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* The governor made a bit of news at his news media briefing today…
I also want to provide an update for our residents who are at risk of losing their housing. Because of this pandemic. Since March we’ve protected millions of Illinoisans by banning residential evictions. Today I’m extending that moratorium through August 22.
I take this step today because I want to ensure that we have support in places in place so that we have support in place for those who are most vulnerable. As many of you know, we worked with the General Assembly to put in place two programs to help those whose housing is insecure, one for renters, and one for homeowners. Each distributing $150 million.
Starting the week of August 10, applications will open for renters. And then the week of August 28 for homeowners. Through the fall recipients will be awarded grants of $5,000 for renters, and up to $15,000 for homeowners. And meanwhile we continue to explore partnerships and ways that we can provide additional support for many people their ability to weather this crisis hinges on their ability to keep a roof over their family’s heads. It’s not enough to say that we want to build a more just and equitable state on the other side of this pandemic. We have to take tangible action to get there. Today marks another step forward, though, frankly, our work is not done.
I’ll be back with the Q&A in a bit. Please pardon all transcription errors.
* Before taking questions, Pritzker said this…
Before I take questions I also want to take a moment to address the violence that too many residents are experiencing in their communities. As Governor I have and will continue to invest in communities that have been neglected for far too long.
Earlier today, I also spoke to the head of the Chicago office of the FBI to convey my long standing position I welcome legitimate resources from the federal government to reduce violence and help our residents stay safe. That can mean getting illegal guns off the street or investigating criminal enterprises, and I welcome the support for our local and state efforts to reduce crime.
But let’s be clear. That also means we must invest in our schools, in our physical and mental health services in workforce development programs that build up opportunity where years of disinvestment have hollowed it out. If you want to fix a problem, you start with the roots of the problem.
But what I will not stand for are efforts that undermine civil rights and civil liberties, like what’s happening in Portland, conducted anonymously under the cover of darkness and with no transparency. Any effort from the federal government to undermine the basic freedoms this nation has in its best moment aspired to protect will be met with resistance from this state government.
* He was then asked about the Portland issue and his conversation with DHS…
The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security did not return my phone call and said that he would not over the next 48 hours. So that’s what happened in that call ytesterday. I have worked tirelessly over the last few days, speaking with not only the mayor but the Attorney General to coordinate activities that we might engage in, if we need to push back on some force of the Federal Protective Services that might arrive, the kinds of issues that are on the ground in Portland. And so we’re, you know, we’re talking about that working that out. We are hopeful that that will not be the case. We know that the ATF the FBI, the DEA are coming to and are in Chicago, engaged in activities to help our local law enforcement, the state police are engaged in that, Chicago police departments, police departments across the state, in fact, are engaged in that and that seems legitimate activity to go after criminal enterprises, and I encourage that. We need to get violence and criminal enterprises shut down.
* What about imposing a quarantine on visits from people in surrounding states?…
So ,let me begin by by doubling down on what you just said, which is every state around us has either double or triple our positivity rate. So this is challenging for us right. And we don’t live in a country where you close the borders between states. And we’re not going to stop people who live in Illinois and work in Wisconsin from doing so.
And you can’t ask somebody who crosses the border every day to go to work, who’s following all the mitigations that we’ve asked, you know, wear a mask, wash your hands all the things we’ve asked them to do. They’re not gathering in large groups, but they go to work every day. You can’t ask them to quarantine for 14 days at a time. So that’s not something that we really can do. We have a lot of border counties in Illinois, where people on one side or the other of the border regularly cross because they have family, or because they work on the other side of the border.
So instead what we need is for Illinoisans to do, frankly, what most people have been doing. But we just need everybody to pay close close attention to this. If you’re not wearing a mask you’re doing it wrong. You have to wear a mask if I told you you could take a pill that would reduce the likelihood of you getting COVID-19 by 80%, you would do it. And that’s what happens when people wear masks, we reduce the likelihood of transmission by 80%.
