Illinois State Senator Dave Syverson criticized how the state is implementing its new COVID-19 mitigation measures on region 1 for the Reopen Illinois plan.
He said they focus too strongly on closing restaurants and bars, while ignoring COVID cases in other businesses.
“Amazon came out and said they had 19,000 employees with COVID. And yet the State says, well, you know, the State says, ‘Well, you know, some of those companies are just too big for us to have any control over.’ So then why are you going after small restaurants that are doing everything right?”
Syverson said this in turn has created resentment toward the mitigation guidelines.
“I think you’re going to get many state’s attorneys and many local governments that are just not going to enforce it because it just isn’t right. We’re going to continue to urge the governor to take a science approach to this as opposed to a political approach.”
Syverson said when the first set of mitigation measures went into effect, the area’s positivity rate went up despite restaurant limits and closures. The new measures will suspend indoor dining and bar service, along with limiting gatherings to 10 guests or less.