CHICAGO (WSIL) -- Governor JB Pritzker is taking aim at some Illinois leaders who have allowed local businesses to reopen their doors.
At Tuesday's daily COVID-19 briefing, Gov. Pritzker said the move puts community members in danger.
"I would just like to point out - elected officials who are encouraging people to gather, to break these rules, are in fact encouraging people to get sick."
Pritzker went on to say, "If you tell the people of your city, of your township, of your county to just go out and ignore these orders - these are doctors who are issuing these, who are suggesting these things. This is science and data. And I guess if you don't believe in science and data and you are an elected official, you're not doing the public service that you ought to be doing for the people who elected you."
The statement came in response to a media question about how the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has offered guidance to local health departments.
A member of the governor's staff read a question concerning the Franklin-Williamson Bi-County Health Department asking IDPH for guidance on enforcement after West Frankfort Mayor Tom Jordan gave "the go-ahead for all city businesses to reopen."
Mayor Jordan tells News 3 his words were misquoted in that question. He says he has not given the "go-ahead" for reopening.
"This discussion is going on throughout the United States. Every mayor of every town is having this discussion, and it's just unfortunate that I was misrepresented. But I'm happy with it because if it'll give me a position where I can stand up and say, 'Hey, look you need to come down to southern Illinois and see what's going on because it's different.' But I think that we have done what we were asked to do, and now we're waiting to be released to go back not to normal, and it's not going to be a new normal, it's just going to be life," Jordan told News 3 Tuesday.Â
Many local mayors and have expressed concerns with Governor Pritzker's stay at home order including concerns about whether law officers can enforce the provisions.
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