Pritzker stresses COVID-19 danger across state
Guv blasts Rep. Bailey suit against stay-home order, says new court ruling ‘has put the people of Illinois at risk’
Gov. Pritzker emphasized the danger COVID-19 presents across the state at his daily coronavirus briefing Monday. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
The governor emphasized the risk of COVID-19 infection across the state Monday before blasting a new court ruling against the stay-at-home order intended to limit spread of the disease.
“The question boils down to life and death,” Gov. Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus briefing at the Thompson Center in Chicago. “The stay-at-home order has prevented tens of thousands of illnesses and thousands of deaths.”
But Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney ruled against the order on Monday and found in favor of a suit filed by state Rep. Darren Bailey of Xenia against Pritzker’s extension of the order to May 30, although even Bailey granted that the actual restraining order signed by the judge only applied to himself.
On a day Illinois reported 50 new deaths, bringing the statewide toll to 1,983, Pritzker called Bailey’s suit “an insult to all Illinoisans who have been lost during this COVID-19 crisis, and it’s a danger to millions of people who may get ill because of his recklessness. At best, no one is better off because of this ruling, and at worst people’s health and safety will suffer tremendously.”
Pritzker said Attorney General Kwame Raoul was already at work on a court stay preserving the order. He urged Illinoisans to continue to follow the guidelines for social distancing and limiting contact with others. “This ruling has put the people of Illinois at risk,” he said. Calling the suit and the ruling “insulting” and “dangerous,” Pritzker said, “That is the danger Darren Bailey has put the state in.”
Calling the ruling “troubling and wrong,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot chimed in, saying, “One of the many problems with this ill-advised opinion is that it will destroy the collective progress we have made, giving Illinoisans the wrong impression that we have beaten the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Earlier in the briefing, Pritzker emphasized that COVID-19 is a statewide concern, despite the large number of cases in Chicago and suburban Cook County. He cited how Jasper County outside Effingham and Randolph County south of St. Louis on the Mississippi River were both among the top five statewide in infections per capita, while Jasper and Monroe County, just north of Randolph, were the top two counties in COVID-19 deaths per capita.
“That means you’re more likely to die of COVID-19 if you live in either of those counties than if you live in Chicago or in Cook County,” Pritzker pointed out. “No matter where you live, we want you to be healthy and safe.”
“There are still people out there who are not taking this pandemic seriously,” said Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. She reported 1,980 new COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the state total to 45,883. The state again topped Pritzker’s goal of 10,000 tests a day, with 12,676.
Ezike stressed new COVID-19 symptoms recently adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to the previous fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, the CDC warned of new symptoms including chills, repeated shaking from chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and the loss of taste or smell.
“I can see that people want to make this a political issue,” Pritzker said. “From my perspective, this is a matter of life and death. We all ought to be on the same side on those subjects. So I’m hoping that this doesn’t devolve into the politics that I think people often at the federal level like to make it.”
He took issue with President Donald Trump and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky over their resistance to an additional coronavirus relief package for states and local governments. Pointing out that Illinois is a donor state, paying more in federal taxes than it gets back, unlike Kentucky, a “recipient state,” he added that “unlike Donald Trump, we proposed and passed and have effectuated a balanced budget for the year that we’re in. Had it not been for coronavirus, we would have had actually a surplus in the state of Illinois.”
Pritzker emphasized, “All states need it now, because coronavirus, COVID-19, has blown a hole in every state budget all across the nation,” adding, “If we don’t get any further federal aid, it will be extremely difficult, not just for the state of Illinois, but for many states.” He also called for aid to smaller local governments, who are also experiencing greatly reduced tax revenue.
Pritzker praised the progress made in slowing the spread of the disease without proclaiming the crisis over. “We are still climbing on our curve,” he said. “It’s a slowing climb, and that’s a good sign.”
Asked if the state had yet reached its peak in the spread of the disease, Ezike said, “We are coming upon it very shortly,” adding, “We don’t know that we’ve passed the peak and heading down until we are.”