people who have not had as high contact as maybe someone who’s working in the ICU 12 hours a day with COVID positive patients so you might see some decrease in the positivity rate but it is really important that we identify people as quickly as possible so we will have that lower positivity rate but be grateful for the ones that we identify.
* The CDC is reportedly saying there are far more deaths in Illinois than reported how many could there be? [He answered this question yesterday.]…
Dr. Ezike: These are kind of speculations that we try to use our data and make the most informed decisions. We did the way to try to get at that number is to look at the number of deaths that we’ve had in this period and then try to compare the amount of deaths that we had in the same time in previous years and have looked at that. We do see that compared to 2018 and 2019, the deaths that we’ve had from the period of March to April 15 are significantly higher for this 2020 time. And so when we take out the number of deaths that are actually responsible that we know are COVID related. We still have additional deaths that we can account for so one supposition could be that there are additional deaths that we have missed. But again, we don’t have the details on all of the deaths in real time like that takes several months so again we can make speculations that there are additional deaths
* When does the state plan to start widespread testing of workers and essential businesses, especially retail establishments and factories? Factory outbreaks could disrupt supply chains and retail outbreaks could threaten lots of workers and customers…
As fast as possible.
I guess I’ll expand and just say that you know today as you saw that you know we were reported about 13,200 tests were done, we’re averaging about 13 or 14,000 for the last week which is up significantly almost double, perhaps the week before. And we can continue to do that. But we have 6 million workers in the state of Illinois. And although we wouldn’t be able to test every worker every day, you do want to have the ability not only to surveillance test but also to target your testing to the most vulnerable communities, and people who work in those vulnerable settings.
* Has Illinois use the federal airbridge to bring back PPE from China? Why and for what, how are the goods that come on the airbridge sold, is it based on pre existing pre pandemic contracts and pricing and option or some other means?…
So it’s my understanding this is how the [program] works. It is not intended to bring goods to the state of Illinois, or to the city of Chicago. That’s not how the [program] works. How it works is, it was designed by the White House to, and we say air bridge it’s cargo planes, and what they’re bringing over are the PPE that are going to be that are handed over to distributors, existing distributors of medical supplies who have an existing set of customers, some of whom are in Illinois, some of whom are not in Illinois. So those goods get distributed by those private businesses as they see fit. Also some of the airbridge capacity is bringing over PPE that’s going to the federal stockpile and the needs of the federal government, our military for example. So that just, you know, I want to clarify for everybody. The airbridge really does not supply that state or local governments.
* According to the IDOC Governor Pritzker has commuted the sentence of 20 inmates, of those 28 are murder or involuntary manslaughter, of those 26 of those are serving life sentences and of that [garbled] had years left on their sentence. The governor has said in the past, most of the people being released they would have three to 12 months left, but the IDOC documentation says differently with some having several years. Can you explain why there is a discrepancy and with such violent criminals being released, how do you ensure public safety when commuting sentences. Has the governor himself reviewed the recommendation from the PRB or does he sign off on recommendations without reviewing the file?…
So I want to make clear to everybody that there are a lot of people who are released from prison because their sentences came to an end. Then there are people who are in the final six or nine months of a term in a sentence, and the, we’ve had the Department of Corrections director looking at only non violent offenders and and seeing if there are opportunities at this moment to release people early on good time, so that we can allow people who are non violent offenders to have a slightly shorter sentence but for the purpose of making sure that we’re keeping the staff at corrections and the prisoners themselves safe.
So that’s most of what we’re talking about when we talk about releases from our prisons. The few that the questioner is asking about are people who petition for clemency directly to the governor, they do that through the PRB, the Prisoner Review Board. That’s a board that reviews these cases and votes on them and makes recommendations, and even provides information because they have hearings and discuss those cases. And then they are recommended to me from them. And then I make a decision based upon those recommendations. Those members of the PRB are very responsible people, many of them have been on there for several years before I became governor. Their recommendations do have an enormous influence on me and very important to me is to make sure that anybody that we are releasing you know fits a set of criteria that minimize any risk to communities.
* Governor, the President is ending federal social distancing policies, leaving it up to the states. And conservatives here are fighting you on the stay at home order. How are you pivoting to adjust to all of that to the challenges?…
How am I pivoting to adjust to the challenges of it? Yeah. Look, we’re staying the course here of making sure that we’re keeping an eye on the health and safety of every Illinoisan wherever they live, whether they live in, you know, far southern Illinois and Cairo, [garbled] live in Freeport, or Rockford, and everywhere in between.
And guess what, just because they don’t live in Chicago or Cook County or the collar counties, does not mean that people are not in danger. And that’s why I’ve been very careful looking at the numbers all across the state but region by region, to make sure that as we look at reopening we’re extraordinarily focused on the details of each region. I’ve listened to many many mayors, many have written plans for their region that they wanted me to see. And we’re taking all of that into account as we talk to our epidemiologists and scientists to look at a phased in plan.
Reminder to everybody that it was actually the White House that put out at least the first plan that I had seen that looks at when and how could you reopen the nation’s economy. And, again, a reminder that plan, put together by the President, under his leadership and Vice President Pence, it says is that an area has to reach a peak, and then have 14 days of reduced numbers, hospitalizations, etc. And then you can begin with phase one, phase two, phase three under that plan. We’re following a lot of that guidance as we put our own plan for Illinois together.
* Can you clarify in what situations people will have to wear face coverings while outdoors. Beginning tomorrow, should people have one on hand if they go out for a walk or a jog or a bike ride around the neighborhood?…
I would suggest having one on hand. Again, it could be a T shirt that’s made into a face covering it doesn’t have to be a specific surgical mask or other kind of mask, but something that covers your nose and mouth. You don’t have to wear it at all times if you’re going running, jogging outside or bicycling. But if you encounter a crowd, a public space with a lot of people in it, that’s when you need to are required to put on a face covering. And of course, going to a grocery store or a pharmacy where you’re going to run into other people, we’re requiring face coverings in those circumstances.
* If there’s a detected outbreak in a food manufacturing factory does IDPH suggest testing for all employees? When is a shutdown recommended? And is the state tracking outbreaks at essential food manufacturers? What are you seeing?…
Dr. Ezike: Yes we are tracking all outbreaks throughout the state, including and we’ve had outbreaks at every type of facility, in meat processing plants, it’s daycares, it’s churches. We’ve seen them in every single type of setting. So we obviously start with the local health departments are the boots on the ground they are the first line of support for these facilities that are in their locale. We are always ready to assist in certain instances we have pulled in the CDC or NIOSH specifically that deals specifically as an arm of the CDC that deals with occupational safety of workers and so being able to identify different strategies that need to be employed to help keep the worker safe and also how to temper such outbreak so that goes on on a regular basis with any of the outbreaks that are identified.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,563 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 141 additional deaths.
Clinton County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s
Cook County: 1 female 20s, 2 males 20s, 1 male 30s, 1 male 40s, 4 females 50s, 6 males 50s, 2 females 60s, 16 males 60s, 5 females 70s, 16 males 70s, 15 females 80s, 9 males 80s, 6 females 90s, 6 males 90s, 1 female 100+
DuPage County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 2 males 60s, 2 males 70s, 4 females 80s, 5 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 4 males 90s
Jasper County: 1 female 80s
Jefferson County: 1 female 80s
Kane County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Lake County: 1 male 20s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 3 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s
Macon County: 1 male 60s
Madison County: 1 female 80s, 1 unknown 90s
McHenry County: 1 male 80s
Out of State: 1 male 80s
Peoria County: 1 male 70s
St. Clair County: 1 female 90s
Will County: 1 male 40s, 2 females 80s
Winnebago County: 1 female 70s
Brown County is now reporting a case. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 52,918 cases, including 2,355 deaths, in 97 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 13,200 specimens for a total of 269,867.
…Adding… From Dr. Ezike…
As of yesterday, 4953 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1289 patients were in the ICU and 785 patients were on ventilators.
Plaintiffs believe that, in these dark times, Illinoisans need the Spirit of Almighty God, but Pritzker’s orders have left them to settle for the lesser spirits dispensed out of the state’s liquor stores. The churches and pastors of Illinois are no less “essential” than its liquor stores to the health and well-being of its residents. Defendants have thus intentionally denigrated Illinois churches and pastors and people of faith by relegating them to second-class citizenship. Defendants have no compelling justification for their discriminatory treatment of churches and pastors and people of faith, nor have they attempted in any way to tailor their regulations to the least restrictive means necessary to meet any arguable compelling interest.
Plaintiffs intend to reopen and hold public worship services this Sunday, May 3. They justifiably fear arrest and prosecution if they do so, without immediate relief from this Court.
