Governor J.B. Pritzker says Illinois doesn’t trust White House in coronavirus fight
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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday repeated his criticism of the federal government’s level of assistance in the battle to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Pritzker’s comments followed President Donald Trump’s remarks on Sunday regarding Pritzker: “He has not performed well” and “He’s always complaining.”
State officials have not trusted the information they have received from the White House, Pritzker said during his daily news conference in Chicago.
He said his response to the “blame shifting coming out of the White House” is to tell Illinoisans to “look at the numbers.”
Pritzker said state officials have been working daily to obtain supplies such as ventilators, masks and gowns medical professionals need to treat COVID-19 patients.
For example, he said the state has ordered nearly 10 million N95 masks.
Pritzker praised Federal Emergency Management Agency employees, U.S. Health & Human Services employees and military personnel who “know that their duty” is to help all residents of the country during the pandemic.
“These are all the people who are fighting like hell for Illinois even with one hand tied behind their backs by the White House,” he said.
Pritzker chides feds for changing stockpile website
The Democratic governor also criticized the federal government for changing the language on the Strategic National Stockpile’s website.
Pritzker said the website for the Strategic National Stockpile previously said the stockpile was meant to “support” state and local governments.
But in April, the website language was changed to say that the stockpile would “supplement” states as “a short-term stopgap buffer,” Pritzker said.
“If we had relied on the White House and its obligation to fulfill our needs from the (Strategic National Stockpile), our state and nearly every state in the United States would come up short and could not protect our health care workers and our first responders,” Pritzker said.
“But here’s the good news, we haven’t trusted what we were told by the White House. Instead, members of my governor’s office, (Illinois Department of Public Health) and (Illinois Emergency Management Agency) have been working tirelessly to pursue all other routes to acquire additional (personal protective equipment) for the fight against COVID-19 in Illinois,” the governor said.
Pritzker said state officials are searching all over the world to get supplies.
Since he began conducting daily news conferences regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Pritzker has often criticized the federal government’s delivery of medical supplies to Illinois.
Coronavirus in the African American population
Before Pritzker’s news conference, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that about 70% of Chicagoans who died from COVID-19 are African American. The city’s public health commissioner noted that the city’s population is about 30% black and over half of the city’s COVID-19 cases have been found in black residents.
Pritzker acknowledged this issue in his address later on Monday.
“Communities of color and particularly black communities in the city of Chicago, suburban Cook County and cities and towns all across our state disproportionately shoulder the health care conditions that lead to worse outcomes with COVID-19,” he said.
“And cumulatively they reflect the disproportionate burden that this virus place on some communities than others. My team and I are continuing to operate with our eyes trained on these disparities because that is the only way to address them.
“To put into words what is often left unsaid, that’s a product of generations of systemic disinvestment in communities of color compounded by disparities in health care delivery systems and access.”
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, noted that 70% of the persons who died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
Pritzker said the state is working to get coronavirus testing and hospital capacity in all places that need the medical care.
Coronavirus deaths increase again
The number of coronavirus deaths in Illinois increased to 307, an increase of 33 from the number reported on Sunday, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced.
Illinois has 12,262 positive cases of COVID-19, or coronavirus disease 2019. This is an increase of 1,006 from the number reported on Sunday.
Ezike said the state’s website for coronavirus information will begin listing the number of positive cases of the virus by ZIP codes except in cases where there are fewer than five cases within a ZIP code.
Ezike urged all residents to not gather in groups on Tuesday when warmer weather is predicted for the state.
The National Weather Service calls for a high of 80 in southwestern Illinois on Tuesday and 79 on Wednesday.
Pritzker has previously ordered all state residents to stay at home and all schools to remain closed until April 30 in an effort to prevent the spread of the respiratory disease caused by new coronavirus first identified in China this winter.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 3:53 PM.
