Pritzker: Stay home in Illinois
‘The virus knows no boundaries,’ says governor, discouraging trips out of state
The John Deere Pavilion with the TaxSlayer Center in the background in Moline. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
The governor discouraged trips outside of Illinois in no uncertain terms Friday, while announcing he’d be expanding drive-through testing sites across the state next week.
Gov. Pritzker specifically addressed the Quad Cites and Iowa across the Mississippi River in response to a reporter’s question during the daily coronavirus briefing. “I am genuinely concerned that, with no stay-at-home order in place in Iowa, that people who are traveling across the border and gathering in large groups or going into restaurants and bars are getting in close contact with others (and) will asymptomatically come back to Illinois and spread it,” he said. “There is lots of evidence of that sort of spread taking place.
“That’s the reason, remember, originally, for a stay-at-home order,” he added. “We still have a lot of people who are walking around untested who have COVID-19. … So that’s my concern and I would just warn people in the Quad Cities region to be extraordinarily careful.”
He repeated calls to observe the stay-at-home order, and restated that the entire state is on course to move on to the third phase of the Restore Illinois recovery plan in just 14 more days.
Rock Island County has been targeted as one of the Illinois hot spots in the coronavirus pandemic, and according to the national Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center it has 378.5 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents. Davenport, Iowa, across the river is the county seat of Scott County, which has 169 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents, but neighboring Muscatine County in Iowa has 1,200 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents, higher than Chicago’s Cook County with 1,128, and Louisa County, just to the south in Iowa, has 2,605 cases per 100,000 residents.
“The virus knows no boundaries,” Pritzker said. “The virus only knows it is searching for the next person to infect.”
“The virus knows no boundaries. The virus only knows it is searching for the next person to infect.”
Gov. Pritzker (Illinois.gov)
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court struck down the governor’s stay-at-home order this week in what many regarded as a partisan decision, prompting bars to immediately open and welcome crowds of customers. Pritzker warned neighboring states could face a reckoning, as people gathering will surely spread the outbreak.
Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike reported 2,432 new COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the state total to 90,369. Some 130 new deaths took the statewide toll to 4,058. But the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals, under intensive care, and on ventilators all declined again day to day. The 26,565 tests conducted produced just a 9 percent positivity rate.
“The positivity rate in Illinois is coming down,” Pritzker said, citing how it stood at 12 percent over the last seven days, was under 14 percent for the last 14 days, and stood at 23.6 percent as recently as April 4.
“Testing is fundamental to our ability to reopen the economy while controlling the spread of the virus,” Pritzker said. “That’s what it takes to keep the public safe while getting people back to work and back into the world.”
Illinois has more than 250 COVID-19 testing sites across the state, including seven drive-through locations. The governor announced new drive-through locations opening next week on Chicago's South Side and in Champaign, Rolling Meadows, and Peoria, which will also offer walk-up services. A Bloomington drive-through site Pritzker said has been underused will nonetheless remain open through next Friday.
The Department of Public Health urged all individuals with symptoms to seek free testing at these sites, along with the following individuals with or without COVID-like symptoms:
• Health-care workers
• First responders
• Employees of correctional facilities
• Individuals exposed to confirmed COVID-19 patients
• Employees that support critical infrastructure (grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, gas stations, public utilities, factories, child care and sanitation)
• All local and state government employees and
• Individuals with compromised immune systems or chronic medical conditions
Symptoms are defined as fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell.