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* Gov. JB Pritzker was asked today where he stands with current union negotiations on his limited vaccine mandate and if he planned to expand the mandate to all state workers…
Well, I want to remind you that we’ve already implemented a number of significant mitigations. And we’re always looking at whether we need to impose more. One is, of course, the indoor mask mandate in schools. We’ve required vaccinations for all of our state employees in congregate settings, we’ve got a vaccination requirement for nursing home personnel across the state of Illinois, we’ve required masks in all of our state buildings, we do regular testing in our congregate settings. And we’ve adopted the CDC guidelines for masking indoors. So we’re consistently looking at the menu of options that we may need to impose in order to bring down the numbers.
I will remind you that if we are not able to bring these numbers down, if hospitals continue to fill, if the hospital beds and ICUs get full, like they are in Kentucky, that’s just next door to Illinois, if that happens, we’re going to have to impose significantly greater mitigations. So those are things that we don’t want to go back. Those are, you know, phases, situations, things on the menu that I think we don’t want to go to. But right now, I think, you know, again, we want everybody to wear a mask everywhere. indoors. And, you know, we’ve recommended that that’s what the CDC has recommended. And then we’ve got a variety of mandates already in place.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* Pritzker was then asked about Mayor Lightfoot’s decision to mandate vaccines for all state employees. Was it an overreach?…
No. What I would say is that, and I’ve said this for a year and a half during this pandemic, that local leaders need to make decisions for their local populations, to make sure to keep them safe. And those decisions need to be made in a serious fashion, to make sure that they’re doing everything that they can to keep everybody safe. But that means mitigations that are tougher than the ones that are in the state of Illinois more broadly. So we set a standard in the state of Illinois, a minimum, but local officials should react properly to the data in their local areas in order to keep everybody safe.
* “So far, 51 school districts out of 859 are defying your mask mandate and allowing parental choice. Are you really going to withdraw funding, take away their sports and deny their high school diplomas, or was that just an idle threat?”…
Am I really going to do that? Yes, we are really going to do that. And by the way, many school districts are heeding our call to have mask mandates in their schools. And so they’re reversing their position. What I would tell you is that it’s extraordinarily important that we keep our kids safe. Remember, the numbers are going up before schools went back in session. And now, [crosstalk] I’m just explaining to you that look at all of the other states around the country where schools have reopened, and now you’ve seen schools close right back up again, or have massive numbers of kids who need to stay at home because they’ve caught COVID, or because they’ve been exposed to COVID. So, let’s get serious about this.
I mean, I realize that there are people who like to show up and shout at local school boards, at the local school board members. But the reality is that the vast majority of people in Illinois want to make sure that the children of Illinois, their parents, their communities are safe. And having a mask mandate operative in schools will help to do that.
* Meanwhile…
More than 1,200 K-12 schools across the state have signed up to use the SHIELD Illinois COVID-19 saliva test for the start of the 2021-22 academic year. More than 650,000 students in Illinois will now have access to the test, pioneered by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) recently expanded access to free SHIELD testing to all K-12 public schools statewide outside of Chicago, which had earlier received its own federal funding.
IDPH is utilizing funding from the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan to fund testing in public schools. Funding for testing in non-public schools statewide comes from the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Midwest Expanded Testing Coordination Hub, which is run by Batelle, a non-profit technology development company.
* Related…
* 52 Students Quarantined In DuPage County District 45 After 7 COVID Cases
* Earlier: District 45 school board ends face masks meeting without vote after reported physical altercation
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:29 pm
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Top-down rule will be the governing philosophy dujour ad infinitum.
Comment by Basic Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:37 pm
Was Freud right?…about the human death wish…I often wonder.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:38 pm
there are plenty of hospital beds available at McCormick Place…right?
Comment by Kendall County Whig Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:40 pm
Some loud football coaches and parents have a real choice to make.
Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:42 pm
==Mayor Lightfoot’s decision to mandate vaccines for all state employees==
You mean City of Chicago employees?
Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:43 pm
“Top-down rule will be the governing philosophy dujour ad infinitum.”
That’s what happens when you have anti-vax, anti-mask people making things worse for everybody. Will they ever understand that they are the ones slowing down the reopening that they are demanding?
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:44 pm
– Am I really going to do that? Yes, we are really going to do that. –
While I appreciate the statement, I dislike the framing.
The schools in violation are the ones who have made the choice and taken the action, to break the rules.
This line of questioning is bordering on blaming a domestic abuse victim for being hit.
The governor is not forcing any of these districts to do anything. They are making this choice of their own free will. What they are angry about, is that there will be consequences to their choice - decided by someone other than themselves.
