Coronavirus to close restaurants, bars
CDC warns to limit gatherings to 50 people for eight weeks due to COVID-19
You’ll have to get your horseshoe to go at restaurants like Obed & Isaac’s in Springfield during the statewide health-related shutdown of restaurants and bars. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
Gov. Pritzker moved to close restaurants and bars across the state at the end of business Monday after a turbulent weekend in which the coronavirus outbreak spread across the state and the nation.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Sunday that it had registered 93 positive test results for COVID-19 in 13 counties, more than double the 46 reported on Friday. Across the nation, as of Monday morning, there were more than 3,600 cases reported in all states but West Virginia.
At a news conference Sunday in Chicago, Pritzker was clearly irritated with young adults who jammed bars on Saturday ahead of St. Patrick’s Day after he had asked Illinois residents on Friday to stay home over the weekend to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“It’s unfortunate that many people didn’t take that seriously,” he said. “The time for persuasion and public appeals is over — the time for action is here. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this, and you have an obligation to act in the best interests of all the people of this state.”
As European nations struggled with the pandemic — with Italy announcing 368 deaths on Sunday alone, bringing its death toll to 1,809 as the global count topped 6,500 — Pritzker announced all Illinois bars and restaurants would be closed to customers at the end of business Monday. Deliveries and pickups will be allowed.
He announced on Friday that all schools serving kindergarten through high school will be closed for at least two weeks starting Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, advised on Sunday that all public gatherings be limited to 50 people for eight weeks to slow the spread of the disease.
Since its outbreak in Wuhan, China, at the very end of last year, not three months ago, COVID-19 has consistently been found to leave 80 percent of those infected with what resembles a severe cold or flu, while 20 percent require hospitalization, 5 percent require intensive care, and between 1 and 2 percent die. That threatens to overwhelm hospitals, as has been the case in Italy, which is why Pritzker and other public health leaders have repeatedly spoken of “bending the curve” on the outbreak, meaning to slow the inevitable spread of the virus and enable hospitals to keep up with the pandemic as much as possible.
“This is another hard step to take,” Pritzker acknowledged. “I know how difficult this will be on small businesses around the state. But we must do everything we can to safeguard the health of the citizens of Illinois, and that requires this urgent action.”
Calling it a “make or break moment,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot endorsed the shutdown, saying, “The city of Chicago is working to safeguard the health of our communities at every level of our operations. We are resilient, and we are all in this together.”
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, also backed the extreme measures. “Public safety is the No. 1 concern of the Illinois Restaurant Association,” he said. “First and foremost, we want to protect the health of our customers and team members. We remain vigilant in helping employers to navigate the immediate challenges that come with this rapidly changing situation. I want to thank Gov. Pritzker and his team, and Mayor Lightfoot and her team, for leading us.”
Rick Bayless, the noted Chicago chef who’s created a series of world-renowned Mexican restaurants, likewise endorsed the closings, but also called for a robust and immediate government response. He joined about 50 Chicago restaurateurs in issuing a statement on Sunday saying: “Over the last two days we have collectively served thousands of guests who have come out to support our businesses. While we are thankful, and while their support has been in good faith, we have also put ourselves, our employees, and the families of our employees at tremendous personal risk.
“Few workers in Illinois are more vulnerable than these employees,” he added. “And few businesses are more vulnerable than ours.” As such, he called for the governor to immediately support unemployment benefits for all hourly and salaried employees furloughed during the health crisis, as well as halting the payroll tax and calling for rent and loan abatement for affected workers.
Pritzker, who’s been critical of the federal government’s response to the outbreak, tangled with the Trump administration over the weekend after O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and others across the nation were jammed with returning U.S. citizens trying to get through customs. President Trump called for screening of the travelers on Friday, but airports found themselves incapable of dealing with the crush.
In Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot helped alleviate the jam by calling in Fire Department medical technicians to help screen passengers for those registering a fever, and the process proceeded more smoothly. Pritzker applauded the government response on Sunday after he, Lightfoot, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin all pushed for more federal workers at customs.
Pritzker tweeted about what he called the “unacceptable” delays on Saturday, calling Twitter “the only communication medium” that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence “pay attention to.” He pointedly added, “The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW.”
He went on to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, where he said, “They should have increased the customs and Border Patrol numbers, and they should have increased the number of CDC personnel on the ground doing those checks. They did neither of those.”
As a result, thousands were jammed into close quarters for several hours just to go through customs, “and that’s exactly what you don’t want in this pandemic,” Pritzker added.
He said he got a call in response to his tweet late Saturday night from a “White House staffer who yelled at me about the tweet. That is what I got.”
Pritzker and governors across the nation moved to close bars and restaurants in response to the latest health warnings and told the public to brace for a brisk rise in the number of cases as testing for COVID-19 expands after the Trump administration belatedly opened up testing to private firms on Friday as Trump declared a national emergency. “We’re the ones who’ve had to supply the leadership because the federal government just has fallen down on this,” Pritzker said.
“We’re on our own out here,” he added. “I wish we had leadership from Washington, but we’re not getting it.”
He again chided the “many young people who think they’re impervious” and “went out and celebrated,” adding, “People aren’t understanding that, even if you’re healthy, even if you’re young, that you may be a carrier, and you’re going to hand it over to somebody else. … So we need to go on lockdown.”
Pritzker made the decision to close bars and restaurants later in the day, but the Illinois primary will go on as scheduled Tuesday, even as Chicago and other locales struggle to rearrange polling places after many election judges canceled. Pritzker pointed out that many polling places are in schools, and those schools will be empty of students and teachers as of Tuesday, streamlining the voting process.
Again, everyone is warned to take the same precautions as in avoiding influenza to prevent spread of the virus, including regular hand washing, blocking coughs and sneezes with the arms, and staying home if sick. Practice “social distancing” of staying six feet apart, and avoid large gatherings in general.