CHICAGO _ Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday that he will extend a statewide stay-at-home order into late May, with several modifications.
Among them is a requirement that anyone over 2 years old wear a mask or face covering when in a public place and unable to maintain a distance of 6 feet from others. In addition, greenhouses and garden centers will be allowed to reopen.
Retail stores not designated as non-essential businesses will also be able to reopen to fulfill phone and online orders for curbside pick-up and delivery, under the new order.
There will also be a phased-in reopening of state parks.
Officials reported 1,826 new known cases on Thursday. There have now been 36,934 cases since the start of the outbreak. With 123 more fatalities also reported, the death toll stands at 1,688, officials said.
The stay-at-home order had been set to expire April 30.
"We now have what we didn't have two months ago, an understanding of what COVID-19 cases, deaths, hospitalizations and ventilator and ICU usage look like every day in Illinois," Pritzker said on Thursday, presenting data that he's basing his decisions on.
Pritzker addressed projections that Illinois will not see its peak in the COVID-19 pandemic until next month, after models previously projected an April peak.
A pushed-out peak "is the best indicator that we are flattening the curve," Pritzker said.
"That's what you're aiming to do, slow down the rate of transmission, which leads to a slower rate of increase over a longer period of time," Pritzker said. "Hence, a later and lower peak, pushing the peak further down the line might not sound like good news, but I promise you, it saves lives."
The modified executive order will require businesses deemed "essential" to provide face-coverings to all employees who are not able to maintain 6 feet of social distance, and will impose occupancy limits for essential businesses and other measures including shift-staggering and operating only essential lines for manufacturers.
Schools will be able to establish procedures for pick-up of necessary supplies or student belongings, while dormitory move-outs will be required to follow public guidelines including social distancing.
The Illinois Department of Public Health will also be issuing guidance to surgi-centers and hospitals to allow for certain elective surgeries beginning May 1. They will need to meet specific criteria, including providing personal protective equipment.
Pritzker had said earlier he planned to make changes to the stay-at-home order and that restrictions will continue to be needed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Republican lawmakers have urged the Democratic governor to consider provisions that allow some businesses to reopen with density controls and social distancing. They also urged him to reopen state parks and allow some elective medical procedures, which he said Wednesday he was considering.
"We will be making some changes to the stay-at-home order as it is, but it is true that it is working," Pritzker said on Tuesday. "So to pull it off, the stay-at-home order ... to remove it entirely, is to simply open everything back up to infection."
Pritzker had a conference call with the state's four legislative leaders Wednesday evening but didn't share plans to extend the order, sources said.
On Thursday, House Republican leader Jim Durkin sent a letter to Pritzker reiterating his requests for changes to accompany the extension, including sharing the epidemiological projections the administration is using in making its decisions.
"These orders have long-lasting effects on the people and businesses of Illinois, and it is only fair to publicly share the modeling that is being used to determine these critical actions," Durkin wrote. "While we all know that modeling can change, the legislative branch, our residents and business owners deserve to know what the administration is using in its decision-making process."
Durkin also called for allowing some medical procedures to be allowed to resume, reopening state parks, and allowing some independent retailers and small businesses to be allowed to reopen with social distancing measures in place. Senate GOP leader Bill Brady of Bloomington urged similar steps in an interview with the Tribune on Wednesday
The stay-at-home order took effect March 21, and already has been extended once.
When Pritzker issued the order last month, he had already ordered schools closed and dine-in service at bars and restaurants suspended across the state.
The stay-at-home order is the most aggressive action Pritzker has taken to stem the spread of COVID-19, as it directed residents to stay home, with a number of exceptions that were deemed essential, including front-line workers, trips to the grocery store and walking pets or exercising outside.
On March 20, when Pritzker announced the stay-at-home order, Illinois had 585 confirmed cases of COVID-19 spread across 25 counties, and five people had died. On Wednesday, state officials announced the largest number of new cases in a single day, 2,049. The statewide total as of Wednesday stood at 35,108 known cases and 1,565 deaths since the outbreak began earlier this year.
Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike have said the state is "bending the curve," which they've attributed to people practicing social distancing and following the stay-at-home order.
But that's also pushed back the state's projected peak in the COVID-19 pandemic, which Pritzker said this week is now expected to be in mid-May, weeks beyond the April peak models were previously predicting.
The stay-at-home order that's been in place since March 21 bars residents from socializing with people from outside their household, and closed playgrounds, though Pritzker left the decision up to local jurisdictions whether to close other park and green spaces. Illinois state parks have been closed.
Roads and airports have remained open, and people have been able to go to grocery stores, gas stations and pharmacies and to care for elderly family members and vulnerable residents.
