IL Coronavirus 'Stay At Home' Order Issued As Death Toll Hits 5
May 21, 2020 | News | No Comments
ILLINOIS — Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an “immediate stay-at-home order for the state of Illinois” Friday during his daily press conference to address the coronavirus epidemic, saying it was the “inescapable conclusion” after consulting with experts, including epidemiologists and mathematicians, to predict the rate of infection and mortality in Illinois.
The order takes effect at 5 p.m. Saturday and ends April 7. Schools will remain closed until April 8. As of Friday, Illinois had reported 585 coronavirus cases in 25 counties.
Announcing the fifth Illinois coronavirus death — a Cook County woman in her seventies — Pritzker said Illinois residents deserved to know “why I’ve taken the actions that I’ve taken.”
“I don’t come to this decision easily,” Pritzker said. “I fully recognize that in some cases, I am choosing between saving people’s lives and saving people’s livelihoods. But ultimately you can’t have a livelihood if you don’t have your life.”
He added, “You have a right to the truth, as difficult as it may be to hear, because you can bear it. My bedrock has been to rely upon science.”
Illinois health officials estimate as many as 3,400 residents could test positive for coronavirus based upon the illness’ current trajectory. That would be a more than 700 percent increase in coronavirus cases in Illinois.
Pritzker said the guidance he’s received shows an immediate stay-in-place order is the only way to potentially save tens of thousands of lives in Illinois.
State officials in California and New York have already issued similar orders.
What does a stay at home order mean?
The order means residents are required to hunker down at home, leaving only for essentials such as groceries, gas and medication. Local roads, interstate highways and tollways will remain open to traffic.
Those who violate the order could face a citation.
Coronavirus: What A Shelter-In-Place Order Would Look Like In IL
Parks, including state parks, as well as libraries will be closed. Residents will still be able to go outside, walk their dogs, play with their kids — as long as they maintain “social distancing” of at least six feet from others.
“We’re not cordoning off the park space,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, adding that people will still be able to go to parks and walk around, but facilities will be closed.
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Airports will be open and the CTA will still run, and the mayor urged residents to stick to their usual shopping habits.
“This is not martial law,” she said.
“Stores will continue to be stocked. Do not take this direction as a reason to run to the stores, buy everything in sight and hoard supplies,” Lightfoot said. “Be mindful of your neighbors.”
Lightfoot said what’s happened in places like Italy shows the need for the stay-at-home order.
“Now is not the time for half measures,” she said. “Sadly, we are witnessing what is happening in countries that did not mobilize.”
Under a similar order that took effect Friday in Oak Park, businesses that provide essential services remain open, including grocery stores, banks, convenience stores, pharmacies, restaurants for delivery and pick up only, laundromats, skilled trades essential to maintaining the safety and sanitation of residences, hardware stores, medical service providers, first responders, transportation providers, government activities and essential social service providers and shelters.
The City of Chicago also issued a shelter in place order earlier in the day Friday for anyone who is sick. Anyone who violates the order will be fined $100-$500 for each violation, according to the city’s municipal code — meaning anyone who is sick could earn a fine of $1,000 if caught outside twice, according to Block Club Chicago.
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What’s ‘essential’?
All first responders, emergency management personnel, law enforcement personnel, health care workers and others working to support essential businesses and essential government functions like grocery stores and pharmacies are exempt from this stay at home order.
These activities and businesses are also exempt from the order:
Essential Activities:
Essential government functions:
Essential businesses and operations:
‘No second chances’
Dr. Emily Landon, an infectious diseases associate professor at the University of Chicago, stressed how dire the situation could get if Illinois does not stop the spread of coronavirus.
“We have a brand-new virus with too little information, not enough personal protective equipment, changing protocols every single day and no second chances,” she said. “This is the only way forward.”
The virus “infects you before you know you’re sick,” and those who are infected spread it without knowing.
“Now the virus is taking what’s left of our precious liberty,” Landon said. “Our problem is not the 80 percent who will get over this in a week,” it’s the 20 percent of elderly or immunocompromised who will get extremely sick or die.
“There are no empty wards for patients or nurses waiting in the wings. We barely have enough masks for the nurses we have,” Landon said. If Illinois waits, “there won’t be a hospital bed when my mother can’t breathe or your mother is coughing too much.”
Staying at home could save thousands of people, she said.
“It’s really hard to feel like you’re saving the world when you’re watching Netflix from your couch,” Landon said. “A successful shelter in place will make you feel like it was all for nothing. And you’d be right — because nothing means that nothing will happen to your family.”
It will take some time to see infection rates go down, because coronavirus has an incubation period of up to 14 days — meaning there are people infected right now who don’t know it yet, Landon said.
“So please don’t give up,” she said, urging patience. “I know we’ll get through this together and find a way back to the life we used to live.
“Now it’s your turn to do your part. A huge sacrifice that will make thousands of differences — maybe even in your family.”
She said the difference a stay-at-home order can make is illustrated by the different outcomes in St. Louis versus Philadelphia during the 1918 flu pandemic.
“St. Louis shut itself down and sheltered in place,” Landon said, while Philadelphia threw a parade with hundreds of thousands in attendance. “A week later, Philadelphia hospitals were overrun and thousands were dead, many more than in St. Louis.”
Read Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s complete COVID-19 Executive Order No. 8:
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