Dupage Policy Journal

The information surrounding COVID-19 and its case numbers do not go deep enough to provide useful information for Illinois residents about the situation, according to Wirepoints and a former state representative. 

The focus on case numbers without context does nothing more than create hysteria and worry for those who read the daily reports, they say. And although Gov. J.B. Pritzker holds dialing briefings on the spread of the novel coronavirus, he does not dig deeper into the information.

There are questions about COVID-19 in Illinois that are going unanswered and former Illinois state Rep. Peter Breen, along with Wirepoints founder Mark Glennon, want to know why.

Glennon noted that reporters at Pritzker’s April 6 briefing did not ask a single question that challenged Pritzker or questioned what the state is doing about the COIVD-19 outbreak.

“Is it too much to expect reporters to ask the questions that obviously need answers? Is it too much to expect them to demand more than the rigged, limited question segment at the daily briefings?” asked Glennon in an April 7 column. “At the national level, reporters are relentless in challenging President Trump and other federal officials — as they should be. But in Illinois, nothing.”

Breen also suggested a few questions at these daily briefings could bring more information and better information to the people of Illinois.

On April 6, Breen, who is also a constitutional attorney, tweeted:

“Have any of the media present asked about the support for that 4,000 request for ventilators? (I know a number of media folks who can't be present for whatever reason) Follow up would be whether we're implementing tech to two times the use of ventilators.”

 Glennon suggested a few questions of his own in the April 7 column, including questions on why it took the state so long to collect information on hospital bed availability, ventilator availability, ICU capacity, And why isn’t the state publishing the information daily, in detail.

“Why, when you did publish them, did you provide only a grand total? The grand total means little and we need to see the numbers by city or region to know where overloads might occur, correct?” Glennon wrote. He also asks why the state didn’t use the daily numbers on hospital beds and ventilator use, already being collected by the Centers for Disease Control before April 3, and why the state began collecting their own information as of April 3.

Glennon referred to the University of Washington projection, which shows that Illinois will have a huge hospital overcapacity even at the peak of the outbreak, and wonders what Pritzker and his team believe about the pandemic’s peak. 

“Is that true? If you don’t believe that it is, please provide us with the projections you are using that have led you to build out so much more capacity,” Glennon said.    

The state says it needs improve capacity at McCormick Place for Chicago, and Glennon wants the projections or numbers that support that claim.

Context is important to help residents of the state prepare, he said, and to keep Illinoisans from overreacting or putting themselves or others at risk during these stressful and confusing times.