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Category: COVID-19

Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2020 01:00 PM

Gov. JB Pritzker admonished elected officials’ defiance of the stay-at-home orders, saying those officials are endangering their communities and risking people’s lives.

"This pandemic is not over. To pretend otherwise in a misguided attempt to reclaim what we've lost will only make this last longer. Here's what I want to say to those leaders," Pritzker said, referencing those who have called for an end to the Stay at Home Order. "You weren't elected to do what's easy. You were elected to do what's right."

Pritzker went on to say counties that flout safety orders could be ineligible for relief funds, and businesses or individuals licensed by the state could find their licenses invalidated if they defy public safety orders. He said no penalty the state could impose upon those who defy the orders would be worse than the loss of human life, however.

"One-hundred and ninety-two people lost their lives in the past 24 hours," he said. "How is that not real to you?"

Pritzker reported IDPH and IEMA have teamed up to make major PPE shipments to 1,200 long-term care facilities throughout the state, including medical-grade masks. Working through a disinfecting program run by the federal HHS and FedEx, these masks will be delivered to be disinfected. Eighty-five percent of those deliveries are complete, with the remaining facilities expected to receive these emergency stockpiles within the coming days, Pritzker said.

IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike reported 1,677 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the state's total to 85,698 cases. She also reported the largest single-day death toll so far, with 192 additional deaths, bringing the state's total death toll to 3,792.

Although quarantined at home because a senior staff member tested positive, the governor was repeatedly asked why he wasn’t visiting small businesses in the suburbs and elsewhere.

Pritzker said going to places and shaking hands and hugging people “isn’t going to be a smart thing.”