* He also said this…
We’re encouraging local officials to shut down things, for example like we’re aware of a party bus company in Metro East where people get on and they go from bar to bar to bar. Well guess what happened? Somebody on one of those party buses either contracted it along the way or had it when they went to on a party bus and spread it to the locations that they went to. So the local officials have to be asking themselves, how do we cut down on the spread? Well one way to do that might be to first of all completely disinfect all the buses. Second of all, make sure you’ve got social distancing and third possibly shutting down those party buses.
Pritzker was asked about contact tracing and said tracers were currently reaching about 61 percent of people identified “within a reasonable period of time.”
* There is clearly not a flattening now, right?…
Dr. Ezike: We have seen an increase in cases and I know some people say, oh it’s just because there’s more testing. There’s a way to look at that, actually, if you do more testing your positivity should actually go down the more testing you do. So for it to even stay about flat suggests that there’s increased transmission. So yes we’re seeing increased transmission. Some of it was predictable, as we opened up more we have you know places at 25% capacity 50% capacity places that were completely closed, you know, personal services all the kind of movies and going from groups of 10 to groups of 50, of course, we can imagine that there’s more opportunity for the virus to be spread and in fact, that has been the case. And so, we needed to have the opening and the increased ability to do more things we needed that to be coupled with like 100% masking and distancing. And so I think our rates are probably high, but we really need like full hundred percent compliance to really try to keep our rates, where they were or keep them lowering so we’re in, you know, in treating or asking for the public to continue supporting us with that encourage people who aren’t doing it, why they should we need everybody to be on the same page for this.
* The governor also stepped in to warn bar owners…
There’s no doubt about it, we need to increasing masking not decrease, and we’re never going to get to 100% but that’s our goal anyway we want everybody to wear a mask, everybody who’s medically able and an old enough to be able to keep a mask on. But the other thing I’d point out is that as you open things up, what happens is some bar owners, for example, go beyond the capacity limits that we’ve allowed. And that is when you really run into trouble because it’s already difficult enough in bars. … Guess what your you know your droplets are greater because you’re drinking. And people tend to be yelling or shouting or speaking louder than they normally do because there’s music playing. And so there’s greater risk. And that’s why we’ve kept the capacity limits where they are. But when people don’t abide by those when bars don’t abide by those, it really creates a problem and that isn’t the only place I’m not just calling them out but I just want to be clear that just opening up doesn’t mean that we’re going to have a problem. It’s opening up and then having people not abide by the rules, and understand that opening up means having a greater attention to wearing a mask.
* IDPH is now reporting probable cases, not just confirmed cases. Why?…
Dr. Ezike: Yeah, the CDC started putting those metrics out there, probable cases. I lose track of dates in COVID world, but I think it’s been, I think it’s, it’s been more than three or four weeks that they were going to put up probable cases. And so they’re asking us to put forth the problem cases probable cases are people who were contacts of confirmed case that then develops similar symptoms in the timeframe that would suggest that, in fact, you know this person had covid you lived with them. We didn’t test you but you had all the symptoms and you know you had this direct epidemiologic link, you probably had it too. So those are the probable cases so if the lab wasn’t done for that second individual, but all signs point to being. This was COVID, then that’s a probable case and so the CDC has been asking us to put probable cases we’re trying to put that to be with them. We don’t have, you know, in the beginning when we didn’t have all the testing, right, we know that there were many cases where we would say yeah don’t even try to get a test, you know this person had it, you probably have it just stand out if you get sick go to the hospital, but just stay sequestered you know stay isolated. So there’s lots of probable cases that are not in our total, you are correct.
* Thoughts on President Trump encouraging the wearing of masks?…
It’s never too late to learn more, you know what the right thing to do is. And so I’m very glad that the President did that. I think there are probably a lot of people who follow his every word and now understand that this is the right thing for them to do. We want everybody safe. I don’t care what their politics are. Everybody in Illinois, I want them to wear a mask and if the president comes out in favor of wearing masks which he seemed to yesterday, then I think that can only be a good thing.
