Illinois Legislative NewsOn Sunday, Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced new mitigation efforts for the Metro East region downstate that went into effect Tuesday. This particular region has seen three consecutive days of a test positivity rate of 8 percent or higher, which calls for the implementation of tighter restrictions. These restrictions are similar but less strict than the restrictions Illinois saw in the earlier days of the virus: closing of bars, restaurants, and casinos by 11 p.m., ban on party buses, and a reduction of gathering sizes to the lesser of 25 people or 25 percent of room capacity. If rates do not decrease after 14 days, tighter mitigation will occur. “If the data shows we need to go backward in our reopening, I won’t hesitate to tighten restrictions to protect our collective health,” Pritzker said in the news release. Through tightening restrictions in the Metro East areas, Pritzker and IDPH hope to decrease the ever-increasing cases in the region. Earlier this week, Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health won a ruling against three Illinois school districts who claim they do not need to enforce the wearing of masks for in-person learning. In July, Pritzker filed a lawsuit to prevent the spread of coronavirus in school by ensuring that students wear face masks to school if classes were to be resume in person. Last month, Families of Faith Christian Academy in Channahon wrote letters in opposition to this lawsuit, citing the Illinois Supreme Court Rule in 1922 that states that the government cannot make rules “which merely have a tendency to prevent” the spread of infectious diseases. Others noted that, because there are technically no consequences for those who do not wear masks, these rules should be considered recommendations for school districts. Last week, the Hutsonville school board voted 4-3 to comply with the state health guidelines released in June that set instructions for the safe congregation in schools from kindergarten through college in order to prevent the spread of the disease. As of the end of Wednesday, August 19, 2,295 cases of COVID-19 were reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health as well as 25 additional deaths within that day. This brings Illinois’ total coronavirus cases to 211,889 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, and 7,806 deaths. Testing has also been at an all-time high in the state. Within the past 24-hours, coronavirus testing laboratories have reported over 50,000 test subjects processed, the most tests processed in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic. The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign has recently developed a salvia-based COVID-19 test and is now using it to expand testing on campus as students begin to return for the fall semester. Gov. JB Pritzker announced on Wednesday during a press conference that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization of this test to be used state-wide. This new test is a “real game-changer” as it provides faster and more efficient results than current tests. Additionally, these tests are more affordable: the university has brought costs per test down to approximately $10 a test. “If ongoing research continues to yield positive results, this has potentially game-changing implications,” Pritzker told reporters during the press conference.
In the NewsPritzker Says State Closely Monitoring 2 Regions for ‘Troubling Trends' — NBC Chicago, August 19, 2020 Legal Move Delays ComEd's First Installment of $200 Million Corruption Fine — Illinois News Room, August 19, 2020 But lawyer Joseph Stewart argued “that restitution is due to non-federal victims of ComEd’s bribery scheme” before any money goes to the U.S. government. Under what’s known as a “deferred prosecution agreement” with prosecutors in Chicago, ComEd agreed to pay the fine to end a federal investigation into what the company admits was an eight-year effort to buy influence in the Illinois Capitol. In the agreement, the benefits of the scheme for ComEd were said to exceed $150 million. Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan says he won't quit in wake of ComEd scandal — Crain’s Chicago Business, August 18, 2020 Former Gov. James Thompson, a giant of Illinois politics, dead at 84 – Chicago Sun-Times, August 15, 2020 |