Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker Coronavirus News Conference Transcript

J. B. Pritzker: (00:00)
Shows just how critical it is, especially for our vulnerable populations, that we get approvals and supplies from the federal government, so that we can test large groups of vulnerable people earlier than we are able to now. My team and I have been on the phone day and night communicating with the medical testing supply chain, but the federal government is monopolizing supplies and not providing them to the States. They set deadlines, and they blew through them. They told us capacity would increase, and it hasn’t.

The powerhouse research institutions here in Illinois, including universities, hospitals, and national laboratories, are lending their own world-class resources to the fight against COVID19, but they’re running into the same roadblocks that the state laboratories are. This is an incredible failure by the federal government, and every day that they continue to abdicate their responsibilities is another day that we fall behind. I’ve requested, and now I’m demanding, that the White House, the FDA, and the CDC produce a rapid increase in test deployment nationwide, or get out of the way and allow us to obtain them elsewhere ourselves.

As you know, today is the first day of our K-12 school closure, which is scheduled to run through the end of this month. During this period, we will continue to distribute meals to all children who qualify for free and reduced lunch through delivery and parent pickup meal options, depending on the district. We’re also encouraging schools to expand the meal distribution program to all children, and to any student enrolled in an Illinois school, regardless of their age. Some districts have already done that. Today also marks the first day of our statewide closure of restaurants and bars for onsite consumption. So I want to proactively provide answers to a few of the most common questions that we’ve heard about the closure.

First, for residents looking for a prepared meal, curbside pickup, drive through takeout, and delivery are all still permitted and being implemented by many establishments. We recommend patrons contact your local restaurants individually to see what approach they’re taking during this period. We’re also working directly with delivery service providers to help restaurants who don’t already have delivery service, and already several major delivery companies have waived fees for independent restaurants. Price gouging in delivery fees, price gouging in general, will not be tolerated, and attorney general Kwame Raoul is here today to talk more about his work on that front.

I have directed my administration to do everything in our power to support our working families. I’ve expanded unemployment eligibility for those impacted by COVID19. Most utilities have agreed to a moratorium on service shutoffs for residents who can’t pay their bills during this period. We have filed a federal waiver to expand COVID19 related Medicaid coverage. And we’re working with the federal government to ease eligibility requirements for food assistance in programs like SNAP and WIC.

We’re also working expeditiously to mitigate the challenges that small businesses are facing. My Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has secured the necessary documentation to declare a statewide economic injury declaration, and the US Small Business Administration will receive it shortly. The SBA is offering coronavirus disaster assistance loans to help impacted companies get through this period of instability. And this will ensure that all of our counties qualify for assistance. Once approved by the SBA, you’ll be able to access this through our DCEO website.

As you know, we issued an updated order barring gatherings of 50 people or more. Establishments that provide essential services will remain operational under this mandate. Grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals, gas stations, banks, credit unions, and shelters are a few key examples. Gatherings that are affected by this 50 person mandate include places like event venues, fitness centers and health clubs, bowling alleys, private clubs, theaters, and faith-based events. Before I turn over the podium, I want to address some statements made this morning by Chicago Board of Elections executive director, Jim Allen. Last week, the Chicago Board asked me to do something that is unquestionably not within my legal authority. According to their statement earlier today, they wanted me unilaterally to cancel in-person voting on March 17th, convert Illinois to an all vote by mail state, and extend vote by mail to May 12th. Not surprisingly, they could not even begin to explain the legal basis for their request, nor could they explain how they believe that they, and election authorities across the state, could effectively convert the election to all vote by mail. Nor could they promise the people of Illinois that the state would be able to hold an election on the suggested date of May 12th.

I will not use this moment, this moment, to supersede my constitutional authority. I will not. There are people out there today who want to say, it’s a crisis. Bend the rules and overstep your authority. Let me tell you this. It is exactly in times like these when the constitutional boundaries of our democracy should be respected above all else, and if people want to criticize me for that, if people want to criticize me for that, well go ahead. I’ll wear it like a badge of honor.