* IDES debit card fraud scheme…
So it appears and I’m just giving you what my understanding is now. It appears that in past breaches, we’ve all heard about these massive breaches of systems of corporations, and then they warn you, go get your credit report, and so on. Many people don’t do that. Many people don’t respond properly to that.
So all of that information is being held by somebody, some hacker right, who wants to use it at some point in the future, and waits a long enough period of time until they can find the right thing to do without you paying a lot of attention. And so they hold on to the information and this apparently this program the federal government set up was something that was attractive to those hackers. And so that’s the, the fraud has been engaged in by them with information that they obtained in some other capacity, and they you know that it’s not that they’re breaching our systems is they’re applying in the normal way that people apply to get these programs and payments to them. Using the names that they’ve gotten now how they would obtain them from somebody’s mailbox if it were sent to somebody. I’m not sure. There’s a lot of federal investigation going on and I’m hopeful that they’ll get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. We want to warn everybody.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 12:21 pm
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Considering how the pandemic has taken off, that was extremely selfish and reckless behavior. It was just plain stupid to have that bus running at this time.
Comment by Ginhouse Tommy Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 12:49 pm
Party bus. Wow that sure sounds like a great idea
If there is rent money and mortgage money out there that is great. Cynic that I am I want check to be made out to tenant and landlord or home owner and mortgage company
Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:05 pm
If they are reporting probable cases as positives due to the level of contact, do they add that contact trace to count of tests conducted? Do contacts that were traced that were deemed not sufficient enough to count as a positive case as a negative test?
Transparency would be helpful. I would read about how they were doing this if I could find the information.
Comment by essentially working Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:14 pm
Perhaps some state guidance to school districts that online learning is the likely scenario for the 2020-21 school year is in order to prevent school districts from wasting resources (and fighting contentious local battles)trying to provide an in class learning option while the virus expands into shut down territory?
Currently many school districts are ignoring the need to develop and provide a quality online option that parents can successfully teach their kids during the school year.
Comment by Pascal Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:21 pm
Love to hear Blue Dog Dem’s take on party buses during phase 4.
Comment by Almost the weekend Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:29 pm
estore Illinois IDPH Plan, Phase 3, “HOW WE MOVE TO THE NEXT PHASE” https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restore-illinois-phase-3
Tracing: Begin contact tracing and monitoring within 24 hours of diagnosis for more than 90% of cases in region
I still remain baffled and frustrated that Illinois completely ignored this key requirement and nobody seems to be holding the public officials accountable for the completely predictable rise in cases.
Comment by brickle Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:36 pm
The “party bus” is unfortunate and stupid, but who was it that completely ignored the Phase 4 requirements and reopened bars and indoor dining?
I’m tired of public officials making predictably bad choices like this and then scolding people.
Comment by brickle Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:37 pm
Party buses? I saw one cruising thru Old Town with the music cranked in Chicago on my way to a July 4th weekend dinner. It was not packed but still just about fell over.
Lot of Chicago bar owners despise them anyway (because sudden visits of unannounced groups of 20-40 who’ve been pounding drinks already on the bus almost never work out well).
Comment by ChicagoBars Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:57 pm
=== We needed to have the opening and the increased ability to do more things we needed that to be coupled with like 100% masking and distancing ===
First of all, whose idea was it to have a reopening plan that assumed 100 percent masking and social distancing?
2) if 100 % masking and distancing is necessary, why isnt the governor enforcing it?
3) if it is nessary, he isnt going to enforce it, and it is not happening on its own, why hasnt he rolled back the reopening to match te reality of mask compliance?
Comment by Thomas Paine Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 1:59 pm
=== You can’t ask them to quarantine for 14 days at a time. ===
But the Governor can ask executive branch employees to report to their supervisors any travel into hot spots, other states, etc, so arrangements can be made to not allow them to return to their work sites until after a 14 day period, especially when they’re able to work from home.
This is important as more and more of the Governor’s agencies move towards reopening in broader capacities at a time when transmission of the virus is at a higher rate than when those offices were closed.
