Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Department of Public health (IDPH) apparently is ignoring – publicly anyway – a letter from Republican State House Representatives asking for proof that shutting down bars and restaurants in the state will slow the spread of COVID-19.

The news section of IDPH's website makes no reference to the letter, signed by 17 State House Republicans, calling for the IDPH Director Ngozi O. Ezike to provide proof.

The letter refers to a database in which Ezike allegedly is "aggregating all of the data you are 'mining' from the contact tracing efforts on a local level in Illinois," the letter states. "You referred to using this data in your decision-making on the shutting down of restaurants, bars and other businesses."

The State House is "a co-equal branch of government" that needs to see the data "that shows the vectors for the outbreaks and clusters," the letter said. "This data is integral to our ability to make public-policy decisions on both funding levels and guidelines for public-health concerns related to the current coronavirus outbreak and for future public health concerns."

The lead signatory on the letter was Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City), who said in the letter that he would appreciate Ezike's "prompt attention to this request for the contract-tracing data."

The letter also was signed by Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville); Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park); Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia); Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford); Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland); Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville); Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield); Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Springfield); Rep. Mike Murphy (R-Springfield); Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna); Rep. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport); Rep. Dan Swanson (R-Alpha); Rep. Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa); Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-Dundee); Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton) and Rep. Michael Marron (R-Fithian).

While the IDPH's news section of its website makes no reference to the letter, the department has been reporting the latest COVID-19 case and death counts for Illinois.

The IDPH said on Nov. 10 that there were 12,623 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease in Illinois, including 79 additional deaths.

The day before, 10,573 new confirmed and probable cases were reported with 14 additional deaths. 

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Gov. J.B. Pritzker suspended indoor dining in Chicago. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who by then had suspended indoor drinking at bars that don’t serve food and ordered closing nonessential businesses by 10 p.m., questioned the governor's order.

In an interview with PBS Newshour the same day Pritzker's order came down, Lightfoot said she was "very concerned" about the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases but she's also concerned about how businesses affected by Pritzker's order will survive.

"If the governor's order goes into effect, it's really effectively shutting down a significant portion of our economy, at a time when those same businesses are really hanging on by a thread," Lightfoot said during the PBS Newshour interview. "It’s not looking good. And if we can't convince him that some other metrics should apply, then this shutdown, unfortunately, is going to take effect Friday by state order."