Every step that we’ve taken during this crisis, my legal team has understood and laid out our legal authority to do it. Where we felt my authority didn’t extend to some action that we felt we needed to take to keep people safe, we have worked with the individuals or entities involved to get to the right answer. All of them have stepped up to the plate. All except the Chicago Board of Elections. The governor’s office provided the opportunity to use the National Guard to help staff the election, and we also worked to recruit volunteers. 2000 young people from the Mikva Challenge were turned away from volunteering, because the Board wouldn’t reduce red tape. So instead of accepting help or offering any solutions of their own, the Chicago Board of Elections decided to wait until election day to call the press and attempt to shift the blame for their failings.

To any campaign that tries to claim that these election results are somehow illegitimate, if you are on Twitter one minute claiming Donald Trump is making dictatorial grabs and the next minute screaming that the governor needs to overturn state statutes and constitutional law to deny people their right to vote, you need to get your priorities straight. This is a time for serious people. It is not a time for games. It’s not a time for political posturing. It’s not a time to complain that you’re being asked to do uncomfortable things, to make hard choices, to go above and beyond in your responsibilities.

I have a responsibility to the people of the state of Illinois to make sure that democracy survives through everything. That through everything, democracy will be preserved. That through everything, democracy will be venerated. And I have a responsibility to the life and safety of the people of my state, to their wellbeing and to their health.

We lost an Illinoisan today to COVID19. There are going to be moments during the next few weeks and months when this burden feels like it is more than we can bear. But we will bear it. We will get through it. We will thrive and celebrate and gather and paint the river green for St. Patrick’s Day and have weddings and parties and election night rallies again. And for the time being, we will be strong, because that’s what this moment calls for, and that’s what I know we’re capable of.

Now I’d like to invite the attorney general, Kwame Raoul.

Kwame Raoul: (09:21)
Thank you Governor, and thank you for your decisive leadership and decision making, within the rule of law. I too want to express my condolences to the family of the life lost here in Illinois, and to all of those lost internationally. It underscores the need for us to come together and act as one Illinois.

I want to briefly talk on some issues my office has been trying to assist the public with during this crisis. First, we’ve received calls from residents all over Illinois relating to price gouging. Many calls relate to items tied to the pandemic such as face masks, disinfectant sprays, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. Some also have involved protective equipment for medical providers. My staff is working tirelessly to investigate and attempt to mediate all such allegations throughout the state. I strongly, strongly urge all businesses to maintain fair pricing on all items, especially those that are crucial to stopping the spread of COVID19. I’ve been in contact with trade organizations, including the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Illinois Manufacturers Association to share that message. I have also been in contact with the state’s attorney’s association, and other law enforcement partners, to collaborate and use all enforcement tools at our disposal to protect Illinois residents during this unprecedented time. We’re also actively monitoring products sold online, and attorneys from my office have contacted companies as needed regarding ads or offers that may be problematic.

Let me be clear. I will use all the powers and tools available to my office to address price gouging in Illinois. The governor has set forth authority for my office to take action, if necessary, for any unreasonable increase in price of medical supplies, protective equipment, medication, and other goods and services connected to COVID19. We will also utilize our authority under the Consumer Fraud Act to address any unfair pricing practice related to other products that is prohibited under the law.

The most important thing that the public can do to assist us is to report incidents of price gouging to my office, preferably online at www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov, in lieu of calling or visiting. This way we can more effectively take in your issues and assist, especially in light of reduced staffing.

Secondly, I want to touch on deceptive COVID19 products. I want to urge the public to continue to be aware of products that are marketed as cures or treatment for COVID19. These claims are absolutely false. The CDC has said that there is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID19, or no medication approved to treat it, at this point. People should ignore such online ads, delete email solicitations, and report any scams. The bottom line is that people should follow the guidance issued by official public health agencies, such as the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Finally, with regards to hoarding, I want to implore people to act as one Illinois, to think of their neighbors, the elderly, and others who are vulnerable. I encourage everyone during this trying time to buy only what they need. The bottom line is that it is critical that we behave as one Illinois, and put people before profits.

My office will continue to work with the governor’s office, local governments, and law enforcement partners to use our enforcement authority to protect Illinois residents throughout this epidemic.

