IDPH asks residents to make adjustments over next 3 weeks, Pritzker says stay-at-home order may be issued

The Illinois Department of Public Health has recommended that Illinois residents stay at home for the next three weeks on Wednesday as the state sets a new COVID-19 record for positive cases within 24-hours for the third day in a row. 

Thursday’s report announced 12,702 new confirmed and probable cases, topping the previous day’s record at 12,657. On Wednesday, the state reported 145 deaths within a 24-hour period, the most single day total since late May.

Nationally, more than 120,000 cases of COVID-19 are being reported each day; 144,133 cases on Nov. 12. Since March, 242,000 Americans have died from COVID-19,  according to Johns Hopkins University data.

IDPH’s guidance recommends:

Work from Home if Possible

For the next three weeks, work with your employer to plan to work from home unless it is necessary for you to be in the workplace.  We ask employers to make accommodation for this.  Our goal is to reduce transmission as we head into the holidays so businesses and schools can remain open.

Participate in Essential Activities Only

For the next three weeks, stay home as much as possible, leaving only for necessary and essential activities, such as work that must be performed outside the home, COVID-19 testing, visiting the pharmacy, and buying groceries.

Limit Travel and Gatherings

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health experts tell us that gatherings and travel in and out of communities present a high risk of spreading the infection. In our current situation, with a rising prevalence of the virus, attending even small gatherings that mix households, or traveling to areas that are experiencing high rates of positivity, is not advised and is potentially dangerous.  Please, travel only if necessary.

Gov. JB Pritzker told people who would like to gather on Thanksgiving that they should begin quarantining now.

“If you’re choosing to travel, it is even more important that you take extra caution in the coming weeks,” the governor said at a press conference Thursday. “If you do choose to have a small in-person Thanksgiving, have every single person more or less quarantine for two weeks prior, which would be today.”

Even then, Pritzker urged residents to maintain social distance and wear masks at the gathering. 

The state is also asking Illinois residents to stay home as much as possible, only leaving for essential items, over the next three weeks. 

The Governor praised Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago, and leaders in Springfield, Sangamon County, Champaign-Urbana and Carbondale today for taking action against COVID-19. 

He then called on other local leaders to step away from rhetoric, conspiracy theories and lawsuits and help to enforce the COVID-19 mitigations within their region. 

“Doctor Ezike and I have stood up here every day, telling you the facts,” Pritzker said. “We’ve had dozens of the nation’s leading experts, present, and give you the info or giving you the information there epidemiological information they’re modeling information. They’ve stood here with us to show you how bad things can get. We’ve given you the data here in Illinois and the best studies from across the nation and the globe. We’ve shown you what this looked like in the spring, and how this wave is already worse than that in many regions of the state.

“What will it take to make this real for you?

“Do we have to reach a positivity rate of 50% like we’re seeing in Iowa today? 50%. Are you waiting for health care workers to get sick to a point where you don’t have enough staff in the local hospital to cover the next shift? What about if the hospitals become so overrun that you’re sick and you’re dying have nowhere left to turn?

“Because I promise you, if you fail to take responsibility in your city and your county, that day is coming closer. And it will be on you.”

Pritzker said that there are responsible community members and business owners who are following the guidelines, but those who don’t are prolonging the mitigations for everyone else.

If things don’t turn in the coming days, Pritzker said a mandatory stay-at-home order may be issued.

“With every fiber of my being. I do not want us to get there,” he said. “But right now, that seems like where we are heading.”