Plaintiffs seek temporary and permanent injunctive relief against Pritzker’s orders shuttering their church, church ministries, and pastoral activities, as illegal and unconstitutional on their face and as applied to Plaintiffs.
* The pastor was served a cease and desist order by Stephenson County Department of Public Health Adminstrator Craig Beintema last month…
On or about March 31, 2020, Defendant Beintema delivered a “Cease and Desist Notice” to Pastor Cassell […]
The Notice instructed Pastor Cassell that “your establishment, The Beloved Church, is required to adhere to [EO 2020-10].” And further that “[i]f you do not adhere to this Executive Order, the Illinois Department of Public Health has the authority to order that a place be closed and made off limits to the public.” It also stated, “[i]n addition to such order of closure issued … you may be subject to additional civil and criminal penalties.” And “[f]urthermore, police officers, sheriffs and all other officers in Illinois are authorized to enforce such orders.” The Notice specifically states that “Essential Businesses and Operations have not been defined to include religious gatherings of 10 or more people.”
In view of this Notice and Pritzker’s orders, Plaintiffs have suspended all communal activities at the Church building, including the Sunday services. Plaintiffs justifiably fear arrest, prosecution, fines, and jail time if they open their church building or hold religious services of any kind.
Then they go into the 30-day argument, the quarantine and isolation argument (even though they were served by the local public health department), a claim that since the curve has flattened, then Illinois is in a better place than it was in March (true, but it flattened at the peak, so it’s not a good place to be in), the regionalization argument, the Free Exercise Clause of the 1st Amendment argument, freedom to assemble, due process, etc.
Plaintiffs seek a declaration that Pritzker was without the power or authority to issue EO 2020-18, by which Defendant Pritzker purported to extend the prohibitions set forth in EO 2020-10 through April 30, 2020; that he is without the power or authority to issue any additional extension of the prohibitions set forth in EO 2020-18 and EO 2020-18 as he has publicly announced he intends to do; and that he is without the power or authority to quarantine or isolate Illinois residents or order shutdowns of Illinois churches, without following the strictures of the IDPH Act and allowing residents and churches the due process provided them under the IDPH Act and related administrative rules.
* Looks like more reporters and security than actual protesters…
MAY 1st is tomorrow.
Rent is due.
Protesters set up “Pritzkerville” tent city & car caravan outside Chicago’s Daley Center, demanding governor take action & offer relief to renters during pandemic.
They’re demanding a governor unilaterally overturn a decades-old statute, even though their own legislative efforts have come up short time and time again.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: People need to stop using a global pandemic to advance their own failed legislative causes via executive action. It’s a truly dangerous way of thinking.
The leftists in many state governments are actively attempting to wreck the economy in the hopes of removing the current Administration in DC. This is what Virginia had in place, but it’s basically the same across the country:
• Moving downward: percentage of positive tests over 14 days
• Moving downward: hospitalizations over 14 days
• Enough hospital beds and intensive care capacity
• Increasing and sustainable supply of PPE
* The White House’s plan for “reopening” the economy has a lot of thoughtful and wise preconditions. For instance, this is something we’ve been talking about this week and it’s in an integral part of the initial “gating criteria”…
Downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period
OR
Downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period (flat or increasing volume of tests)
That is hugely important. And we are not yet there by any means and nobody really knows when we will be, either nationally or in Illinois. To be on the safe side, the guidelines also include a mandate for a two-week downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses and covid-like syndromic cases.
* Also, hospitals must be doing this…
Treat all patients without crisis care
AND
Robust testing program in place for at-risk healthcare workers, including emerging antibody testing
If you click here, you’ll see all the points listed above are actually not from “leftist” governors, but from the White House.
[Clay County Circuit Judge Michael McHaney] even advanced a particularly ignorant notion of how he thinks COVID-19 death statistics are being juiced in Illinois.
“With respect to these statistics you’re throwing out here and all of that, isn’t it true that if I die in a car wreck, and I happen to test positive for COVID-19, my cause of death for purposes of what this governor is doing is COVID-19?” McHaney asked.
Let me answer that one, seeing as how the state’s lawyer said he didn’t know. The answer is: “No!”
I’ve been studying the Cook County Medical Examiner’s daily report of COVID-19 related deaths for weeks, and — as other reporters have noted — I can tell you there’s not a single car wreck victim among the 1,603 persons who had died through Thursday. And remember that Cook County accounts for more than 72% of the state’s COVID-19 death toll.
More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s.
Roughly 30.3 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus outbreak began forcing millions of employers to close their doors and slash their workforces. That is more people than live in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and it’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. It adds up to more than 1 in 6 American workers.
In Illinois, another 81,245 people filed initial claims for benefits in the week that ended April 18, a drop of 21,691 from the previous week, the Labor Department said. Since mid-March, almost 819,000 Illinois residents have applied for unemployment insurance benefits.
With more employers cutting payrolls to save money, economists have forecast that the unemployment rate for April could go as high as 20%. That would be the highest rate since it reached 25% during the Great Depression.
U.S. consumer spending plunged 7.5% in March, reflecting the growing impact of the coronavirus pandemic as Americans complied with stay-at-home orders.
The Commerce Department said that the spending decline was the sharpest monthly drop on records that go back to 1959, exceeding the previous record, a decline of 2.1% in January 1987.
Personal incomes also fell sharply last month, declining by 2% with wages and salaries, the largest part of incomes, falling by 3.1% as millions of Americans started getting lay-off notices. […]
The government reported Wednesday that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, shrank at an annual rate of 4.8% in the January-March quarter, led by the biggest quarterly drop in consumer spending since 1980.
Thursday, Apr 30, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The Illinois Kidney Care Alliance (IKCA) and its dialysis provider member companies are working diligently across Illinois to support dialysis patients and their caregivers in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Given their underlying comorbidities, people with kidney failure are at a greater risk of complications if they contract COVID-19. To offset this concern, Illinois’ dialysis providers have instituted advanced infection control protocols in their clinics to help give care teams and patients protection against possible infection.
Dialysis patients should:
Dialysis patients should continue to take any medicine prescribed by their physicians and should NOT miss their treatments.
* As I told you yesterday, Germany was able to get its R-Naught value down to 0.7 from its peak of 1.3 when it started opening up its economy a bit this month.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a scientist by trade, allowed small retailers with stores up to 8,600 square feet to reopen. Larger stores were also allowed to reopen if they cordoned off everything beyond the 8,600 square feet limit. Auto and bike dealers, bookstores and other businesses were also allowed to reopen. Some schools reopened.
The whole world was watching in the hope that Germany’s so far successful experiment would work.
But then the government announced that the R value had moved almost back up to 1 and Merkel warned the country could start closing down again…
“If we get to a point where each patient is infecting 1.1 people, then by October we will be back at the limits of our health system in terms of intensive care beds,” Mrs Merkel added.
“If we get to 1.2… then we will hit the full capacity of our health system as early as July.
“And if it’s 1.3, we hit the full capacity of our health system in June. So you can see how little room for manoeuvre we have.”
Pronounced “R-naught,” it represents the number of new infections estimated to stem from a single case.
In other words, if R0 is 2.5, then one person with the disease is expected to infect, on average, 2.5 others.
An R0 below 1 suggests that the number of cases is shrinking, possibly allowing societies to open back up. An R0 above 1 indicates that the number of cases is growing, perhaps necessitating renewed lockdowns or other measures.
But R0 is messier than it might look. It is built on hard science, forensic investigation, complex mathematical models — and often a good deal of guesswork. It can vary radically from place to place and day to day, pushed up or down by local conditions and human behavior.
At the beginning of this, there was an estimate by the scientists that for every one person that was infected, 3.5 other people were going to get infected. And that’s what it was when we had no stay at home order and this was just a free for all and nobody knew what was going on.
Because of our stay at home order, that number now came down to about 1.25.
So, can you imagine how many people have been kept safe and healthy, out of the hospital out of an ICU bed, out of a ventilator and kept from dying as a result of what the people of Illinois, not me, what the people of Illinois have done for each other, wearing masks, or face coverings staying at home or, you know, staying out of large groups and so on. We’ve really made a lot of progress.
So having said that, it is time for us to begin to turn the dial up a little bit to allow people to do more, we want to make sure the economy gets better for people more people get to go back to work and that’s the the future here. But we just have to be extremely careful.
That’s good news, but we’re nowhere near where Germany was when it started reopening. And we’re still above a level that Germany dreads and not far below the country’s original peak.
* Also, as the governor also noted yesterday, hospitalizations are perhaps the most accurate number we have…
Our hospitalizations are somewhat stable. And that, to me, says something really good about the future because, unfortunately, fatality numbers are lagging indicators. Hospitalizations are somewhat a leading indicator, or at least the best tell for how are we doing, are we actually getting this under control or not.