Next, I’d like to invite Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of our department of public health.

Ngozi Ezike: (14:02)
Thank you, Governor, and thank you for your-

Thank you, governor, and thank you for your tireless efforts and your unwavering commitment to protect the people of Illinois. As the governor mentioned, we are saddened to report the first death of an individual here in Illinois due to COVID 19. We had hoped that we would not join other states and countries in having to report such news, but of course, we did anticipate it, as well as many additional cases that are yet to come. The individual, as was mentioned, is a Chicago resident in her sixties who had close contact with another COVID 19 case.

And of course, as the governor has also mentioned, more than this just being our first case, this is someone’s loved one, someone’s child, someone’s parent, a vital part of a community, and COVID 19 has ended that life. And we’re very sorry, and we hope that everyone will lift their thoughts and prayers towards people who are directly affected by this situation. And unfortunately, we also have an outbreak of COVID 19 in a longterm care facility. The first resident was confirmed on Saturday, and a total of 18 residents have now tested positive in addition to the four staff. Residents are being isolated, either in a separate wing of the facility or in the hospital, and staff that are positive are furloughed at home. This reinforces the need for all of us to do our part to reduce possible exposure in the community to those who go in and out of these facilities as they provide care to these residents.

Let’s recall that these residents are sitting in what is their home. It’s the virus that is being brought in to them, either by visitors or by staff, and that is why we have taken the aggressive measures to say that visitor restrictions have to be in place. That is why pre-shift assessments for all staff coming in have to be in place to make sure that staff who are coming in to care for these residents are not unwittingly harming the people they’re charged to care for. Residents in nursing homes are, of course, our most vulnerable population, and we have to continue to do everything we can to protect them.

Another step is to avoid all non-essential healthcare personnel from entering. At this current facility in due page, we have an IDPH team, a local health department team, CDC staff is on site, UIC infectious disease consultant is on site. We have a robust team that is working tirelessly to ensure that we do our very best to protect all the residents in that facility. We’re actively screening the residents, sometimes every two hours, looking for fever or respiratory symptoms, monitoring oxygen saturations. We’re using all the information that we’ve garnered from talking to our counterparts in Washington. The governor has talked extensively to the governor of Washington, I’ve extensively talked to the state epidemiologist and the state health official in Washington. Through their guidance, they have been able to give us additional tips, additional suggestions, on what we can do to really achieve the best possible outcome for all the patients in the facility.

Statewide, 160 confirmed cases of COVID 19 in 15 counties across Illinois have been identified. The guidance is continually evolving based on the science available at the time, so we ask people to stay up to date on all of the latest information. You have heard me say it before, but it bears repeating. If you are sick, stay home if you have mild symptoms. If your symptoms get significantly worse and you have a complicating underlying medical condition, call your doctor and then discuss whether you need to seek medical care in person. With that advance call, that advance notice, appropriate arrangements can be made to reduce the risk of exposure to other people as you enter a healthcare facility. We want to protect our healthcare workers as they are going to be key in the fight and the struggle against COVID 19.

I also wanted to clear up some confusion. I know that there are other Coronaviruses out there and people may be familiar with them, and some people have tested positive for the Coronavirus that comes on the respiratory virus panel. What we’re seeing now is a new Coronavirus, the novel Coronavirus. Before you tell someone that you tested positive, make sure that you’re talking about the novel Coronavirus. If you have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus, someone from the local health department would have reached out to you and would have done an investigation and would have identified your close contacts and then would reach out to those contacts. So let’s make sure that we’re not part of generating rumors and promoting further anxiety. It will take all of us making intense sacrifices to reduce the spread of the virus and free up our healthcare system to care for those who need it most.

Now, I will translate my comments into Spanish. [foreign language 00: 05:38] And with that, I will turn it over to Dr. Arwady from the Chicago department of public health, their commissioner.

Dr. Arwady: (21:27)
Thank you, Dr. Ezike. I’m Alison Arwady, I’m the commissioner at the Chicago Department of Public Health. So as you’ve heard, we did have the first Illinois death from novel Coronavirus in a Chicago resident, a woman in her 60s who had underlying health conditions and was a contact of a confirmed case. First, we are all thinking, I know, of her loved ones, her family, at this time, and I imagine a lot of us are thinking about our own loved ones, our own families, at this time. As you heard, the local health departments do the investigations around every one of these cases. And so in this case, because it is a Chicago resident, the Chicago Department of Public Health is working very hard to reach out to all of the people who may have been in contact. This case was part already of an ongoing investigation and we had been monitoring her condition for some time.

Dr. Arwady: (22:31)
I’d also really like to thank and have everybody think for a moment about the healthcare workers who have been in the hospital caring for this patient, doing everything they could to save her life, and to think about the healthcare workers all across our city who are helping to care for our patients, including our most vulnerable patients. And we’ll be taking that on even more as we move forward. This development, as well as the information about the situation in Dupage County, really underscores the strong messaging that we’ve been providing. We’re focusing our attention on older individuals and those with underlying health conditions. They are the most likely to develop severe symptoms or potentially even die from Coronavirus. So please, if you fall into this category, stay home if at all possible, even if you’re feeling fine, and I want to ask everyone else to help out with this.

Dr. Arwady: (23:44)
Make sure your parents, your grandparents, your friend who may be older, your neighbor with an underlying health condition, make sure they’re staying home. Reach out, have that conversation with them. Ask if you can help bring them groceries, ask if there’s anything else that they might need. We all have a role to play, even if you are young and healthy, and especially if you are young and healthy, in helping stem the spread of this virus. I also just want to note that as we continue to see the numbers increase, some of this will be reflective of increase in testing. As you heard the governor say, we’re still waiting for a lot of supplies at the federal level, but we are seeing progress here as our hospitals, our commercial labs, are starting to come online. And so I want people to understand that as the number of cases continues to increase, some of that is due to increases in testing, and as we start to see even more ability of testing, we will also expect numbers to continue to go up.

Dr. Arwady: (25:01)
The aggressive containment measures that we’ve been talking about and that all of you have been taking will not show up in the numbers today, or tomorrow, or in the very short term. These measures that we’ve taken are about bending the curve over the long term. I want to thank everyone who has been taking them seriously, and plead with anyone who has not really thought that it has applied to them, who has thought that Coronavirus really isn’t here in Illinois or in Chicago. I hate to have to use the news of a death to raise attention. Number one, I’m thinking of this woman’s family, but number two, I want you to reflect on the people who are most vulnerable in your own lives. Encourage them to stay home and do everything you can to help protect them. Thank you and I’ll turn it back over to the governor.

Thank you, doctor.

Speaker 1: (26:05)
Governor, are you looking at any more aggressive steps [inaudible 00:26:10] considering the new recommendation that came out from the CDC limiting gatherings to 10 people? The mayor of New York City has [inaudible 00:26:16] what’s the next step here?

I’m continuing to consult with the medical doctors and the scientists about this. As you’ve seen, guidance that has come forward from the CDC and others has changed, really, from day to day. There’s been an increasing concern about the numbers of people who gather and the potential for passing Coronavirus from one person to another, and so we’re going to continue to evaluate that every day and consider what options we may need to take going forward.

Speaker 2: (26:52)
[crosstalk 00:26:52] leaning toward a mandatory quarantine of any kind, any way?

I’m not leaning toward, you’re saying leaning toward. Every day that I come out here and stand with you and answer questions, I’m telling you what the current state of affairs is. We’re always thinking about the things that we need to get done right now. Frankly, we’re focused as much as anything on the supply chain for testing, which, like I said, we’re not getting any help from the federal government on. So we’re literally, I’m calling CEO’s at 10:00 at night and 6:00 in the morning and every other hour of the day to try to get ahold of supplies that we need in order to make our tests effective in the state of Illinois, because we’re not getting help from the federal government. So that’s just one thing that I’m doing during the day and that my staff is focused on. But we’ll continue to evaluate measures that we need to take, as this is all about keeping people safe and healthy.

Speaker 3: (27:47)
Governor, did you say that you offered the national guard personnel to the Chicago board of elections for this, and then moving forward, do you anticipate using the guard personnel?

Yes. Let me begin. First of all, yes. We offered the national guard to come in plain clothes just-

Well, yes, we offered the National Guard to come in plain clothes just to offer as potential election judges or to volunteer at polling places, should they need it. They did not want that, and as I said, we offered the opportunity. In fact, we connected with the Mikva Challenge and the 2,000 kids who are eligible to be working at polling places, and those were rejected by them as well.

As to the National Guard, yes, we’re continually discussing with the National Guard, and my IEMA director is constantly on the phone. General Tate-Nadeau talks to General Neely, I would say, at least once or twice, maybe more a day because there are lots of things that we may need personnel to help us with. Example, being delivery of food to various areas across, not just Chicago, but all across the state.

Reporters: (28:51)
[crosstalk 00:28:51] The woman who died, did she die … She died at a hospital or was she sent home to self isolate, got worse, then had to go to a hospital or whatnot? And then the second question, are our long-term care facilities equipped with the right amount of PPD testing kits, things like that? I know that hospitals are being prioritized, but these senior facilities, are they being prioritized?

Speaker 4: (29:11)
So, I’ll just address the first part of the question. So, the woman was hospitalized at the time of death and she was hospitalized from the time when she presented while her course were sent until unfortunately, she passed.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, can you? Thank you.

So, the Public Health Department, our primary goal and our initial priority list does consist of outfitting the local health departments, who in turn will supply their hospitals and nursing homes. So, those are both of the priority. Both the hospitals and nursing homes are supposed to be taken care of, the local health departments who get their supplies from us. So, that has always been top of mind. We definitely need to make sure, as again, we’ve said over and over that our most vulnerable populations, of course they’re in the hospital, those are sick people. And then the nursing homes too because they have both the age and usually multiple medical conditions as well. And so, that is why we took the step already prior to this to say the visitor restrictions, the pre-shift assessment. And now, we’re taking even obviously more aggressive measures once we’ve identified a case in a facility.

We took an unprecedented step after we announced the positive case on Saturday. We took the unprecedented step to make sure that we went in there. We coordinated and got our team together and came up with a plan to test every single resident in that facility and the staff. By Sunday, that was done. And so, being able to get these test results is allowing us to jump ahead of trying to see, jump ahead of the containment, and hopefully minimize the loss of life and excessive complications. But for all nursing homes that are out there, we want to reach out. If you do not have PPE and we are local health departments are reaching out to their nursing homes on a regular basis, you have to let someone know if you feel that your supply is not enough. We need to make sure that everybody is amply covered because if they don’t have ample protection, then healthcare workers who are at the front line of protecting this people will now be the vector to harm these people. So yes, nursing homes are a priority for our PPE and they will get the PPE that they need.

Reporters: (31:30)
[crosstalk 00:31:27]-

And can I just add, I’m sorry. I want to just add one thing to the point that was made about PPE. We’ve been, from the very beginning, first of all, we took an inventory of what PPE we had in the state. We had our own stockpile, the Department of Public Health. We also reached out to the federal government of course. There’s a strategic national stockpile of the necessary items and I’ve had numerous calls, numerous calls, including with the Vice President several times as well as others in the cabinet and in assistant secretary positions about the need for PPE. We put a request into the federal government for PPE because we want to make sure we’re continually stocked properly. We’ve received a little more than a quarter of what we asked for. They are allocating it across the nation, and honestly they need to allocate it by where the need is more than they are currently.

I think they just took the orders in and said, “We’ll give 25% to everybody.” And so, we’re asking them to do more for us. Meanwhile, we’re working with the supply chain. I have a team that is spending 24/7 really on this issue of PPE supply chain. But suffice to say that we have a pretty good stockpile right now that IEMA, sorry, that the DPH is responsible for, and IEMA continues to work toward acquiring more equipment and PPE.

Reporters: (32:55)
Governor, [inaudible 00:32:56].

Yeah.

Reporters: (32:57)
How many folks in Illinois have tested positive for coronavirus and have been fully released in recovery?

Okay. How many people have been tested?

Reporters: (33:09)
How many folks-

Are positive?

