Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Pritzker warns businesses, while Birx says closures won’t be enough

Posted in:

Illinois

As Illinois smashed another daily record with 4,942 new coronavirus cases reported Thursday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker threw down the gauntlet to suburban bar and restaurant owners threatening to flout his latest restrictions on indoor drinking and dining.

The Democratic governor issued his harshest warning yet to potential scofflaws before his indoor dining ban goes into effect Friday in Will, Kankakee, Kane and DuPage counties, where COVID-19 infection rates are soaring to new highs.

But some owners say they will still seat customers inside, arguing the latest rollback means a “death sentence” for their businesses after months of struggling to stay afloat while following guidelines and avoiding outbreaks.

“If people are going to force us, because they won’t follow the mitigations, and they’re going to let people get sick in their business, then we’re going to take this very seriously,” Pritzker said at a downstate coronavirus briefing. “If we have to stop them from doing business because they’re helping to spread this disease and get people sick, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

“We are now seeing the entire state is moving up in terms of hospitalizations, in terms of ICU beds, ventilators and death,” Pritzker said, pointing to “dozens of studies” showing bars and restaurants have proven to be fertile grounds for COVID-19 transmission.

* Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks…

“It is very serious right now, folks, and if we need to close down restaurants and bars, or take away their liquor licenses, take away their gaming licenses, we will do that,” Pritzker said during his daily coronavirus briefing at the St. Clair County Health Department in Belleville. “Because we are now heading into a peak that is beyond, potentially, where we were in March and April.”

Pritzker said the Illinois State Police will issue warnings and citations to businesses that don’t adhere to the rules, and the state will use its authority over liquor and gambling licenses if necessary.

“I think you know I’ve been reluctant to do this before because it has a very serious implication for the future of a business,” Pritzker said. “I want businesses to stay in business. I want them to survive.”

Pritzker’s warning came just after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced her own clampdown, including a 10 p.m. curfew starting Friday on nonessential businesses and the suspension of indoor service at taverns and taprooms that don’t serve food

* Meanwhile…

Just hours after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new restrictions on businesses in response to rising COVID-19 cases, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx cautioned that closing public spaces won’t be enough to stop the illness’s spread.

Birx said it’s possible some of the recent spread is happening in people’s homes, during family gatherings, as the weather gets colder. She spoke at a news conference following a private meeting with leaders from Rush University System for Health, Northwestern Medicine and the Illinois and Chicago departments of public health at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Thursday.

“It won’t be as simple as closing public spaces because public spaces … were very safe over the summer and probably remain safe,” Birx said. “This is really something that has happened in the last three to four weeks. What has happened in the last three to four weeks is that people have moved their social gatherings indoors.”

* NYT…

A growing body of research has concluded that the steep drop in economic activity last spring was primarily a result of individual decisions by consumers and businesses rather than legal mandates. People stopped going to restaurants even before governors ordered them shut down. Airports emptied out even though there were never significant restrictions on domestic air travel.

States like Iowa that reopened quickly did have an initial pop in employment and sales. But more cautious states have at least partly closed that gap, and have seen faster economic rebounds in recent months by many measures.

Economists say it is hard to estimate exactly how much economic activity is still being restrained by capacity limits, social-distancing rules and similar policies, many of which have been lifted or loosened even in places governed by Democrats. In most states, restaurants, retail stores and even bars are allowed to operate.

Perhaps the most widespread government action that has hindered economic growth is the decision by many school districts to adopt virtual learning at the start of the school year, which appears to have driven many parents, particularly women, out of the labor force to care for young children who would otherwise be in class.

But as the pandemic flares again in much of the country, most economists agree this much is clear: The main thing holding back the economy is not formal restrictions. It is people’s continued fear of the virus itself.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 4:02 am

Comments

“Threw down the gauntlet”…”harshest -warning- ever”…

Actions talk louder the words. The sermons are endless. Few people hear this, but had he shut down the restaurants who stuck a middle finger out at him in the Tribune, that message might have gotten through.

Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 7:46 am
Isn’t it the local Health Department’s job To enforce these rules? Threaten their funding and we may see some local level efforts towards compliance. If every community would simply encourage/ require the wearing of a mask we would likely be in much better shape. It amazes me how selfish people are being about this…

Comment by RH Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 8:10 am
Yep, send the Staties in to shut down restaurants. The Visual on that will be very tough to take.

Comment by A Guy Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 8:59 am
And then, you can start sending them into private homes. Even more visually stimulating.

Comment by A Guy Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 9:05 am
=== The Visual on that will be very tough to take.===

Not as bad as the visual of people dying in hospitals… then again… no one allowed to be with love ones in their last moments, so there’s no visual of that… because of the virus.

Money over lives, - A Guy -?

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 9:06 am
This is on us folks and it always has been. Wear a mask, practice social distancing, limit your interactions to what is essential. If the consequence of our actions is that local businesses will be shuttered we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.

