I want to discuss the actions that i have taken towards protecting our more vulnerable populations, specifically focused on the black community who have suffered a vastly disproportionate effect of covid19. Years and decades after this pandemic, we will surely look back and examine all of the biological and medical questions about the virus. The data accumulating over the last few weeks has shined a bright light on what seemed like a uniquely american problem. Have told you what it would highlight as long as it drew a picture. Generations of systemic disadvantages health care of communities in color and black unities in particular are now amplified in this crisis. In the city of chicago, and greater st. Louis, across our state and nation. First, we need more ubiquitous test. We are working hard to expand our Testing Capacity and thinking hard about where and how these tests are available. I have end, my team and worked to set up a partnership in the city of chicago and with more qualified l centers on the south and west side. These designated Community Health centers for those who are low income or underinsured are. Center atian health Pcc Community wellness on the left side and Chicago Family Health center on the south side. Starting next week, the centers will take specimens for 400 People Per Day and send them for testing. Region, we arest launching a similar operation where the Southern IllinoisHealth Care Foundation we taking hundreds of specimens per day and sending them to Anderson Hospital in madison county. Doing, looking beyond their front doors, this represents the very best of illinois. I cannot thank them enough. No community is getting through this alone. The fastest way through is maximizing our resources across illinois and these hospitals are stepping up to make that happen for all of us. I am excited to announce that our new staterun suburban center will open early next week. We will be taking hundreds of specimens per day with test results coming back to patients must fast much faster. As for our two existing state drivethrough sites, we have secured an extension of federal work for faster test results. Crucial, we also need to talk about what happens when a person has symptoms or known exposure. How does that person protect themselves, their family members, their roommates . Across the state, we have Multigenerational Families living under one and families and roommates living in apartments that make selfisolation more difficult. Preparation, we required each of our local jurisdictions to come up with an alternate housing plan to help residents quarantined in a safe place. For weusly, again prepared 2000 hotel rooms outside of chicago to support suburban and downstate communities. When a Department Needs help cannd its local plans, we open the provision of these hotel rooms for additional capacity. We have rooms available in springfield, rockville, metro carbondale vernon, and other counties ready to be activated next week based on county needs. Support to providing the city of chicago and cook county in their own efforts. People who tested positive for the virus have lowlevel symptoms or lowlevel care. There are other rooms available for people exposed to a covid19 positive person and are therefore under investigation and may need to move out of their home to make sure they dont expose their families or roommates. This extends to our First Responder communities especially. Beal Health Departments will making decisions about their needs, utilizing capacity to bolster our covid response. Directing 6. 8 million to help mitigate Financial Stress during this crisis. I want to remind people that these hotel rooms are in addition to the capacity in southmetro south hospital and vibra hospital in spring view. I am pleased that the federal government has granted our request to use the va Hospital System to support covid19 patients. I also want to recognize the Illinois Primary Health Care Association and its vast network of Community Health care centers who are working so hard across the state to support and improve the health of our residents. From cities to rural towns, the centers already played a Critical Role through their support of many of our most vulnerable. In the midst of a pandemic, they are one of the first lines of defense against covid19 this week, 45 Community HealthCenters Across illinois are receiving 51 million through the bipartisan federal care act to sustain their response to this virus. Updatewant to provide an on our rapid test distribution. Wednesday,ned on illinois received 15 rapid test machines. While we are still working to acquire the necessary materials, we are deploying these machines mannerlowing and are so that they are ready to go. Machines aree going to the qualified health earlier andntioned the remaining three east st. Louis and the surrounding region. Another three will go to the Illinois Department of health , the schapiroices developmental center, and the elgin Health Center. The final five will go to the Illinois Department of corrections facilities. Say that wewant to are making sure our plans reflect equity and access in testing and treatment. Of healthing the same care providers across the state it is essential that Health Care Institutions operate to fulfill their obligations to render health care in an ethical and nondiscriminatory manner. A crisis and providers may have to operate on their normal capacity and allocate limited health care resources. No one life is any more important than anothers. Guidance thated vulnerable and historically marginalized communities asked receive equitable care so that no person of color suffers a disproportionate outcome due to a legacy of discrimination. These thatments like we offer even greater expressions of humanity. With that, i would like to turn it over to the doctor or our medical update. Governor andou good afternoon, everyone. Commitmented by your to make sure all lives matter and everyone gets equal care. United we stand and divided we fall. I am inspired by all of you who are following the recommendation to make sure we do all we can to ensure the safety of our entire community. Report that 68 additional lives have been lost to covid19 and there are 465 new cases. That brings our total to 596 of 17,887 and a total cases. And inequalityy is a major concern to me and i have always encouraged our agency to use a healthequity lens in every aspect of the work we do. , we see alarmingly high rates of covid19 in the black population. This disparity is true both for cases and the data. Mortality rates among blacks are five times higher than white, and when you break it down by age groups, the disparities are even higher. For people in their 50s, the mortality rate is 10 times higher for blacks and their white counterparts. For people in the 60s, the rate is eight times higher than white cap reports. Counterparts. Comorbidities and Underlying Health conditions often contribute to more severe deaths from covid19 and we know that africanamericans generally do have higher rate of heart disease, stroke, cancer, asthma, and diabetes. Black adults are twice as likely as white adults to have higher rates of obesity as per the National Institute of health. Black Life Expectancy continues to be years shorter than the population as a whole there are many reasons for this. And lets not forget the centuries of structural and institutional racism. Which worsen the disparity included jobs that place people at higher risks of ,xposure, being underinsured lacking access to medical care, and as the governor mentioned, the fact that black populations potentially live in extended family settings with more people in the same setting. As the