Thursday, Apr 30, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Democrats, who have a supermajority in both legislative chambers, were assumed to control the 2021 remap. However, a move by the Census Bureau could delay population data being sent to the states until July 31, 2021 putting that control in jeopardy.
If census officials win a delay, the Illinois Constitution outlines a process that calls for the appointment of an eight-member commission, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, to draw maps. If they cannot agree, a ninth member – either Democrat or Republican – is randomly chosen, allowing either party the opportunity to gerrymander to their partisan advantage.
Our democracy is too important to be left to a game of chance.
We need an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission to determine maps that are fair and equitable for all communities across Illinois.
Let’s end partisan gerrymandering and create a process that gives power back to the people.
* The attorney general’s appeal of the TRO preventing the state from enforcing the governor’s executive order on Rep. Darren Bailey was filed yesterday. Part of the appeal focuses on whether the TRO itself is legally valid. Here’s some of the rest…
The primary objective of statutory interpretation “is to ascertain and give effect to the legislature’s intent.” Whitaker v. Wedbush Secs., Inc., 2020 IL 124792 ¶ 16 (citations omitted). “The most reliable indicator of legislative intent is the statutory language.” Id. Section 7 grants the Governor the authority to declare that a “disaster exists” in certain circumstances, including during a public health emergency or epidemic. 20 ILCS 3305/7. If the Governor determines that a disaster exists and issues a disaster proclamation, he may exercise “emergency powers” for a 30-day period thereafter; specifically: “[u]pon such proclamation, the Governor shall have and may exercise for a period not to exceed 30 days the following emergency powers[.]” Id. The plain text of section 7 contains no limitation on the number of proclamations the Governor may issue to address a particular disaster. On the contrary, section 7 establishes a single criterion necessary: that a disaster “exists.”
Here, the Governor concluded that a disaster existed on March 9, and issued his first proclamation. On April 1, in issuing a second proclamation, the Governor concluded that a disaster still existed. By issuing proclamations on those dates, the Governor properly exercised the “emergency powers” conferred by section 7 for “a period not to exceed 30 days” after each issuance.
Nonetheless, Bailey argued—and the circuit court agreed—that the Governor has acted unlawfully because the 30-day period is triggered by the disaster’s initial date. That is belied by the Act’s plain text, which ties the period to the issuance of a proclamation (not the disaster). Nor does allowing successive disaster proclamations “render the 30-day limitation meaningless.” The 30-day limitation requires the Governor to make the periodic determination that a “disaster” still in fact “exists.” The Governor has not purported to exercise emergency powers indefinitely; he has issued disaster proclamations for 30- day periods. But if the factual circumstances change—as every Illinoisan hopes they will—the Governor may no longer be able to reasonably conclude that a disaster still exists. At that point, the Governor’s emergency powers would expire 30 days after issuance of the most recent disaster proclamation.
The theory that the Governor is permitted only a single, 30-day proclamation per disaster, if applied more broadly, threatens to nullify the emergency actions the Governor has taken since April 8. Accepting Bailey’s argument means COVID-19 would once again begin its exponential spread throughout the State, resulting in the inevitable loss of many lives. That cannot be the result the General Assembly intended.
Finally, although the General Assembly has amended the Act at least 11 times—most recently in 2018—it has not added any language to stop Illinois governors from maintaining their practice of issuing multiple or successive disaster proclamations when the disaster continues to exist. Nor has the General Assembly convened in recent weeks to pass legislation indicating that the Governor has acted outside of his lawful authority. On the contrary, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the General Assembly has cancelled its previously cancelled sessions. […]
Critically, the General Assembly did not prohibit the Governor from taking the actions that Bailey challenged. Bailey argued that the authority given to the Governor by section 7 of the Act lapsed on April 8, not that the Act affirmatively prohibits the Governor from taking action apart from that 30-day grant of authority. [Emphasis added.]
* The governor began his press conference with some news about the PPE equipment the state has deployed, received and requested. He then said this…
We recently acquired a new decontamination system, currently deployed in Waukegan. This system can safely decontaminate and 95 masks and is an entirely free service with turnaround time of about 24 hours. I can’t overstate how important this in state resource is to our ability to help our hospitals our health care workers, our law enforcement officials and frontline workers. Each and 95 mask can be decontaminated up to 20 times without experiencing any degradation of filter performance.
IEMA is disseminating the instructions for the service to all local emergency managers, health departments and regional health care coalitions. And the information is also available on the ready, Illinois website as well. I highly encourage all healthcare entities from hospitals to long term care facilities to take advantage of this equipment, through EEMA. Again it’s fast, it’s free and it will help us help you.
As always, please pardon all transcription errors.
* He went on to talk about some new nursing home initiatives “over the last week and a half”…
Let’s start with testing. As I announced previously, we are working to test all residents and all staff for free at facilities without known COVID-19 outbreaks, allowing us to identify early the presence of COVID-19 in a facility and to isolate those cases before widespread transmission. And at facilities with known cases, we are ensuring that all employees can be tested for free, allowing us to determine who is coming in and out of an infected home possibly asymptomatic and should instead be at home in isolation. Since we started this expanded testing policy on April 19, we’ve distributed over 18,000 swabs to 68 facilities for testing with more to come.
And to expand this effort, IDPH has secured a special contract with Quest Diagnostics to run 3000 tests per day for Illinois long term care facilities at no cost to the facilities. And Quest has promised to provide results in a 48 hour window, ensuring that IDPH local health departments and long term care facilities have the answers that they need to act quickly and decisively to protect other staff and residents.
Let’s also talk about developments in staffing and IDPH’s ability to deploy teams to facilities to assist long term care staff and local health departments. In responding to an outbreak, local health departments are the first line of communication and support for more than 1000 private long term care facilities in all elements of our COVID-19 response. That said, the Illinois Department of Public Health has prioritized protecting the health care workers and the residents at these facilities. These are some of our most vulnerable Illinoisans, and the state will do everything in its power to protect them.
For many weeks now, we’ve deployed Infectious Disease Control experts, advisors and Project HOPE volunteers to these facilities, and they will continue to operate as a part of our response. But beginning today, we’re adding a new clinical support program to our ongoing protective efforts. Initially, we’re deploying 10 teams of 50 nurses to homes across the state. Over the coming days an additional team of 200 IDPH nurses will be joining their ranks to deploy to facilities across the state, every day.
Though their assistance will be tailored to meet each facility’s needs. They’ll be focused on three tasks, conducting swab testing training existing staff to take samples themselves and reviewing and improving the facilities’ hygiene practices and PPE use with some homes low on staff due to sickness. IDPH, and our Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation have simplified the hiring process for long term care facilities at this time, so that they can bring on temporary nursing assistants to ensure that they have the healthy staff they need to care for all of their residents. That includes allowing our long term care facilities to tap into our Illinois Helps network where thousands of medical professionals in Illinois have indicated their willingness to volunteer their skills in the fight against COVID-19 and to support the care of facility residents covering recovering from COVID-19.
We have worked with the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs to open up existing bed capacity at VA hospitals so that our seniors can isolate and receive medical treatment there if needed. As always I want to offer my gratitude and the thanks of a grateful state to the frontline staff who dedicate their days and their nights to this work and who are stepping up in incredible ways to protect those most vulnerable to this virus. Know that your work makes a world of difference to the people that you care for to their families and to all of Illinois. So thank you.
…Adding… From the nursing home industry…
Nursing home provider associations have been meeting with the Illinois Department of Public Health and representatives from Gov. Pritzker’s administration twice a week for more than a month. Last week we submitted a comprehensive plan, and we are pleased to see the Governor has implemented some of our recommendations, including staffing reinforcements, expanding testing to all residents and staff, and ongoing PPE support.
* Dr. Ezike…
In total, we have run 256,667 tests with 14,478 being run in the last 24 hours. As far as hospitalizations, as of midnight 5,036 people were in hospitals in Illinois for COVID-19 of those 5,036, 1,290 were in the ICU and 777 patients were on ventilators.
* On to questions for the governor and Dr. Ezike. So all staff and residents at homes without cases are being tested?…
We’re in the process of that. Yeah, we don’t have enough to do it all at once so we’re getting to all of them. But I think I said 68 and i think that that’s the number.
* Lots of questions about the second lawsuit that’s been filed. Rep. Cabello, rather than the first and kind of giving you an opportunity, maybe to revise the extended stay at home order before a hearing on Monday. Your thoughts to that? Are you considering it? What do you think?…
No, I think it’s a similarly irresponsible lawsuit. You know we’re in the business here of keeping people safe and healthy. That’s what the stay at home order has been about. And I just think that lawsuit is just another attempt at grandstanding.
