Gov. Pritzker calls on Illinoisans to volunteer, responds to war of words with Trump

Gov. J.B. Pritzker called on Illinoisans’ sense of duty during his daily coronavirus press briefing, but also criticized President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic.

Pritzker and Trump argued Sunday morning on Twitter when the governor said there was a lack of federal action to combat the coronavirus.

On CNN’s State of the Union show with Jake Tapper, Pritzker said the White House should issue a nationwide shelter-in-place order as the number of cases increases. He also complained that because the federal government has not acted efficiently, Illinois has been forced to pay more for crucial supplies while competing with other states.

Trump took to Twitter to call Pritzker’s complaints “fake news.”

In his daily briefing, Pritzker said he has been impressed by the bipartisan response to the pandemic in Illinois, adding that first responders and health care workers are “begging” for medical supplies and tests.

“Illinoisans of all political stripes are doing their part,” Pritzker said. “It’s hard to contain my anger with Donald Trump’s response to this national crisis. ... Donald Trump promised to deliver (medical supplies) weeks ago and so far has done very little.

“All I can say is get to work, or get out of the way.”

But Pritzker offered words of comfort in his briefing, then called upon Illinoisans to volunteer their time to help vulnerable populations and to donate blood.

“Hope is all around us and can still be found in every corner of this state,” Pritzker said. ““Even with a stay-at-home order, nonprofits and organizations are continuing to operate and fulfill their missions to help those in need.”

Volunteer opportunities can be found at serve.illinois.gov. Any business or organization wanting to donate personal protective equipment can find out how to do so by visiting www2.illinois.gov/sites/serve/Disaster/Pages/COVID-19-PPE-Donations.aspx or by emailing ppe.donations@illinois.gov.

Celena Roldan, CEO of the American Red Cross of Illinois, urged people to donate blood. The United States faces an “unprecedented” shortage of blood because of canceled blood drives, Roldan said. More than 6,000 blood drives have been canceled across the country. In Illinois, more than 120 have been canceled.

“It is critical for the community health to maintain blood collection during this challenging time to ensure patient survival,” Roldan said. “One of the most important things you can do to ensure we don’t have another health crisis is to give blood.”

There’s no evidence that respiratory viruses can be transmitted through a blood donation or transfusion, and donating blood does not weaken your immune system, Pritzker said.

As of Sunday, there were 1,049 known COVID-19 cases statewide, an increase of 296 from Saturday, and nine people had died. You can find up-to-date information from government sites including:

State of Illinois’ coronavirus page: coronavirus.illinois.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html

Federal government’s coronavirus page: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

This story was originally published March 22, 2020 at 2:53 PM.

Kelsey Landis

Belleville News-Democrat

618-239-2101

Kelsey Landis is an Illinois state affairs and politics reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat. She joined the newsroom in January 2020 after her first stint at the paper from 2016 to 2018. She graduated from Southern Illinois University in 2010 and earned a master’s from DePaul University in 2014. Landis previously worked at The Alton Telegraph. At the BND, she focuses on informing you about what your lawmakers are doing in Springfield and Washington, D.C., and she works to hold them accountable. Landis has won Illinois Press Association awards for her work, including the Freedom of Information Award.