Reporters: (33:10)
… have tested positive for coronavirus?

So, we have 160 positives. Our first two cases are completely out of isolation, and I think our number three and four should be out of their complete isolation. So, I think we should have four for sure who are completely out of isolation.

Reporters: (33:33)
How comfortable are you with the respiratory count and the ventilator count in Illinois, given our numbers at present?

Right. So, we know that the number of ventilators, number of ICU beds are not matched to deal with a pandemic, right? Like that is not how hospitals decide to build up their facilities and create the numbers beds. And so it is, as we think about how we’re going to deal with the surge as more and more people will get infected, we need to be able to think about getting the people who would most need the help into those beds. And that’s where this information comes in about if you’re sick, you’re otherwise healthy, and you’re going to do pretty well with this, you’re going to have your flu-like illness, and then you’ll recover. Instead of going to seek care, take a hospital bed for a few days, we want you to stay home, save that bed, and stave the chance of infecting a healthcare worker who may inadvertently get infected from caring from you when you would have recovered just fine on your own.

And so, that is where that interplay comes in. We want to have our beds available for the sickest, knowing that everybody will not need an ICU bed. Everybody will not need a ventilator. And so, if we can dampen the number of people that get ill, then consequently, the proportion of people who will need that intensive medical care will also be lower. And so, everyone’s role is interconnected from the sickest person to the healthiest person. We all have a role to make sure that we minimize the deaths in the state.

Reporters: (35:13)
Follow-up also for the Attorney General, if I can? Can you speak a little more pointedly about the tools at your disposal for folks who are acting on this price gouging? Can you just kind of singularly tell them what they could be facing if they are identified and prosecuted?

First of all, I mentioned the Consumer Fraud Act and I also mentioned the governor’s executive order, which empowers us to go more broadly than the Consumer Fraud Act would customarily allow us to go. And so, we would in first engage to try to mediate and directly contact a retail store or outlet or as we have done online as well to talk to Amazon, to eBay, to tell them to remove things from their site. Then we would issue a cease and desist order, and then we would have to go, if that is unsuccessful, we would have to go to court to get injunctive relief. And as we have historically had, even in times of not crisis, there are penalties that can endure from that. For that.

Reporters: (36:20)
Folks are doing jail time for something like this?

It depends on the specific circumstances.

Reporters: (36:27)
The initial case with the woman at the long-term care Saturday facility on Saturday who tested positive, was there a delay in testing her due to the supply issues with testing kits as you mentioned? Or do you have a sense of how long she was symptomatic before [inaudible 00:36:40] get tested?

Yeah, that’s a good question. So again, trying to not get into all the specifics of each case, but that person was identified as symptoms progressed, and was eventually transferred to the hospital where the testing was done. After the testing was done and it was identified as a positive, then began the contact … Well, we didn’t even do the typical contact tracing. We just took the aggressive measure of just saying that this is a long-term care facility. This is the situation that we are most concerned about. This is the group that we’re most worried about. And then just got a team together that went in there within 24 hours and tested the biggest testing effort that we’ve had in the state so far.

Reporters: (37:28)
But she was symptomatic perhaps for a few days or [inaudible 00:37:33]?

Sure. She had some symptoms and as they progressed then she was referred to the hospital for additional treatment.

Speaker 5: (37:38)
Okay. We have time for one more question.

Reporters: (37:38)
With the closing of schools, can you talk about where daycare centers and [inaudible 00:09:49]?

Yeah. At the moment, our belief is that providing daycare in small groups, providing preschool, again in small groups, remember preschool got closed if it was in a K-12 facility. Too many people in that location. But in small groups, we wanted to make sure that we kept at least an opportunity for there to be daycare. We’re continuing to evaluate that, but right now, I think that’s where we’ll stay.

Speaker 5: (38:18)
All right. Thanks everyone.

Thank you. [inaudible 00:38:46].

Reporters: (39:00)
Okay. Yep. [crosstalk 00:38:59]. Right, right. Loving the mentality of Chicago and the long-term care facilities. Yeah. [crosstalk 00:39:10].

Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker Coronavirus News Conference Transcript

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