* Does the litigation have a point? It argues that many mom and pop retailers should be allowed to open. Big box stores are operating, similar shops can observe similar social distancing protocols. Why not allow those small business owners to do more than just drive up and delivery?…
One of the challenges that’s come up during this crisis has been that again the list of essential services and businesses that are open focuses in part on grocery stores. But as you know many big box stores have a grocery store inside them, which allows them under this order to stay open. They also have other aisles and other products that they sell.
So that’s one of the unfortunate challenges of this small mom and pop, as Eric is calling them, stores, the small business people. What we’ve tried to do for them as this pickup and delivery for any kind of retail establishment, to give them an opportunity to reopen. I am most concerned about those small businesses. It’s one of the reasons we created, even in addition to the PPP program at the federal level which I don’t think has been great for those small businesses, we created a grant program at the state level to just provide $25,000 grants to local small businesses.
There is no doubt about it that the first thing that I want to be able to do across the state is to open up those smallest businesses. Those folks have risked their lives, you know risked their livelihoods, rather, all of their savings to open up a business and along comes this terrible pandemic that no one expected. And it’s devastating, specifically those tiny those small businesses, so we’re working hard to figure out how to make that happen. And of course we will give some guidance and guidelines for stores about social distancing. How many people can be in a space, certain number of people per square feet just like you hear from a fire marshal for example, but it is a top concern of mine to open small businesses as soon as possible.
* So, in regards to the second lawsuit. They’re also hoping, you know, the legislator can get back, they want to have a conversation about all this. Is that a possibility, why not work with the entire legislature to pass a law clarifying such powers in order to be able to go back during a situation like a pandemic?…
Everybody should understand that I do the executive order, the legislature has the ability to meet. There’s nothing barring the legislature meeting. Obviously they have to follow social distancing guidelines and other things but they are considered essential as our governments around the state. And so that’s something that’ll get decided by the leaders and the members themselves about whether and how to meet.
I have suggested to the legislature that if they want guidance, and I think they will want guidance about how to do it safely, because that’s the most important thing we just don’t want anybody getting sick as to whether they meet today, a week from now or a month from now, whenever that may be. It needs we need to make sure that all the people who work in the capital for those legislators, as well as all the legislators are safe. And so I have suggested to them they may want to get guidance from our IDPH or from epidemiologists, you know, well regarded epidemiologists in the state, who would know how to design a plan for them to to meet.
Has anyone asked for that guidance?…
Several of the leaders asked to know what would that look like. And so there was an outline provided to them of what it could look like, but not knowing the details of how the legislature wants to do this. You know, it’s hard for guidelines really to be written for what they want to do, for example, are they, hoping to have committee meetings? If they are hoping to have committee meetings How do people participate in that. How is there an audience in a small committee room when we can’t have gatherings of 10 or more in a closed space? So those are complicated and I just don’t know what the legislature will want to do in that regard.
What about a virtual meeting?…
It’s not allowed by law today, but absolutely they could I know that the city council in Chicago has met by zoom. I know that some of the aldermen don’t feel like it’s a very effective way to meet but they are at least meeting.
And so yeah, that is something that the legislature could do. But in order to do that they would need to meet in person and to pass a law to allow distance meetings. So how would that happen, how does that, how do we get that ball rolling. But yeah, I would say it’s back to the legislators themselves. I mean honestly this is not my, it’s not you know for forcing people somehow. I’m not going to push legislators and they are as many have pointed out a co-equal branch, they do have the ability to make their own rules and make their own decisions. And that’s something that’s completely, you know on them with any advice, we’ll be able to provide to them.
Bill Brady suggesting today maybe wearing masks, putting up plastic shields or maybe even meeting in a place like the United Center. Why if the Department of Public Health can set regulations for how grocery stores can safely operate as a department, set guidelines for how the legislator can convene to do its work well?…
It’s kind of the same answer, and I don’t know whether they would recommend wearing face shields, or surgical masks or N95 masks. Again that’s, I’m not an expert and honestly I think that if you think about it, there are 177 members of the General Assembly. And then when you add just even one staff member per legislator, you’re at 354 people. And then, of course, there are security people at the Capitol and others. So you know when you add all that up, it’s a quite a lot of people. Yeah, you in theory you could meet anywhere, but, of course, you know that too would be an expense that would have to be borne by the state but it’s it’s doable.
If they can’t meet, what damage is being done to the legislators and ability to function during the COVID-19 pandemic?…
Well this COVID-19 has just been horrible, I mean it’s been the effect on people’s lives, the effect on the state, the ability of the state to move forward. Think of all the things that we knew that we wanted to accomplish and I’ve talked about accomplishing this year that I believe and not to mention, people who may disagree with me and the things they want to accomplish for the year. The idea that the session has been so delayed. Now remember, it is possible to meet at any time. It doesn’t have to be today or next week or even next month, it really could be at any time and again that’s up to the legislature. If I started dictating a date for them to meet, I’m sure that there would be blowback from legislators and so I have left it to them to make decisions.
* Is there any legal advantage to bypassing the Fifth State Appellate District and taking the appeal of Representative Bailey’s court case directly to the State Supreme Court, considering that appears, many more lawsuits are coming?…
That has been done, that filing, or at least the filing with the fifth district, as I understand it, the Attorney General is filing an appeal with the fifth district and simultaneously or sure moments after filing for leave to take it to the Supreme Court.
* It’s a class four felony in Illinois to carry a concealed weapon while wearing a mask. Technically prosecutors could charge a legal gun owner for obeying your executive order. The order doesn’t take effect until Friday, why not use your executive order to temporarily suspend that portion of the law?…
So actually we’ve allowed the state police to set some guidelines here and it doesn’t prohibit people from concealed carry. The rule that we put in place would not.
* Some frontline health care workers are using shower caps and rain ponchos for PPE. Is that appropriate?…
No, they should be provided PPE by their hospital, by their healthcare facility that they work for. We, as I have said we have provided to every county health department, and to hospitals and others across the state, the PPE that they’ve asked for indeed, and we are trying to keep some sense of the inventory that exists, and the inventories exists so if there are healthcare workers that are not being given PPE. First they should tell their supervisor, knowing that there are stores of PPE at the facility. Second, if that is not effective they should call their county public health department which has received deliveries from our IDPH of PPE. And we have PPe in the state, you know we’re constantly ordering more, we have you know as I mentioned there’s sort of a shortage of gowns. But as to all of the PPE that should be available to those folks when they go to their health care facility.
* Do you have data on what populations are making up the newly infected cases? We’ve been staying at home for several weeks. Are the new cases primarily essential workers, or people who are staying at home still getting sick anyway? [Really good question.]…
Dr. Ezike: Just to review how this virus is transmitted. If you have been home for, I don’t know how many days now. If you have been home. You can’t, the virus cannot come up de novo. Of course we know that there are many people in our state that do have to leave the home, whether they’re essential workers and there are many from from the healthcare workers to the first responders to government officials to people working in the grocery stores delivers people who are providing food so there are, you know, many, many people that do go out. There are people who are under the stay at home, but go you know venture out so there are still many opportunities for the virus to be transmitted. The good news is that we know just even from the are naught value from the doubling time from the way that the number of cases and the number of fatalities have have flattened that we have curve, that number significantly significantly, so I want to applaud the people of Illinois they have done the right thing, and we have gotten the desired effect. Have we gotten to the point where there’s no transmission of the virus? No, but we have done a fantastic job and that’s why we need to stay the course.
* There are a handful of counties without a single confirmed case of COVID-19. I know my home county of Schuyler County only has one case. Any more thought to lifting or easing restrictions in those specific areas?…
Actually we did, in many ways, in this new stay at home order that begins May 1. That is to say we identified state parks, many of them are in those areas of the state. And we’ve opened those, we are opening those state parks, which had been closed in part to keep the residents or other visitors safe but also to keep the state workers safe, who have to congregate in small facilities there sometimes, several of them in a, in a truck, all at once so we wanted to keep them safe.
So that’s one way or another, other ways. For example, when we allowed elective surgeries, we made sure that the areas of the state that have the most availability of hospital beds and ICU beds, had the most availability of elective surgeries. And so those are examples of the ways in which we’ve kind of, you know, gradually allowed certain areas to do more than other areas.
