By Illinois Review
On March 3rd, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) issued his 40th Emergency Declaration, declaring that “the Governor shall have the supreme executive power” and that the State of Illinois remains a disaster area from the effects of COVID-19.
Illinois remains one of only four states across the country still under a COVID-19 public health emergency declaration.
The declaration states that since March of 2020, more than 4 million Illinois residents have been infected with COVID-19 and that more than 36,000 Illinoisans have died.
The governor also touts the effectiveness of the COVD-19 vaccines in his declaration saying they are “effective at preventing the COVID-19 disease.” The declaration also states that it’s important for the State to prepare for “potential surges,” “new variants” and that schools should “alleviate any barriers to the use of remote learning…”
The emergency order encourages Illinoisans to “socially distance” and to continue wearing “face coverings” to slow the spread of the virus.
“WHEREAS, social distancing, face coverings, and other public health precautions have proven to be critical in slowing and stopping the spread of COVID-19, especially when community spread of the disease is high…”
The proclamation also encourages minimizing physical contact with the unvaccinated – actions “critical” to slowing the spread of the virus.
“WHEREAS public health guidance advises that minimizing physical interactions between people who are not fully vaccinated and who do not reside in the same household is critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19…”
Three years into the pandemic, Gov. Pritzker continues to use the “supreme powers” of his office to control the state – acting more like a dictator than a representative of the people.
In January, Illinois Review uncovered a Facebook thread from a year ago, where Chicago GOP chairman Stephen Boulton – a close friend and advisor to IL GOP chairman Don Tracy, offers some shocking admissions when it comes to the unvaccinated population, writing,
“I find it unfathomable that people are risking their lives to dodge two little shots….Now a lot of people are going to die for nothing but ‘principle’ grounded in ignorance – or, even worse, politics.”
Boulton also borrowed a line from President Biden, Pritzker and the Democrats by blaming the unvaccinated, saying,
“We have people who won’t get the vaccine, creating the problem now.”
Boulton also believes that if an unvaccinated person gets sick – you pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential hospital costs out of your own pocket – don’t make the insurers or the vaccinated pay for your bill.
Boulton also strongly believes and complained “that fortunes in avoidable hospital medical expenses are being wasted on saving people who shouldn’t be in those ICUs..”
In other words, saving the life of an unvaccinated human being is “wasteful spending.”
Illinois Review has also learned that Tracy’s family-owned business, Dot Foods, where he is an owner, launched a #WhyIMask campaign during the pandemic, encouraging employees to submit photos wearing a mask.
In one Facebook post, the official Dot Foods Careers page encourages employees to submit photos, asking,
“We’d love to know who you wear a mask for!”
The post also encourages employees to submit their photos to an official email address along with a “photo of you wearing your mask OR a photo of you with the people you wear a mask for.”
The post also encourages employees to write “a sentence or two about why you wear a mask.”
During the pandemic, school board meetings were flooded with angry parents, advocating on behalf of their children for the return to in-person learning and for the removal of masks in schools.
In response, these parents were demonized, silenced, and they were even labeled as “domestic terrorists” by senior officials within the Biden administration.
But as it turns out, the parents were right – they were always right.
In a paper published in 2022 on the consequences of remote and hybrid learning during the pandemic, the research concluded that the shift away from classroom instruction during the pandemic, “had profound consequences for student achievement.”
A Ohio State University study published in 2022 had the same findings – remote learning and virtual instruction had devastating effects on children.
In Chicago, test scores dropped significantly during the pandemic, and children have fallen so far behind in reading, writing and arithmetic – they are past the point of no return, unless drastic measures are taken immediately.
The Chicago Teachers Union were successful in their lobbying efforts to keep the schools closed during the pandemic, and the end result continues to prove catastrophic.
The proclamation expires on April 1, 2023.