Every single one of these boards still has local control. Their ability to vote has not been taken away from them.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:45 pm
=I mean, I realize that there are people who like to show up and shout at local school boards, at the local school board members.=
These people are volunteers and get paid nothing.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:45 pm
==Mayor Lightfoot’s decision to mandate vaccines for all … employees==
Not a mandate-a choice. Get the shot or look for a new job. The word “OR” indicates that it is a choice.
Comment by SAP Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:51 pm
Just wait till it dawns on people that in an triage situation the vaccinated get a spot in the hospital first because their prognosis for recovery is far greater than the unvaccinated.
If only there was something people to could to to prevent this massive increase in cases and needless death… If only.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:52 pm
Be interesting to see if they follow up on complaints from parents with some of these schools that have a mandate in place but are doing nothing to actually enforce it.
Comment by Fixer Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 1:57 pm
This was always a part of the plan. Cases will go up with seasonality in October and November like last year. They will level off during winter surge around same time. If he would at least admit this, it would not seem so disconnected from reality as every single state has dealt with seasonality with Covid. If he wants to make Covid policy permanent just come out and say so.
Comment by TiredOfIt Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:13 pm
=seasonality with Covid=
Check your calendar, it isn’t October or November with.
And you think Pritzker is disconnected from reality. Yikes.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:19 pm
== If he wants to make Covid policy permanent just come out and say so. ==
It’s not the governor doing that; it’s the foolish people who refuse to get vaccinated and/or wear masks who are doing it.
Comment by OldSmoky2 Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:21 pm
How many people spoke at that press conference without wearing masks? Does the science say that you can’t spread the virus with a microphone in front of your face?
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:23 pm
“If he wants to make Covid policy permanent just come out and say so.”
If you want to make Covid policy permanent, keep doing exactly what you are doing. Or you could put a piece of cloth over your nose and mouth and get a shot.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:23 pm
===if the hospital beds and ICUs get full===
Call me a pessimist but if we wait until the hospitals are at or near capacity before doing anything extraordinary to reduce the community spread of COVID-19 we’re setting ourselves up for a horrific situation in those hospitals for 3 to 5 weeks before the impact of those mitigation efforts can be felt.
We also need to do something to address the local community leaders and other local authorities to actually be involved in implementing those mitigations. No more of this “everyone has to make their own choices” B.S.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:24 pm
=== =seasonality with Covid=
Check your calendar, it isn’t October or November with.===
This is solid stuff.
It’s August. Some states are already seeing major upticks not related to any season or calendar.
If your rationale is “October, November” in … August… you will be unable to grasp, first the seriousness, and second the idea that the virus is on its *own* schedule, not some prefabricated idea of a “cycle of seriousness”
Get vaccinated, wear a mask, do hire best to not so read the virus… and vaccination is not immunity but vaccination is how the virus becomes less serious and deadly
“October… November”… Geez, Louise.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:25 pm
@Tired of It:
1) Seasonailty of COVID was not confirmed by scientists until July, there has been no “plan all along.”
2) Seasonality does not explain the current spike in cases, it is still summer. The winter spike starts - wait for it - when it gets cold outside, as well as drier.
3) Please turn in your Internet diploma in epidemiology (as well as any related PhD’s in climatology and the Comparative Politics of Afghanistan) on your way out.
Comment by Thomas Paine Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:29 pm
Seasonality - Cute.
Daily case numbers right now far outpace last August and even the first surge in March/April/May of 2020.
This is the Delta variant, not seasonality on display. A hope (a morbid one) is that before October 1 or 31 - that Delta will have burned through a big portion of the unvaccinated crowd and start to cool off in November and December. Now that means more ICU visits, more long COVID cases and way more death; but maybe it also means this wave will be over in a few months too.
Grim times.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:29 pm
Is not the best mitigation to “work from home” until the pandemic is fully over with? Whether it be 5-10 years or more from now. Why risk staff coming into a workplace just to make a vaccine mandate for non public facing employees. Makes no sense.
Comment by Real Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:30 pm
The cycle is when are people most indoors. We are most indoors during extreme heat[July/Aug] and cold winter months. The south is indoors during the summer months too. See uptick in cases in both locations during these times.
Comment by Seasonal Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:32 pm
Pritzker not instituting mitigations if ICU and hospital bed availability are threatened would be positively DeSantian and in gross dereliction of his most basic function, to promote health and life.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:33 pm
===Just wait till it dawns on people that in an triage situation the vaccinated get a spot in the hospital first because their prognosis for recovery is far greater than the unvaccinated.===
Oh like “Death Panels”…the irony is priceless but spot on.
Comment by Nagidam Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:33 pm
Fixer…I filed a complaint via email to the ISBE Covid-19 email regarding my children’s school district not complying. My children were told to remove their masks when they got to their classrooms. I am not going to fight with them since masks don’t protect my kids unless they are all wearing them. I tried calling directly but they said I needed to email my complaint. I have not heard back yet.