But I would also point out that yes it’s true. There are six counties in the state that don’t have any cases, several counties that have one case. But as you move up that list and there are 102 counties, what you find even in that bottom portion of, you know, fewer cases is that, by virtue of the population in the county that actually their infection rate is higher than in Cook County or than in other areas that seem to have many more cases, but by population, you might have a hotspot in a small less populated county so we’re keeping an eye on those areas but I 100% agree with the idea that, where it is safe and where there’s more distance for people and you know where we can open businesses that don’t force people to congregate together in larger groups than 10 at a time and so on then we want to do that as soon that’s kind of part of the thinking of the phases that you’ve been talking about and the regions that’s still on the table. That’s correct. The way we think about regions is really in health care zones, where are the hospitals, how many beds are available at the hospitals that would serve a certain area of the state, rather than the way sometimes people talk about regions of the state as well. I live in Southern Illinois or I live in little Egypt or you know whatever. These are all great ways to identify areas of the state, but the way we look at it is about health care and keeping people healthy. And so that’s how you know when you talk about regions that’s how we’re thinking about.
* Update on McCormick Place? What’s the latest on what other staffers are doing who were hired and now not needed?…
Right, so the healthcare workers that are at the current place that may not be needed are actually going to be used in other areas for example with nursing homes, other facilities we still have remember staff people everywhere healthcare workers everywhere are getting ill they’re putting themselves out there, risking themselves and some of them are getting sick and need to be home isolated or some of them even have ended up in the hospital. And of course, some have died. And so we have a shortage of healthcare workers across the state. So, those that aren’t working at McCormick, that we can redeploy we are redeploying as to the future of McCormick Place. We’ve talked a lot about standing down. Many of the beds that for the time being, you know that the facility is there to be used. But the idea of staffing all of the 3000 beds that we were going to staff because we didn’t know how high the peak was going frankly we still don’t really know, but we do see like I’ve said flattening. So, we’ve stood down 1000 of those beds and it looks like we’re going to have the ability to stand down much more of that facility. So, but again I don’t want to speak too soon because all of these identified alternate care facilities, need to be in a state of some kind of readiness. In the event that there’s a surge, either because we reopen, and God forbid we open reopen too fast or because there’s a surge that people expect in the fall, because there’s a potential for that surge.
* Do you continue to have McCormick Place up and running as an alternate care facility through the fall?…
I can’t project that far in advance, honestly. At the moment, again, everything that we prepared for what we thought would be a higher peak. And again, the reason we didn’t hit a higher peak is because of all of you at home, who are staying home and following the rules. But, you know, we need to be ready, we just don’t don’t know.
And so I think we have to watch and see what the infection rates are what you know we’ve talked about the or not. How many people does a single infected person infect. So if it’s, you know, 1.2, 1.1 [garbled] and so on. And now we believe that infection rate or the R naught as they say, the number of people get infected by one infected person is less than two and D less than one and a half, at this point, it had been up to three and a half. So all of those things factor into the way we think and we try not to project too far in the future because gosh, at this point it would be hard for anybody who’s not an epidemiologist to say, why would there be a surge in the fall, what is the fall have to do with anything and yet the experts say that is precisely the concern that we’ll be focused on.
* Michigan’s offering a GI bill for pandemic frontline workers, tuition free path for college degree, thoughts, something you would consider?…
Absolutely. I think that that you know the idea of providing, what I’ll describe as combat pay you know for people around the frontlines that’s something that we ought to be considering. As you know, we don’t have any surpluses laying around in Illinois, that would allow us to just pull that out of an old rainy day fund. There just isn’t any in Illinois, there wasn’t any when I showed up in office. So we are looking to the federal government to help us fund the loss of revenues in the state that’s come from coronavirus. And I do believe that we should be looking at how to support the people who have been truly amazing. They’re heroes to all of us and I think they deserve to be recognized as such.
* A standalone firearm range that doesn’t have a retail component says they were told they can’t operate under the order. If they aren’t allowed to operate they say they’ll look into illegal actions against the order, how do you plan to address non retail firearm training and practice rages?…
It’s not something I’ve honestly paid close attention to. Now that you’ve raised it I’ll certainly look into it, but at the moment remember we’re trying to focus on essential businesses and we followed we’ve tried to follow the guidelines of the Federal Homeland Security list of essential businesses.
* Fox 32 uncovered a nail salon operating on the north side ignoring your stay at home order. What can the state do to go after non essential businesses? How many complaints has the state received for non essential businesses operating during this temporary closure?…
Well, again, we’ve asked people to follow the rules. We also local law enforcement has the ability to go to engage with those business owners that are opening against the rule. You know we have enforcement mechanisms their permits can be taken away the state can take action local governments can take action. So lots of ways in which those businesses can suffer some penalty as a result of not obeying these executive orders.
* How does that feel when you see these businesses opened and not abiding in parties?…
I think I want to talk about the businesses, kind of separate from parties, because look you know I know that it’s very very difficult for these small businesses in this time. And so I know there is an urge to want to just open the doors because of the devastation that this coronavirus has caused.
But we have to be responsible because it’s not just you the business owner, that you know you’re keeping safe by staying closed. You’re also keeping the populace safe by keeping closed. And so it’s, we just need a little while longer here while we move past this peek.
And for those who think that the President of the United States is the person that they want to follow on this, all I can say is, they put out a federal plan, some of which I think is is right. And so, past peak, we want to make sure that we’re moving down the other side of that peak, and then we can start to open.
To people who are partying together. And I saw some comments by somebody who was at one of those parties. All I can say is that everybody at that party put themselves and everybody else they’re at risk and they put their families at risk their friends at risk their communities at risk, because when they left there remember you can have COVID-19 and be asymptomatic we’re having no symptoms. Right. So, this woman who spoke about it said well I’m not feeling anything it’s been a day I’m fine, you know. Well guess what, you can have it, and you may be asymptomatic and you may be giving it to other people.
* Woodford County has a population of 38,265 have been tested 12 positive one has died. Why do you think they should be treated just like Chicago? Density doesn’t matter data doesn’t matter explain the science behind that position?…
Well, like I said earlier, we in fact aren’t treating every part of the state the same.
And more importantly, as we began this we didn’t really know how this virus was spread, we didn’t really know that there was even asymptomatic situations where someone could have coronavirus and not know. And so, certainly we’ve learned a lot all of us from the epidemiologists have learned a lot over the course of this. You know this novel coronavirus. And so we are in fact making changes and you’ve seen some of those in the executive order that I put forward more will come. But again, I would point everybody to the president said. Indeed, I think, Amy Jacobson mentioned the plan that the President put forward, and what it takes to get to what he calls Phase One is, indeed, much of what we’re following here.
* New data from the CDC suggests there were an additional 700 deaths between March, 8 and April 11 that were not directly attributed to COVID-19. Are you aware of the spike in deaths above the average for previous years, and if so, is it possible these could be previously unidentified COVID-19 fatalities?…
Yeah it is. I mean I think everybody’s realizing, indeed, there’s been a recent report out of California I think that shows that people had COVID-19 long before anybody thought, here in the United States. And so, it’s probably true here in Illinois that people had caught a virus long before. And so some of the deaths that nobody was even talking about, they didn’t have a name for this thing, people were dying and they may have been put on their [garbled] because they died of pneumonia or some other respiratory illness. And so there’s no doubt that we’re going to need to go back through the records. That’s going to probably happen in months hence, because we have so much to do now to focus on keeping people safe and alive now. But we’re probably going to have to go back and see how many of these probably based upon all the symptoms were COVID-19.
* One feeling behind this week’s lawsuits is you haven’t listened to the needs of people Downstate. Could you do better? Some examples of where you’ve done well downstate, can you envision any scenario where you would negotiate with outsiders on less restrictive stay at home order?…
It’s being suggested by the question is that, I’ve had many, many direct conversations with legislators, Democrats and Republicans downstate, and I’ve listened to them and I think some of them would tell you that they were the ones who suggested some of the changes that we put into the May 1 executive order. And certainly the leaders of the, the Republican leaders of the House and Senate also made suggestions that were incorporated into the stay at home order for May 1.
So, I mean, is there more to do of course, I mean I know it’s hard to look back and say that I did everything exactly right, but I will say that I listened, I have listened and I continue to listen to people on both sides of the aisle.
I need best ideas, you know you heard me talk about representative Mark batt Nick at one point, who suggested that people in grocery stores and in essential businesses needed to wear face coverings. And he himself went out and promoted that in his district and has developed a terrific poster that I think should be more widely used and downloaded from his website about that, and I listened to him and indeed, obviously a portion of what we put in place in order to lower the infection rates across the state was because of the suggestion of people in those essential businesses need to wear face coverings and I thank you representative for raising that subject.
