After a full year of COVID-19 battles that has taken a toll on him and his state, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he has no real second thoughts about the decisions he’s made to fight the pandemic.
“If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have made some changes,” such as implementing a statewide mask order earlier, Pritzker said in an interview late Monday, exactly one year after the state’s first COVID death. Of all government restrictions, “it’s clear masks have done the most” to slow the infection rate.
"Overall, Illinois has done well," he adds. "The people of Illinois have stood up; to this situation….Projections are we could have had many, many more deaths if we hadn’t done what we did.”
To date, Illinois has reported nearly 21,000 COVID-related fatalities and 1.2 million cases. That’s actually more on a per capita basis than in some states, notably Florida, which imposed far fewer restrictions for a far shorter time than Illinois, and whose experience has made some wonder if Pritzker made the right tradeoff.
Pritzker rejected that suggestion. Florida “is different,” he said, with a much different population mix than Illinois and a warmer climate which keeps people outside more often and away from indoor venues where the virus spreads more quickly.
The better comparison to make would be with New York and California, particularly New York City and Los Angeles. “Hospitals were over-run” in New York last spring and in LA this winter," he noted. “That didn’t happen here.”
Pritzker’s personal bottom line: Despite some bumps – among them an outbreak at the LaSalle Illinois Veterans Home that forced him to dump his Department of Veterans Affairs director, and confusion over the rollout of vaccines at the United Center—“I’ve done everything I can do.”
The governor would not give many new details on how quickly he will lift remaining restrictions as the number of COVID vaccine doses administered in the state begins to regularly exceed 100,000 a day. But at a state Senate Health Committee hearing on the state's vaccination progress today, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike hinted that the governor would be releasing a plan later this week outlining when the state could move to its next reopening phase, likely an interim one between where we are now and Phase 5, when large-scale gatherings are possible again.
"There may be one more phase," she said. Even still, masks "will be a mainstay."
Moving to the next phase "really does involve how much of our most vulnerable population has been vaccinated," as well as the state's death tolls decreasing, she said. "That starts with our seniors. Once we see a great majority of our seniors vaccinated, that should get us to another level."
So far, roughly 57 percent of Illinois seniors have received their first dose, and 34 percent are fully vaccinated. In the past week, the state has averaged about 27 deaths per day.
While more news is expected later in the week, Pritzker hinted that the hard-hit hospitality and convention industries will be getting some relief, saying that leaders of both have been pushing him hard to act fast.
Pritzker said he will not change his stance and force local grade and high school districts to reopen for in-person education, although he believes that it now can be safely done. But he emphasized that he’s “done things” that point local districts in the direction of reopening, such as last week’s announcement that recommended social distancing in some settings can be halved to three feet from the previous six.
As the state now moves into a much fuller recover phase, Pritzker said he hopes to boost recovery aid for business using part of the $7.5 billion the state will get from the latest federal stimulus bill. Paying off state debt is the first priority, but after that, “I think we will be able to use some money to expand” help to struggling companies.
The governor also noted that he's still far from sold on providing $6.5 billion in state funds for the proposed One Central mega-development on air rights west of Soldier Field. Though Metra now says the project is a “golden opportunity” to improve transit, “I remain skeptical,” Pritzker said. “The state of Illinois does not have the billions of dollars to offer to a project like that.”
Pritzker added that he’s nonetheless is “willing to listen” to a pitch from developer Bob Dunn.
He also said the state continues to have “good conversations” with owners of the New York Stock Exchange about moving its computer operations and maybe more here, but he has no further announcements to make.
Reporter A.D. Quig contributed.
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March 16, 2021 at 05:35AM
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Pritzker stands by COVID restrictions: 'We could have had many, many more deaths' - Crain's Chicago Business
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