Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday afternoon a stay at home order for all state residents, except for essential activities, joining similar measures underway in New York and California in efforts to limit the spread of the CCP virus.
“If there are actions that I can take that will save lives in the midst of this pandemic, no matter how difficult, then I have an obligation,” Pritzker said on Friday, adding that the measure may prevent “potentially tens of thousands” of deaths.
“For the vast majority of you already taking precautions, your lives will not change very much,” he said.
He added that people can continue to shop for groceries and visit pharmacies, gas stations, and banks. They can also still pick up meals from restaurants and exercise outdoors.
The Illinois governor said that law enforcement will take action to enforce the order in individual cases, if necessary, but that “to be honest, we don’t have the resources, the capacity, or the desire to police every individual’s behavior.”
The order exempts people who work in many essential industries, including health care, manufacturing, transportation, and food production or sales, including at grocery stores and restaurants.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she agreed with the decision.
“You must stay home,” she said. “This is not a lockdown, or martial law.”
“Think of this as safer at home,” she also said.
As of Friday afternoon, Illinois has 585 cases of COVID-19 in 25 counties, an increase of 163 cases from the day prior. The state reported one more death Friday—a woman in her 70s from Cook County—taking the state’s toll to five.
Chinese authorities did not confirm human-to-human transmission until Jan. 20—almost three weeks after the disease was first officially reported on Dec. 31, 2019. The first patient reported with the virus exhibited symptoms on Dec. 1.