* Are there any plans to defer property taxes for small businesses, some have reached out to say their bill is due in a few months and they won’t be able to pay it since they produce no income during the stay at home order?…
As you know, property taxes are managed by local governments, county governments, municipal governments and I certainly encourage folks to think about what they can do to lower the or to extend the due dates or to change how it is they’re charging people for their property taxes. But that is something that’s being decided at the local level, it’s not a state issue
* IDPH data appears to show non COVID patients and ICU beds spiked from 991 on April 23 to 1265 the next day to 1448 on April 27. Is there an explanation for a spike in non COVID ICU patients in such a short amount of time?…
Dr. Ezike: I can only offer speculations as I don’t have the diagnosis of all the people who are non COVID, I know as I follow the literature and actually from hearing anecdotal information, we are seeing people with acute heart attacks and strokes and as I’m going through the literature I’m seeing how this virus actually affects the blood vessels and how it’s promoting clots. And so there may be additional heart attacks and strokes and other clotting events that may or may in fact be related to COVID so again without being able to study the you know the the medical records of each of those additional cases, We can speculate. But I think maybe the people in the hospitals could maybe, maybe round out the information and give us more granular details as we go forward.
* Can you offer an update on the Midwest coalition of states and whether anything has really happened with how you all are dealing with Missouri and Iowa or cross border travel? [He’s said multiple times that he’s not sealing state borders.]…
We are in consistent communication. I in fact was in contact with three other governors that are part of our coalition just this morning.
And in terms of cross border traffic I mean we’re not stopping people from traveling. So, that’s not something that we’re looking to do we are you know the county health departments across borders, do talk to one another about how to make sure that you know we’re keeping people safe and healthy.
And so you know those are obviously as indicated by the question peculiar to those areas of the state. We’re very concerned for example about areas like East St Louis and Belleville and all of St. Clair and Madison counties, because there has been an outbreak, obviously a hotspot in St. Louis, and that has an effect on people who are just across the river. So we’re keeping a very close eye on it. And of course we’re doing a lot of testing in that area and focusing on health and safety and keeping people at home.
* When the mask requirement takes effect would you advise businesses to refuse service to anyone not wearing one?…
I would, and in part because that is the intent of the executive order. And in part because I think that people don’t want to go into your establishment if you have people in there, who are have the potential to infect each other by virtue of not wearing a mask.
* Can you provide an update on your tracing efforts how many workers what technology will there be phone banks how much funding is being allocated?…
I think I answered this yesterday, but we absolutely are in process of building this thing it’s not something that will happen overnight. But there’s no doubt that we are hiring. A number of people are in process of putting the infrastructure together to hire people. And there are a number of different technologies that are available. As you know I came out of the technology industry before I became governor. And so I have some opinions about that but most importantly we just want the technology that will work best and there are examples of it working in Massachusetts in particular, but I’m going to take a look at all of it and you know we’ll make a decision. I will not be the final arbiter of which technology gets chosen but I have some opinions to offer and certainly salient questions.
* Are you considering to any plans to possibly allow hairdressers and barbers to reopen before June one for example if everyone wears a mask and salons are sanitized regularly?…
Look, we’re considering how to open all kinds of different businesses. It is hard, I mean I’ve listened to epidemiologists about this and Dr. Ezike and others. It is hard to, you know, in businesses where people are going to be face to face or, very close to one another in providing a certain service. You know, there’s no social distancing that could be done in that circumstance.
Having said that, we’re looking at, we’ve seen other states doing, thinking about this and where they put it in their phases of reopening. And that’s one that we’re certainly considering. Haven’t figured out exactly which phase to put that in.
I would like that to happen sooner rather than later.
* What guidance is IDPH giving to food manufacturers when they have identified an outbreak among workers? Should they shut down? How should companies and health departments make this call? Companies say there is a lack of clear guidance…
The federal government regulates those facilities and we were just informed today by the White House that the President has invoked the defense production act to protect those facilities from being closed. But the guidelines for how to keep the workers safe, in my opinion, needs work. And so we here in Illinois are most concerned about the people who work in those facilities. We want to keep the supply chain going. That’s very important you know meat processing and proteins, very important in the supply chain for food.
So we want to make sure that they’re open, but we also want to make sure that they’re safe and so we’re trying to augment the efforts of the federal government, and also examine what they put out today which involves some guidelines from their department of agriculture, OSHA, the Department of Labor, these are all US departments, as well as the CDC. But in my opinion that you know everybody should be wearing a mask in these facilities, everybody should have PPE available to them, they should be cleaned if there is a an outbreak. And of course the workers there who are either COVID positive or exposed to COVID positive workers should be allowed to stay home and recover or isolate until they’re considered free of COVID.
* SEIU has said workers of more than 40 nursing homes will strike May 8. Have you gotten involved in the negotiations, or will you get involved to keep workers on the job will the state step in if facilities strike?…
I have not been involved in that I have, you know I am encouraging and would encourage both sides to come to the bargaining table and get this done, get a deal done get a contract done. We cannot let our seniors down We can’t let people who are in long term care facilities down. It’s too important.
* Downstate TV stations have both asked IDOC to release a list of 4000 inmates released since March 1. Were these released due to COVID? Winnebago county state’s attorney says you cannot notify victims families quick enough. What do you say to those families?…
No, it’s my understanding that a majority - I haven’t heard that 4000 number until I read it recently - majority of those releases are people who simply their sentences came to an end and they were released as they normally would be.
* On March 20 you said all non essential businesses must halt operations. What law gives the executive branch power to indefinitely shutter private businesses?…
Well there’s nothing indefinite about it, it’s in response to an emergency. So when there’s an emergency the Emergency Management Act gives authority. And then, of course there are authorities given to the Emergency Management Director as well as the Director of the Department of Public Health under different a different law to effectuate these things. But there’s nothing indefinite about it, there’s what it’s intended to do is while an emergency is ongoing and there clearly is an emergency folks. I mean let’s pay attention to the fact that people are dying every single day. What was predicted by some a couple you know a month ago to be will only have 10,000 deaths only 10,000 deaths in the United States we’ve now I think surpassed 60,000. And, in Illinois we continue to have people die every day and, so, look, I know the intent of the question is to ask about the indefinite nature of there’s nothing indefinite about this.
* Since the governor keeps saying the hospitalization number is the most important. Can you explain what those numbers need to look like in order for the layperson to know how the state is doing? Is a percentage of all beds just ICU beds, etc.?…
I think the basis of the question, if I understand is, when are we going to be able to move into the different phases of opening, is that the intention of the question about hospitalizations? We watch hospitalizations, but they can’t keep going up, they’re going up, ICU bed beds are still filling. And so, we need to, again I would look at the President’s guidelines as one measure here which is you have to peak and then move down the other side for 14 consistent days. And I think that’s a good way to think about what the timing might be. But again hospitalizations are a very important maybe the most important measure here because you don’t want to have your hospitals overrun with cases.
* Has the governor received a letter from Central Illinois mayors, including those from East Peoria and Pekin, proposing reopening their economies in phases, if so does the governor have a response to their proposal?…
Yes, I very much appreciate different groups of mayors or areas have offered their plans for reopening. Those are extremely instructive. And I appreciate that very much. We also got one from Quincy, and from mayor’s around the Chicago area, and so on. These are very helpful. And so as we look at the phasing back of the economy, we’ll be taking all of those letters into consideration and I want to thank the local officials, many of whom I’ve spoken with directly on the phone, including the mayor of East Peoria, and so I look forward to the reopening, and to listening as I have, along the way here to listening to their ideas and incorporating them in the phased-in plan so we can get everybody back to work, back to school.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,253 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 92 additional deaths.
- Cook County: 1 male 30s, 1 female 40s, 3 males 40s, 3 females 50s, 1 male 50s, 8 females 60s, 10 males 60s, 6 females 70s, 11 males 70s, 3 females 80s, 7 males 80s, 4 females 90s, 3 males 90s, 1 female 100+
- DuPage County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+
- Jasper County: 1 male 90s
- Jefferson County: 1 male 80s, 1 male 100+
- Kane County: 1 male 50s, 2 females 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 female 90s
- Kendall County: 1 male 90s
- Lake County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
- Madison County: 1 male 80s
- McHenry County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 80s
- Shelby County: 1 male 70s
- St. Clair County: 1 female 70s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s
- Vermilion County: 1 male 70s
- Will County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 50,355 cases, including 2,215 deaths, in 96 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 14,478 specimens for a total of 256,667.
Germany faces the prospect of returning to a stricter lockdown after a surge in coronavirus infections and deaths.
The country has slowly been easing its lockdown after faring much better than its European neighbors as a result of an aggressive policy of mass testing.
But the country’s virus reproduction rate - known as “R” - which measures how many people the average person with Covid-19 infects has bounced back to just below one.
That means one person with the virus infects one other on average. Earlier this month, the rate was at 0.7. […]
Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned if the R rate increases even slightly above 1 then the country’s health service faces being overwhelmed.