Comment by Pundent Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 9:10 am
Just watched a segment on CNN featuring two “watch parties” on Thur night. One was in Normal - outdoors, yes, but few masks (there were a few), little social distancing, etc. All the same stuff. This was a MAGA party.

The other was in Philly - very masked up, very socially-distanced, etc. This party was for Biden.

As if the virus knows the difference.

The Gov seems to be one of the most even-tempered persons in the universe. But I can’t help but sense he’ll get pushed one step too far by some group or other. Maybe when daily cases top 10,000?

Anyway, onward and upward, Normal, Illinois, attaway.

Comment by dbk Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:15 am
“start sending them into private homes”

Better stretch first. That type of knee-jerk will land you in an orthopedist’s office.

Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:26 am
One good thing about this is restaurants and bars are checking out their ventilation systems, and the ones who can afford it are upgrading to a healthier system.

Comment by Mama Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:34 am
==One good thing about this is restaurants and bars are checking out their ventilation systems, and the ones who can afford it are upgrading to a healthier system.==

Are state office buildings also having their ventilation systems checked out too?

Comment by Chatham Resident Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:36 am
=And then, you can start sending them into private homes.=

Now that you’re done hyperventilating, maybe you could tell us what the ILGOP plan is to get control of the virus? Because for all the noise around freedom and not being told what to do, I’m not actually seeing or hearing of an actual plan to put this behind us.

Comment by Pundent Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:36 am
Should the government loan money to bars and restaurants to install a healthy ventilation systems instead of closing the businesses?

Comment by Mama Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:36 am
==Are state office buildings also having their ventilation systems checked out too? ==

- Chatham Resident, I would hope so, but most state buildings are rented - not owned by the state.

Comment by Mama Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:39 am
A friend who lives in Missouri told me people are charged $100 for not wearing a mask. The counties make the decisions down there.

Comment by Mama Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:44 am
Chatham Resident. I have deduced that you are a state employee. If correct, are you working from home during Covid or is your office in leased space or state owned. Thanks.

Comment by don the legend Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:46 am
==A friend who lives in Missouri told me people are charged $100 for not wearing a mask. The counties make the decisions down there.==

I’m all in favor of a similar idea here in Illinois–any little bit of help in our deficit is appreciated.

Comment by Chatham Resident Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:46 am
Don, I’m in a state-owned building, but on break now.

Comment by Chatham Resident Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:47 am
Thanks. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a state owned building to have it’s air exchange system upgraded. Stay safe.

Comment by don the legend Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 10:53 am
==Money over lives, - A Guy -?==

Sure. That’s what I said. Back to e-learning for you.

Comment by A Guy Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 11:28 am
=== That’s what I said.===

Here’s what you “typed”

=== send the Staties in to shut down restaurants. The Visual on that will be very tough to take.===

What exactly are you saying?

Your drive-bys are always vague, maybe you could use e-learning to convey “stuff” with actual words.

I know, like Statehouse Chick… “it’s the reader”, lol

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 11:35 am
Opening up before you have the virus down to extremely low levels is like applying paint over a badly cracked wall without spackling first.

Comment by northsider (the original) Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 11:39 am
Everyone should take a deep breath and read the Lightfoot order.

It restricts private gatherings to no more than 6 people from outside the household.

Closing bars and restaurants now is the price we pay for having them open all summer long.

Its math.

If you wanted bars and restaurants to be operating this fall and winter, or schools, you should have listened to the experts, clamped down hard on the virus this summer, worn masks and stayed six feet apart at all times, so that could happen.

You didnt do that.

Instead you went to Sturgis, had large backyard BBQs, attended maskless campaign rallies, refused to wear masks in stores or enforce mask requirements as business owners…

If you are looking for someone to blame, look at all the choices you made over the last six months, and tell me you did all you could.

Now, do Trump and his party followers bear responsibility for encouraging reckless behavior that ignored science? Absolutely.

Do JB and his crew bear a bit of responsibility for ignoring the realities of human behavior and relying largely on voluntary compliance for five months? I would say so.

But individually, we made choices that collectively got us to where we are today.

The good news is we can make different choices going forward. We can complain the bars are closed, or we can do everyting within the power of each of us to drive the spread of this disease down, including supporting others in making better choices through clearer policies, thorough enforcement, and reinforced science and rationale.

Comment by Thomas Paine Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 11:55 am
===But as the pandemic flares again in much of the country, most economists agree this much is clear: The main thing holding back the economy is not formal restrictions. It is people’s continued fear of the virus itself.===

And there you have it..the case that people can consider the facts and their own experience, and then make decisions for themselves and their families based on the risks, or lack thereof. Government shutdowns can’t be effective in a free society.

The restrictions are advisory at best until someone enforces them…and no one is.

Comment by OOO Friday, Oct 23, 20 @ 1:10 pm