Business scofflaws face citations

Pritzker touts ‘lighter enforcement mechanism,’ praises 99 percent of businesses ‘following our gradual reopening plan’

Gov. Pritzker has approved fines of up to $2,500 for business scofflaws violating the restrictions in the stay-at-home order as “a lighter enforcement mechanism” than revoking their state licenses or shutting them down entirely. (Illinois.gov)

By Ted Cox

Businesses that ignore restrictions under the statewide COVID-19 stay-at-home order now face citations, according to the governor, with fines of up to $2,500.

Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing on Monday, Gov. Pritzker touted “a lighter enforcement mechanism” for business scofflaws. He said previously businesses that stayed open in defiance of the various restrictions intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 faced the possibility of having their state licenses revoked or being closed entirely — both of which are costly to fight and can result in a business closing permanently, which no one wants.

So the governor confirmed that over the weekend he’d approved new rules within the Department of Public Health Act allowing violators of the statewide order to be hit with citations, saying it would do “less harm to a business than a total shutdown or loss of a license.” The citations would be categorized as a misdemeanor with fines of up to $2,500.

Pritzker repeated previous statements that “communication and education should be our first tools” in getting businesses to comply, and he insisted that had been “very effective” for the 99 percent of businesses across the state that are “following our gradual reopening plan.” He reemphasized that all regions of the state are still on course to move on to the third phase of the Restore Illinois plan in 11 more days, at the end of next week.

On that note, Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced 2,294 new cases of COVID-19 statewide on Monday, just over 10 percent of the 21,297 tests conducted. That brought the statewide total to 96,485 confirmed cases, while 59 new deaths pushed the state toll to 4,234. That came after the state announced just over 2,000 new cases and 74 deaths on Saturday and 1,734 new cases and 51 deaths on Sunday. Reported hospitalizations for the disease also dropped to 4,120 on Monday.

Pritzker and Dr. Wayne Duffus announced the state was beginning to move forward on expanded contact tracing for coronavirus patients, an initiative known as the Illinois Contact Tracing Collaborative, starting in St. Clair County in Metro East across the Mississippi River from St. Louis and Lake County on the Wisconsin border.

Pritzker said contact tracing “truly does reduce the number of new infections, and if done at scale it can become a very effective weapon against COVID-19.” Especially with asymptomatic carriers of the disease spreading it unknowingly, he said immediately identifying new coronavirus patients and warning those they’ve been in contact with can “stop outbreaks in their tracks.”

Local health agencies have already been conducting contact tracing, but the governor said that’s comprised only about 29 percent of those who’ve tested positive. The intention is to more than double that to 60 percent.

The initiative will have three prongs: software to streamline reporting on the disease, a common management platform for various agencies to collaborate on the findings, and an app that will provide access to information and resources for those under study.

Duffus said operations must be “swift and efficient” to slow the spread of COVID-19, especially with asymptomatic carriers, and he committed to “broad engagement” across Illinois.

Pritzker repeated his call for additional federal relief aid, saying that funding so far was “not good enough.” He said that was especially critical for restaurants and bars, which have been forced to stay closed longer due to social-distancing requirements.

Pritzker called for the General Assembly to expand mail-in balloting for the November general election as it meets this week, given the uncertainty of whether the pandemic will still be a concern. But he rejected Republican calls for the referendum on a graduated income tax to be removed from the ballot. “The GOP wants to keep people from voting on this,” he said, suggesting that showed “a lack of confidence in their position.”