“If we get to a point where each patient is infecting 1.1 people, then by October we will be back at the limits of our health system in terms of intensive-care beds,” she said.
“If we get to 1.2 . . . then we will hit the full capacity of our health system as early as July.
Earlier this month, the country took its first step to gradually restart public life as the propagation rate of the virus fell.
Small retailers with a surface area of up to 8,600 square feet, car and bicycle dealerships, as well as bookstores, were allowed to reopen while keeping social distancing in place. Next week, some students are expected to return to school.
Illinois Department of Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike on Monday said the most recent confirmed R0 figure for Illinois was 1.4 — a number epidemiologists use to determine the reproductive ratio of a virus — or how fast a virus is spreading in a given population.
Illinois’ R0, or R naught, value is decreasing, but hasn’t yet fallen enough yet to let up on the state’s stay-at-home order, Ezike said. The R0 value is the reproductive ratio of a virus.
Germany didn’t start to reopen until it was at R0.7 and now it’s rising again. Illinois is somewhere around R1.4. But, hey, a few folks are screaming about reopening right away, so let’s listen to them!
Jacksonville Republican Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer said Wednesday Illinois lawmakers should be called back to Springfield to vote on whether to extend the state-at-home order that Gov. JB Pritzker is planning to extend.
Davidsmeyer, along with Reps. Norine Hammond of Macomb and Dan Ugaste of Geneva, contended that Pritzker does not have the authority to extend the order beyond its original 30 days. Pritzker declared the original order – which was to expire April 30 – will be extended until the end of May, although with modifications.
“What we are talking about here is the governor’s authority to go past that 30 days of emergency power,” Davidsmeyer said. “Whether you agree with the governor or disagree with the governor, we believe that a separate but equal branch of the government, the General Assembly, should have input in the direction of the state of Illinois.”
So far, there has been no public commentary by either House Speaker Madigan or Senate President Harmon about reconvening.
The Woodford County state’s attorney said he will not enforce Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order extension at the county level.
State’s attorney Greg Minger sent an email to chief deputy of the Woodford County Sheriff’s Office Dennis Tipsword this week, essentially saying he will not prosecute those who violate the governor’s order. He said the people should determine what is best and safest for them and their community, whether that means staying home or going back to work and opening nonessential businesses.
“I cannot let the powers that be continue to impose their will on the people in violation of separation of powers, due process, and our most basic concepts of liberty and freedom for all,” Minger wrote. “We need to live in a world with COVID-19…no doubt about it. But the basic ideals our country were established on and that people have fought so hard for over the past more than 200 years cannot be eroded in this way.”
Aurora Sportsmen’s club today issued letters of inquiry to Governor Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raul, and Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Erin Guthrie seeking rationale for the governor’s executive orders and the subsequent rule-making surrounding them. Additionally, a letter was sent to Attorney General Barr alerting him to what we believe is an overreach of the governor’s emergency authority in prohibiting constitutionally protected activities.
Over the past three weeks members of our board of directors have reached out to State of Illinois and DeKalb County officials for a clear explanation for the reasons ASC can not operate beyond the fact that we were not specifically named as an essential business in the governor’s executive orders. None have been provided. We are now publicly seeking answers.
While some firing ranges are allowed to operate under the Governor’s March 20th, 2020 Executive Order #10, ranges that do not have a retail presence selling firearms or firearms related accessories or ammunition have been told they are to remain closed.
Aurora Sportsmen’s Club believes the mandated closure of shooting ranges that do not have a retail presence is unconstitutional under Heller v. District of Columbia, McDonald v. City of Chicago, and particularly Ezell v. City of Chicago.
We believe that if dog groomers and marijuana dispensaries, neither of which are protected by an enumerated constitutional right, are allowed to operate, then shooting ranges such as Aurora Sportsmen’s Club should be allowed to operate as well.
Aurora Sportsmen’s Club continues to weigh it’s legal options and the responses to our letters of inquiry from government officials in Springfield will weigh heavily on our decisions moving forward.
The Harrisburg City Council decided not to defy Illinois Gov. J.B. Prtizker’s stay-at-home order by allowing retailers, hair and nail salons to open May 1 as Mayor John McPeek originally proposed. Instead, McPeek and council members opted for a softer approach. They are encouraging area government and business leaders to write letters to the governor asking that he begin to take steps to further loosen restrictions in areas with relatively few COVID-19 cases.
During a special meeting Tuesday morning broadcast via Zoom, the council heard from several Harrisburg business owners who believe they should be able to begin accepting clients again, with restrictions. But McPeek said the potential consequences are too risky for the city to endorse a policy in opposition to the state’s. Some of the business owners also said that, while they want to open, it would not be worth it for barbers, cosmetologists and aestheticians to risk their state licensure.
Protesters who want Gov. J.B. Pritzker to announce a plan to reopen the Illinois economy have scheduled a Friday rally outside the Thompson Center in the Loop. […]
The Loop event is being organized by Freedom Movement USA, which on its website describes itself as “a group of like-minded Republican activists.” The organization has held pro-President Donald Trump rallies in other parts of the state.
I looked around Facebook and this is a pretty small group.
Chicago area unemployment reached 4.8% in March as coronavirus took its toll. Experts say that number will jump in April.
Experimental drug remdesivir proved effective against COVID-19 in major study, drugmaker Gilead says
Trump order keeps meatpacking plants open, but unions say workers unsafe
Voices of the pandemic: How the coronavirus changes the lives of Chicagoans, in their own words
Divvy extends free rides for health care workers, lower charges for others
Medline wants FDA approval to sterilize N95 masks with ethylene oxide. Two other federal agencies are against it, citing cancer risks for health care workers.
Illinois COVID-19 restrictions will ease for nonessential retailers and animal groomers, but it won’t be business as usual
* Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney on Monday…
Counsel, I couldn’t agree with you more that it’s no joke and, while we’re on that subject since you brought it up, at a recent press conference, this Governor was asked by a reporter what about easing restrictions in counties in Illinois that don’t have COVID or don’t need it, and his response was, wait for it, laughter. I agree. It ain’t funny.
His comment is getting some play on social media, but he didn’t quite explain the question Pritzker was asked.
Many people in rural parts of the state want to quarantine Chicago and the suburbs and reopen parts of Downstate Illinois that aren’t seeing infection rates like the urban areas. Why has the state not done that?
I, I’m, I’m not sure how to answer that except that this virus knows no boundaries, folks. No one is immune from this virus, no matter where you live and we are trying to take into account the differences between population density in one area of the state, versus another and you’re seeing that in the executive order, the modifications to the executive order that we put out today.
…Adding… Just for clarification, the question was read by Pritzker’s press secretary. The question was submitted online by Daily Herald reporter Jake Griffin.
* The Question: How would you have reacted? Make sure to explain your response. Thanks.
* As we discussed yesterday, Rep. John Cabello R-Machesney Park) has filed a lawsuit attempting to void the governor’s executive order. Here are some of the relevant portions…
A. Entering an order declaring the Illinois Legislature specifically delegated the supreme power of isolation and quarantine of its citizens to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Pritzker has no legal authority under the Illinois Constitution to enter isolation or quarantine of Cabello, or any citizen of the State of Illinois similarly situated;
B. Enter an order declaring that Section 1 of the March 20 Executive Order, or any subsequent order issued by Pritzker with substantively the same provision as Section 1 of the March 20 Executive Order, requiring Cabello, and all other citizens similarly situated, to “stay in place” be found void ab initio;
C. Awarding the Plaintiff his costs incurred in this matter as may be allowed by law;
D. That the Court grant such other and further relief as is just and proper. […]
A. Entering an order declaring Pritzker declared the COVID-19 pandemic a state-wide disaster on March 09, 2019;
B. Entering an order declaring there has at all times relevant only been one disaster, that being COVID-19.
C. Entering an order declaring the April 01 Proclamation was acknowledging the same COVID-19 disaster which was declared on March 09, 2020.
