Prairie State Wire

Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski worries that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's one-size-fits-all approach to fighting the coronavirus crisis may ultimately make for even more victims.

“We’re starting to see that on top of the health nightmare, this disease means very dire economic consequences,” Dabrowski told Prairie State Wire. “In Illinois, we’re projected to have up to 2 million people unemployed. We have to start worrying about the human toll this will take. The effect that poverty can have on one’s health is well known.”

About three months ago, Tony Duncan took his life's savings and invested it in the Body Science fitness center he owns in Kenilworth. As the impact of the virus shows few signs of lessening, Duncan gives himself another month or two before he’s forced to give up on the business.

“If this were to go on for another six weeks, we’d be destroyed,” Duncan told Wirepoints, a political watchdog group. “There’s just no getting out of that.”

As the number of deaths stemming from the virus has soared, so too have the number of small business owners like Duncan suddenly wondering what will become of their dreams and livelihoods. Over the last two weeks, more than 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits as a lifeless economy remains shuttered by virtue of government order. Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimated that unemployment numbers could explode to as any as 50 million workers.

“Here in Illinois, the governor and [Chicago's] mayor need to be thinking about that part of the crisis as well,” Dabrowski said. “Right now, I don’t think we’re paying enough attention to that side of things. I don’t think our leaders are giving enough clarity about what our plans are on the economic side.”

Dabrowski predicts the longer the situation lingers, the higher people’s angst will rise.

“This is all unprecedented and our leaders are exerting unprecedented power,” he said. “The longer it goes on, the more information people will want to know. Right now, we’ve got Chicago Mayor [Lori] Lightfoot imposing curfews and people are being arrested. We need to justify the need for all this with data, otherwise people will begin to lose faith.”

Dabrowski said that if he were in Pritzker's shoes, he has a pretty good idea of what he would do.

“I think he needs to create a commission that will speak to people about when we will be trying to reopen the economy,” Dabrowski said. “We need to balance that with the public health side. The more data and transparency there is, the better people will feel about things.”