Plummer, Other State Senators Draft Open Letter to Governor Re:COVID-19

Area St. Sen. Jason Plummer of Edwardsville has joined with several other state senators in drafting an open letter to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

(SEN. PLUMMER)

In the letter, the senators indicate their understanding of the pandemic is that a second spike in cases can't be avoided without widespread availability of a vaccine, which reportedly is still several months away. The letter indicates that the purpose of the closures and social distancing was to "flatten the curve" and slow the spread of the virus, not to stop transmission of the virus, something the letter states is impossible.

The letter suggests Illinois should ease back on some of the more aggressive social distancing measures as soon as the Illinois Hospital Association projects that ICU bed capacity is sufficient to respond to the projected levels of COVID-19 admissions.

The letter proposes a uniform policy for the state that will empower county health officials to make decisions on closures, stating the senators are confident "county public health directors have the ability to assess and evaluate the threat COVID-19 poses to the local populace."

The senators also write that "we are already past the time when a plan for reopening Illinois should have been unveiled." It is suggested the plan "should identify a phased timeline where local decision makers can expand the classes of businesses that are essential. The plan should also include "provisions for antibody testing and complete transparency on the allocation of the billions of state and federal dollars spent in response to this pandemic. "We believe (the senators write) the best way to develop this plan is with a working group made up of agency administrators and lawmakers."