D. Entering an order declaring the emergency powers granted Pritzker as a result of the March 09 Proclamation lapsed on April 08, 2020;
E. Entering an order declaring the emergency powers of section 7 of the IEMAA in March 20 Executive Order lapsed at the end of April 07, 2020 on their own terms;
F. Entering a declaring that Pritzker’s April 01 Executive Order, extending the effective date of his March 20 Executive Order until April 30, 2020, as it relates to the exercise of emergency powers of section 7 of the IEMAA, was in excess of the authority granted him under IEMAA;
G. Enter an order declaring that any further exercise by Pritzker of the emergency powers enumerated within section 7 of the IEMAA, attempting to be enforced subsequent to April 08, 2020 are void ab initio; […]
A) Entering an order finding Section 1 of the March 20 Executive Order is void as it violates the procedural due process rights of Cabello, and all citizens similarly situated;
B) Entering an order finding Section 1 of the March 20 Executive Order is void as it violates the substantive due process rights of Cabello, and all citizens similarly situated;
C) Entering an order that any subsequent orders issued by Pritzker with substantively the same provision of Section 1 of the March 20 Executive Order is void ab initio; […]
A. Finding that Cabello, and all citizens similarly situated have a right, to insist from Pritzker that Section 1 of his March 20 Executive Order, or any subsequent order issued with substantively the same restrictions, must have been issued within any authority delegated by the legislature or from any authority granted him from the Constitution, and ; and
B. Finding that Cabello, and all citizens similarly situated have a right, to insist form Pritzker that Section 1 of his March 20 Executive Order, any subsequent order issued with substantively the same restrictions, must still be valid and not have lapsed by the express language of the IMEAA;
Void ab initio means “to be treated as invalid from the outset.” And I still say that the EO does not command anyone to be isolated or quarantined.
Enter an injunction permanently enjoining Pritzker, or anyone under his authority, from enforcing the March 20 Executive Order, any subsequent order issued with substantively the same restrictions, against Cabello, and all citizens similarly situated, from this date forward.
Enter an injunction permanently enjoining Pritzker from entering any further executive orders against Cabello, and all citizens similarly situated, from restricting their freedom of movement to leave their homes and further restricted the activities they might engage within the entire State of Illinois.
*** UPDATE *** Jordan Abudayyeh…
This callous disregard for science, reason, and the value of human life will be settled by the courts. The governor is focused on the statewide response to COVID-19, an effort that is not just legal, but is keeping people safe and saving lives.
Wednesday, Apr 29, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
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Illinois Retail Merchants Association’s Rob Karr said retailers have been working with the governor’s office, but something has to give for businesses on the brink of breaking.
“Because they’re watching an entire life savings, sometimes decades of family work, evaporating,” Karr said. “Many of them are telling me absent some kind of opening, they won’t make it to June 1.”
Karr said as policymakers and industries have worked well on the fly for solutions during the virus outbreak, there is a concern there could be rolling economic shutdowns if public health issues flare-up in the future.
“We as a society, we as businesses, employers, the government, have to learn how to live, how to coexist with COVID-19”
I don’t disagree that we have to figure this out, but you don’t send people back into the fire while it’s still raging and it sure looks like we are still at the peak of this thing.
2019 normal will never exist again. We have to figure out how to operate and fight through a world where coronavirus exists. If we just wait for what, you know, everybody hopes is gonna happen, which is the disease goes away, and it doesn’t, and we haven’t planned for the– for the other case, we’re in a bad situation.
That’s correct, but even the greatest military the world has ever seen doesn’t have this figured out yet. I mean, one of the people 60 Minutes interviewed was Air Force Brig. Gen. Pete Fesler, who was speaking from a bunker “underneath 1,500 feet of granite” in Colorado. Visitors and new workers must be quarantined for two weeks before they can enter.
So, yeah, I’ll stay home, thank you very much.
* And as long as the military doesn’t quite know what to do, I’m sure as heck not listening to people like this…
Ken Cooley, of ShapeMaster Inc. in Champaign County, said workers were already practicing such measures as they make things for hand sanitizer plants starting up in central Illinois and even components for COVID-19 antibody testing. […]
“It’s got to be opened and it’s got to be opened now.”
This virus is clearly a serious national security threat. And you don’t have governors and business groups making national security decisions. For the kabillionth time, the federal government needs to get its act together.
Saint Anthony Hospital, a century-old, West Side fixture for poor and uninsured people, is suing the director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services for at least $22 million as it grapples with treating COVID-19 patients.
Theresa Eagleson runs HFS, which oversees the state’s Medicaid health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. In its lawsuit, Saint Anthony said the hospital has less than two days of cash on hand — less than $500,000. That’s because HFS and private health insurers the state has contracts with are slow to pay back Saint Anthony for medical care its doctors provide. Sometimes, the hospital doesn’t get paid at all.
* Kristen has more on Twitter…
It's been a roller coaster ride in Illinois. Hospitals have complained ever since, mostly about private insurers not paying at time or denying other claims. This adds up to a lot of $$ for small hospitals in particular, esp during #COVID19. @WBEZ@WBEZpolitics@IHAhospitals
.@SaintAnthonyHos' lawsuit raises a lot of questions about how transparent IL Medicaid & the health insurers it contracts are when it comes to how much they actually owe hospitals & and how much they pay.
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services “has been working with the hospital for several weeks to address the hospital’s claim that it has not received all of the payments it is due,” DHFS Director of Communications and Public Affairs John Hoffman told Bloomberg Law. The hospital hasn’t yet provided the state with information demonstrating it’s due any payment, he said. “It is unfortunate that the hospital has chosen the path of litigation instead of continuing to discuss its concerns with” DHFS, he said.
Total deaths in seven states that have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic are nearly 50 percent higher than normal for the five weeks from March 8 through April 11, according to new death statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is 9,000 more deaths than were reported as of April 11 in official counts of deaths from the coronavirus.
The new data is partial and most likely undercounts the recent death toll significantly. But it still illustrates how the coronavirus is causing a surge in deaths in the places it has struck, probably killing more people than the reported statistics capture. These increases belie arguments that the virus is only killing people who would have died anyway from other causes. Instead, the virus has brought a pattern of deaths unlike anything seen in recent years. […]
We compared these provisional death counts with the average number of deaths each week over the past five years. Public health researchers use the term “excess deaths” to describe a gap between recent trends and a typical level of deaths.
It’s difficult to know whether the differences between excess deaths and the official counts of coronavirus deaths reflect an undercounting of coronavirus deaths or a surge in deaths from other causes. It’s probably a mix of both.
If those percentages hold up, by my count that would mean around 1,190 2,237 more excess deaths as of yesterday than the latest reported 2,125 COVID-19 total [Thanks to a mathematician for the correct forumla: 2,125*1,400/682 - 2,125 = 2,237]
* Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Thomas Verticchio at Monday’s Clay County hearing on Rep. Darren Bailey’s lawsuit…
Jasper County, 42 cases, less than 10,000 residents in the county. As a result, it suffers one of the highest per capita infection rates in Illinois. Its rates are doubling every three days.
Jefferson County is one of the few to exceed Jasper. Its rates double every two and a half days. Randolph County, one of the fastest doubling rates in the state.
Those doubling rates are scary high.
But, hey, you say, the problem is mainly confined to nursing homes and other congregate settings. But, as I keep saying, these facilities do not exist in a vacuum. Sometimes residents leave (perhaps transported to a hospital) and come back. Staff comes and goes, three shifts a day. They go home. They or their family members go shopping. The virus then gets into the community and most of our rural areas have few hospital resources to deal with the sickness and there’s a very real risk of being overrun.
* Springfield, thankfully, has plenty of hospital capacity, but the point about staff still stands. Here’s Bernie…
Forty new positive COVID-19 cases — including residents and staff — were reported Tuesday at The Villas East nursing home in Sherman, according to the Sangamon Department of Public Health.
The new totals were reported as tests have now been administered to most staff and residents, according to the county spokesman, Jeff Wilhite.
Wilhite said the newly reported cases included 20 residents and 20 staff members, bringing total positive cases at the facility to 46 residents, including five who died, and 35 staff members. […]
Among staff, there were two men and three women in their 20s, one man and three women in their 30s, five women in their 40s, one man and two women in their 50s, and one man and two women in their 60s.
The Gilster Mary-Lee Corp. baking mix plant in Steeleville will shut down for two full weeks after Friday, as the manufacturer and the Randolph County Health Department try to stem the tide of coronavirus cases that continues to plague the company and the county. […]
The Randolph County Health Department announced Tuesday that another 29 positive cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the county’s total to 138 - 86 of them active. Randolph County is currently ranked fifth among Illinois counties in infection rate, behind only Cook County, Jasper County, Lake County and Will County.
According to Oathout, fully 75% of all Randolph County’s COVID-19 cases can be traced to Gilster Mary-Lee plants in Chester and Steeleville.
Workers go home and live their lives, and that means the virus gets spread further.
are cancelled. The deadline for House Bills out of Committees, which had previously been rescheduled for May 7, will be extended to Friday, May 15. The 3rd Reading deadline for House Bills, which had previously been rescheduled for May 15, will be extended to Friday, May 22. The deadline for Senate Bills out of Committees will be extended from May 15 to Friday, May 29, and the 3rd Reading deadline for Senate Bills will be extended from May 22 to Sunday, May 31.
