Driven to Rebellion

This article in the Chicago Tribune should give you some idea of the mood here in Illinois:

Despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recent order to shut down indoor service at bars and restaurants in northwest Illinois due to the coronavirus, Fozzy’s Bar and Grill near Rockford was among those that stayed open.

Owner Nick Fosberg said he had to leave the doors open to keep his employees working, pay his bills and stay in business. He says the workers wear masks, and customers wear masks on their way in and out, while tables are spaced 6 feet apart, at 25% capacity.

“We’re sticking to what we were doing and being safe about it,” he said. “We’re getting a ton of support. People are happy someone finally stood up and said, ‘I’m not closing.’”

The restaurant rebellion comes as state officials report rising rates of infections and deaths of people with COVID-19, prompting the governor to impose further restrictions in Region 1 in northwest Illinois, which had a positivity rate of 11.9%. Starting Sunday, the governor set a limit there on gatherings to 10 people, and a maximum of six people per restaurant or bar table for outdoor service. Officials on Thursday also announced 4,942 new cases of COVID, and 44 deaths of people who tested positive for the virus.

Pritzker warned that if necessary, he would direct state police to issue fines for violators of the regulations, and would seek to have liquor and gambling licenses pulled.

“If we need to close down restaurants and bars or take away their liquor licenses or gaming licenses, we will do that,” he said. “Because we are heading now into a peak that is beyond potentially where we were in March and April.”

In response to the governor’s orders, the Illinois Restaurant Association warned that banning indoor service could force the permanent closing of at least 20% of restaurants statewide, costing 120,000 jobs, and driving people into private gatherings with few precautions.

That last is what I was talking about in my previous post. The evidence that restaurants are responsible for the uptick in cases is slim; there’s more evidence that they’re contracting the virus in their homes. It’s possible the governor’s mandate could actually increase the number of cases..

I doubt that this is the last defiant act we’ll see from Illinoisans or Illinois businesses.

5 comments… add one
  • PD Shaw Link

    My region just hit the metrics for mandatory mitigation. This is what kills me from the declaration: “While most regions are seeing sustained increases in both positivity and hospitalization rates, today Region 3 is experiencing triple the amount of COVID-related hospital admissions since early September.”

    On September 9th, hospital admissions for COVID-like symptoms was 3, the lowest number since July 2nd. It’s generally been around 6 or 7, and the most recent number is 11. So, its clearly up, but just as clearly he cherrypicked endpoints for dramatic/ misleading effect. There does not appear to be a significant decrease in the region’s ICU availability, its currently at 34% and in “early September” it was 37%.

    Also, I think “COVID-related hospital admissions” is a made up concept. The state’s metrics are based upon admissions for “COVID-like Illness (CLI)” which the CDC describes as “fever and cough or shortness of breath or difficulty breathing or the presence of coronavirus diagnosis code.” One of the reasons admissions for CLI might be up without much change in ICU availability is that the admissions were precautionary or ultimately short-lived. This might be because of better therapeutics that weren’t available in the Spring.

  • bob sykes Link

    In “The 10,000 Year Explosion,” Cochrane and Harpending observed that we are descended from those who took the knee at the beginning of the Neolithic. I doubt very much that there will be any significant resistance to Pritzker’s latest outrage. The great mass has been driven into a mindless, moaning panic, and they will submit to anything.

    On Tuesday, the panicked masses might very well vote for Venezuela. A people deserves the government it gets.

  • jan Link

    One doctor-quoted number is that COVID accounts for only 6% of hospitalizations. And, of those hospitalizations some may be treatment based, as many approved antivirals, like regeneron or remdesivir, can only be administered by IV, requiring hospitalizations.

    Furthermore, the COVID statistics, IMO, are being inflated by highly sensitive PCR tests producing unknown numbers of false positives, as well as deaths being rubber-stamped as COVID, when anyone dies with a positive test instead of actually expiring from COVID itself. A case in point is my brother-in-law who died earlier this month. He was operated on for a stage 4 brain tumor. Somewhere in his post-op life he tested positive for COVID, was shuffled off to a quarantined downtown facility where he died from the brain tumor, unable to see his family in those final days, and probably will be listed as a COVID death.

  • Drew Link

    “Furthermore, the COVID statistics, IMO, are being inflated by highly sensitive PCR tests producing unknown numbers of false positives, as well as deaths being rubber-stamped as COVID, when anyone dies with a positive test instead of actually expiring from COVID itself.”

    Indeed. But not a word from the prpagandists.

    The ultimate act of defiance is people leaving. Add two more couples planning to leave. Well into six figure incomes both.

    One couple is probably going to end up here, in Bluffton SC. If not, Asheville, NC. The other either in Charleston or Bluffton SC. A year from now IL will have less tax revenue per capita.

  • Grey Shambler Link

    Tried to see the Dr. today. Massive sinus drainage and lung congestion.
    I’ll get a video conference on Monday. I think they’re afraid of me.

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