After several national television appearances in which Gov. J.B. Pritzker pointed the finger at President Donald Trump and his administration for the lack of personal protective equipment and other medical essentials, the governor on Monday publicly outlined the state’s stock of equipment.
Also at the state’s daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation in Illinois, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, announced that three more people have died from the novel coronavirus in the state.
An additional 236 confirmed coronavirus cases have been added to the Illinois tally, Ezike said, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 1,285 cases in 31 counties. The ages range from an infant, to 99 years, Ezike said.
Pritzker announced the formation of a Protective Equipment Task Force to tackle the problem. Illinois also is receiving offers from private groups to donate protective gear to the state, he said.
At his daily COVID-19 briefing, Pritzker also displayed charts showing the difference between what has been requested from the federal government, and what has been received.
For instance, they asked for 1.2 million N-95 masks, but received 123,000, Pritzker said.
“Thanks to the willingness of Illinois manufacturers . . . Illinois is acquiring [protective gear] to compensate for what we haven’t received in our federal request,” Pritzker said.
“I have medical professionals and first responders begging for what they need.”
If the federal government filled their requests using the Defense Production Act, it also would keep prices from being driven up as various states competed with each other for the scarce supplies, he added.
As Illinois residents continue to abide by a stay-at-home order which began Saturday, officials on Monday also announced three more deaths in the state. So far, 12 people in Illinois have died from coronavirus.
The tally of COVID-19 cases in Illinois surpassed 1,000 on Sunday, including an infant who recently tested positive for the virus.
Besides the rising number of cases — which officials said is largely due to access to more tests — the governor also planned to put numbers behind some of his demands from the federal government.
According to the governor’s office, while the state has requested 2.34 million N95 face masks from the federal government, it has received just 10.5% of that request — 246,860 masks. Illinois has also requested 4,000 respirators and has received none. Those requests were made collectively on March 6 and March 20, the governor’s office said.
During an appearance on Monday morning on NBC’s “Today Show,” the governor said the state is bidding for ventilators against the federal government — and Illinois is bidding against foreign countries and other states for equipment needed to treat the pandemic.
“Price are being ratcheted up and we’re competing against each other on what should be a national crisis where we should be coming together and the federal government should be leading, helping us,” Pritzker said.
The Democratic governor’s angry words on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday morning about the lack of needed protective personal equipment from the federal government prompted a response from Trump himself.
Tweeting to Pritzker’s political account, the president said Pritzker “and a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News @CNN & Concast (MSDNC), shouldn’t be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings. We are there to back you up should you fail, and always will be!”
The response prompted more anger from Pritzker.
“You wasted precious months when you could’ve taken action to protect Americans & Illinoisans. You should be leading a national response instead of throwing tantrums from the back seat. Where were the tests when we needed them? Where’s the PPE? Get off Twitter & do your job,” Pritzker tweeted.
