Prairie State Wire

The village of Orland Park in Cook County met the metrics for moving to the next phase for reopening under the Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s five-phase Restore Illinois plan, according to Mayor Keith Pekau. Instead the village remains stuck with other municipalities statewide under the restrictions of phase 2, which only permits retail stores open for pickup and some limited outdoor activity.

“We like every region outside Chicago have met the metrics for moving on,” Pekau said. “But he [Pritzker] is letting the Chicago numbers drive the policy for the entire state.”

The earliest any of the four regions in the state established under Restore Illinois can move to phase 3 is at the end of May. Phase 3 allows most businesses to reopen but strict social distancing rules remain in place. The move to next phase, however, could be pushed back as the governor recently warned that the peak of infections in the state might not arrive until mid-June. 

“He’s 40 days beyond his legal use of emergency powers,” Pekau said. “With the legislature AWOL, he has no checks and balances for what he’s doing. He’s like [North Korean dictator] Kim Jung-un. He threatens anyone who doesn’t follow his orders.’

(Out since early March, the legislature is scheduled to return to Springfield next week.)

Pekau said he has been in continuous contact with some of the state’s other mayors, who, likewise, are pressuring the governor to allow them to reopen sooner. Elected officials in DuPage and McHenry counties have asked the governor to move them outside of Restore Illinois’ northeast region, which includes Chicago.

One of the metrics set down by the governor is an average positive testing rate for the virus of below 20 percent. Pekau said that Orland Park is a 14.5 percent. The village meets other metrics as well: rate of hospital admissions, and the availability of medical equipment.

“This was supposed to be about flattening the curve,” Pekau said. “We’ve done that. We've met all the CDC guidelines..”

At the same time, Pekau said that the state’s response to the virus has been “abysmal," noting that 48 percent of deaths from the virus have been in long-term care facilities under the oversight of the Illinois Department of Public Health and that the state failed to procure sufficient supplies of medical and personal protection equipment. In addition many of those recently unemployed are late receiving benefits. 

“A depressed economy puts such an enormous strain on our health care system that it could cost us more lives than the pandemic,” Pekau said.