Comment by Candy Dogood Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 2:16 pm
“I still remain baffled and frustrated that Illinois completely ignored this key requirement and nobody seems to be holding the public officials accountable for the completely predictable rise in cases.”
We seem to spend more time laughing at other states than actually making sure we have our own act together.
You’ll notice that the Governor just vaguely addresses one part of the contact tracing metric.
First he says that they are contacting just 61% in a “reasonable” time. What does that mean? He can tell you but he won’t.
Second, that’s just 61% of those identified. I’ve never heard (but perhaps it’s out there) how many people are cooperating in the contact tracing. If the compliance rate was 75% (I kinda doubt it’s that high, but how knows) that would mean that just 45% of close contacts in Illinois are being contacted.
I have no idea how any of that compares to other places.
Comment by Accounting Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 2:31 pm
===We seem to spend more time laughing at other states===
Don’t argue like a child.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 2:35 pm
I would assume Pritzker will extend the eviction moratorium until September. If not, that would spell disaster if the select few who can get relief since the application period isn’t opening until late August.
Comment by twowaystreet Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 2:46 pm
We have double the population of Missouri, but 7x the number of deaths, so we must be doing something right /s
Comment by Gene Gene Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 2:54 pm
===7x the number of deaths===
Lagging indicator.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 3:01 pm
By a multiplier of 7 ? I can’t see that, especially when their case count follows the same trend.
Comment by Gene Gene Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 3:11 pm
Well deaths are not just a lagging indicator but the health care providers have learned from NYC, Chicago, Venice etc how to treat the illness better. It’s a good argument for why you don’t want everyone to get sick at once to get it over with. Stretching out the infections means you learn what works and then you can apply that knowledge and have less deaths over time.
So it’s not just Remdesivir or steroids but also blood thinners being routinely given and not using respirators unless there is no other hope (so stomaching patients or providing oxygen through the nose etc.)
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 3:12 pm
== the kinds of issues that are on the ground in Portland.==
JB has a lot more faith in the feds than I do. Since there aren’t constant ongoing protests in Chicago, trump’s BORTAC goons will have to work extra hard to find excuses for kidnapping citizens off the streets.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 3:25 pm
Let’s have people wear color-coded hats, red if you were on a party bus, went to a bar, etc, Blue if you social distance and green if you social distance and wear a mask everywhere.
Comment by pool boy Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 3:34 pm
=== Lagging indicator ===
We are about six or seven days behind on test results right now? They are all lagging indicators, some more lagging than others.
And it sounds like the testing delays are about to get much, much worse as demand is increasing, so we once again find ourselves flying blind.
What we can see is that waitinf to do something you are going to have to do eventually means saving fewer lives, and taking more restrictive action for a longer period of time.
People are going to second guess no matter what. I would rather be accused of acting prematurely and erring on the side of human lives.
Comment by Thomas Paine Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 3:51 pm
This is the breaking point for some landlords. Great, eviction moratoriums, yet let the expenses roll on for those who provide housing for our citizens. We’ll see if those grants come through for the average delinquent renter.
Comment by Southwest Sider Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 5:23 pm
Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t seen the Governor pressed on the question “if masks are so effective, why is there such little enforcement of mask mandates?” If Australia can do it (with tremendous results), why can’t we?
Comment by lake county democrat Wednesday, Jul 22, 20 @ 6:04 pm
I am concerned about utilities. The Liheap program begins on the 27th, but my electric service will be disconnected on the 28th. I’ve spoken to my company and told them that I will be applying for the grant, but they told me that they won’t continue my service until I can get the grant.
There needs to be a Moratorium On disconnections. They aren’t giving people enough time to apply and receive the grants.
I also believe that the eviction moratorium needs to be extended past August 22nd. If the application date is August 10th, then 12 days is not long enough to file and receive the renters grant.
Now my thought on kids returning to school, that should be no. I agree with the remote learning. I am not going to send my daughter to school around other children that won’t keep their masks on. I do not want her exposed to the virus. She has a compromised immune system.
Comment by Kathy Lynn Billingsley Friday, Jul 24, 20 @ 10:13 am