Comment by Central IL Parent Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:38 pm
== These “consequences” are not an appropriate or measured remedy - they are extortion techniques to get someone to go along with a directive.==
What rule or law isn’t like this? Do harmful activity and suffer these consequences. If you want funding for x, you have to do the following to qualify. How is this any different? Choosing consciously to spread a deadly contagious virus and demolish your local healthcare resources, pushing costs onto everybody else seems like a decision that should come with weighty consequences.
Comment by SWIL_Voter Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:41 pm
Central IL Parent, I was told the same yesterday when I spoke to someone there and filed the email right afterward. Sorry you’re having to deal with this as well.
Comment by Fixer Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:44 pm
Fixer? Have you heard back from them yet? I am glad I am not alone in the minority that wants to keep my kids safe.
Comment by Central IL Parent Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:47 pm
At my football official association meeting (there are several around the state) last night they said there are already games being canceled and re-arranged due to COVID. We were reminded to expect the unexpected and be flexible.
Side note for football this season, we are down 30% of refs, so lots of folks will be doing games who have less experience than normal (like first-year guys doing varsity games).
Had my first game change the visiting school (not sure if due to COVID or other reasons).
Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:48 pm
In November of 2020 there were 3,463 ICU beds statewide. Now there are 3,146. That’s a drop of ICU beds statewide of 16.4% in nine months. My immediate thought is you can’t have a bed if you don’t have a medical professional to staff it. I have no facts to back up my thoughts so if someone else has a reason for the drop please post here. We are increasingly seeing reports of fatigue in the Nurse/Doctor profession. The issue of medical professionals leaving the field is more than COVID. If you or a loved one gets in an accident or has a health crisis the care you may expect might just not be there.
http://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/hospitalization-utilization
Comment by Nagidam Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 2:55 pm
Sorry, the numbers should have been 3,763 then and 3,146 now.
Comment by Nagidam Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 3:05 pm
== we’ve required masks in all of our state buildings==
I guess that was technically true at the State Fair, in terms words on paper. But those in charge of enforcing that mandate clearly didn’t take it seriously. If only Governor Pritzker would’ve had some authority there. Oh wait, he did.
Comment by fs Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 3:42 pm
One of those cancelled classes for today and tomorrow and doing remote rest of week, AND cancelled all sports for this week as 30% of school either had it or exposed, so there what you get when no mask mandate happens
Comment by 13th Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 3:42 pm
=== The cycle is when are people most indoors. ===
Explain the spike in Alaska that started in mid-July.
You can’t.
You know why? COVID has not settled into a seasonal pattern because it’s not done using people as science experiments to create new, more monstrous versions of itself.
“Seasonality” is a state of equilibrium where the war between man and virus is balanced, but the weather shifts the battle front to and fro.
We have not reached an equilibrium yet, right now the virus is still winning.
Please read before posting again:
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GH000413
Comment by Thomas Paine Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 4:20 pm
@Central Illinois Parent -
What is the name of the school and school district?
Comment by Thomas Paine Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 4:22 pm
The cycle of Covid is whenever people, and now particularly unvaccinated people, get together. Just because we’re in the summer months doesn’t mean that we’re spending all of our time outdoors. If you haven’t noticed restaurants have reopened as have bars and the indoor spaces can be just as crowded as the outdoor ones, if they even have them.
Why is it that the people that don’t believe in science always seem to know exactly how the virus “behaves?”
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 5:40 pm
And even with Delta, hospital bed and ICU shortages, and kids not allowed to be vaccinated, ISBE refuses to allow school districts to go all-remote learning as the primary form of schooling until the threat passes (if it does). (Or at least allow kids to have hybrid again).
Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 6:10 pm
==Well, I want to remind you that we’ve already implemented a number of significant mitigations. And we’re always looking at whether we need to impose more. ==
Don’t wait, do it now. Cancel the DuQuoin State Fair to start. Reimpose the regional phase system. Put indoor dining back on ice for now.
Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 6:18 pm
Agency management has been quoted saying “The Pandemic is Over” it is time to return to work. The blatant disregard over employee safety is ridiculous. I hope that someone holds those people accountable when someone ends up in the ICU or loses their lives.
Comment by Employee Health Ignored Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 7:08 pm
=But those in charge of enforcing that mandate clearly didn’t take it seriously. =
What is your point? Because it failed or didn’t get handled properly we should go back to a free for all?
Such an absurd comment.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Aug 24, 21 @ 8:05 pm
@Thomas I am not comfortable publicly outing the school. Multiple threats have been made to community members regarding this issue. I don’t want to put my children at risk while living amongst the Qanon followers. They are rabid about their freedoms.
Comment by Central IL Parent Wednesday, Aug 25, 21 @ 4:23 pm