governor had mentioned, the state is working to address some of these challenges but people who may be at risk or have already been found to be positive. Created the covid19 equity team. By art director for the center of Minority Health and involves other state agencies that will serve as a once and informational hub how to accurately address health disparities. We will not stand idly by while one segment of the population bears an unfortunate, heightened burden of this disease. Team will identify issues and patterns impacting socially vulnerable communities while assessing and proposing specific, actionable recommendations. Increased,t be allowing for earlier, more effective isolation and segregation of the exposed individuals. Starting today, Health Equity team launched covid19 text messaging. You can opt in to receive Text Messages so you can have the most Accurate Information and protect yourself. Covid toxt the word 3125003836. Covid espanish, text to the same number. Must address the dramatic disparity we are seeing. We have got to tackle it head on and hope that these steps will start to do just that. I want to reassure the people of illinois that we are working for the health and safety of all. We wont hide from the hard truth but rather elevate the truth and then address it. We must all continue to stay at home and wash our hands. We must keep our six feet of distance so that we can turn the tide and end this pandemic as soon as possible. With that, i will summarize the comments in spanish. [speaking spanish] spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] spanish] ngozi and with that, i will turn it over to dr. Horace smith. Horace good afternoon, everyone. I am a physician at lori childrens the department of ecology transparent. 1978, been there since but also, i am a pastor of our churches in the south side of chicago. I am happy to be here because of the work of our governor mayor, and the Health Professionals in our communities, that today are announcing some tremendous strides forward in the fight against this pandemic. Subjects of disparity and health care are not new to us, but often they get pushed to the side. I remember when the announcements were made about the disparity in numbers in cases of covid19 and mortalities. People were astounded, but for many of us, we are not surprised. These are issues that have been in these committees for a long , it takesoften times something catastrophic for us to really pay attention. Need committees not only , but really i want to praise our governor mayor, and all those who understand that these are endemic, longstanding issues. We must deliberately and with all of us together face the unpleasantries of what is happening in our nation. Its a very unique situation. , andanamericans, latinos others who have been vulnerable for a long time are hit the hardest. In scripture, we are taught that we of the most those who have the least. This, wet not ignore must do what is being done today. We must make sure that surprise of health care are available. I would caution all of us to understand these disparities. Health care is a trust issue. If communities do not trust institutions, you can live next to a hospital, but you will wait until the last minute to go to the emergency room. If there is no trust, there will not be accessibility. So as we open the centers, im so glad we are. I would speak to my fellow neighbors and communities and tell them to please continue to observe handwashing, observe social distancing. Wheres your mask outside. But i also want to encourage you not to be afraid. The next step in the fight against covid ill be universal testing. If we have a community that is vulnerable, we should not be surprised by the vast numbers who are infected and to those who are dying. As a pastor and leader in the Health Care Community i am appalled to see such death on such a wide basis. But again, we must join together. We must practice these things which may mitigate our ability the effective. , youe are instant socially must not be distant in any other way. We must make sure that our seniors and others are cared for and what is being done today is a step forward. So please, as we address this today and go forward, lets make sure we also attacked the longterm institutional problems that are always a part of our community. Thank you, and im praying for. Ll of us together thank you. Might it my name is dr. Susan mckinney. For the purpose of illinois covid19 response, i am serving as the operations lead for the five alternate care sites. Capacity, i am responsible for overseeing the operations on each of the sites and coordinating with the city, state, and appropriate county officials. I want to reiterate that these alternate care sites at mccormick place, metro south, westlake, and vibra are intended to supplement, not replace our acute care hospitals. We know that if we approach Critical Mass in hospitals, these sites will be used as set down facilities to open up that space for the most critically ill. I want to thank the army corps of engineers and all of the hardworking teams who are working so diligently to bring these facilities online as quickly as possible. I would also like to thank Governor Pritzker for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve the state of illinois in this capacity. And aative chicagoan product of the south side, i am honored to serve in this capacity. Furthering my life work in Public Health and helping our communities understand how we determine bestal social issues plaguing our committees every day how we can combat social issues plaguing our communitys everyday. Christians know that jesus died for our sins so you can go to grandmas house and enjoyed a piece of cake. But this easter, we are asking you to stay home so you have the opportunity to celebrate with her at a later time. Each time you leave the house, you are putting the lives of her and others at risk. Please stay home. With that, i would like to introduce bishop simon gordon. Thank you. You, dr. Nk i am a pastor at tristone church in chicago on the south side. Thank and say our governor has done such a great job pending defending our state. He is to be applauded for fighting for us until this time. Second, i am grateful to the fact that he has not only heated the response in the community but has heard and is doing something about it. This call to action is going to make tremendous changes in how we are able to allow our community to get more testing and more accurate understandings of where we stand, as well as to put our community in a better place. So we need our community of faith to join with us. Im grateful for all the churches who decided to listen to the mandate and stop having church the way we had in the past. I am also grateful for so many who have changed the way we have done funerals, which is dramatic for a lot of people. To be in a posture without a private setting but all of things are so necessary at this particular time we can hinder the spread of this literal disease. Pantriesof us at food and doing the census and still having interaction to keep our communities safe, practicing all the things we need practice, we need to put ourselves on the line to make sure people know clearly where to go and keep following the mandates that make sense. I dont care if we have to do it through food bank or phones, its important we do. Our Community Leadership and landscapes are changing. We have heard of so many people who died from this pandemic here in our city. Sony Church Leaders and pastors who have passed in this pendant. I just want to close my comments by mentioning there are some that are well known, and some that are not quite. Yet they are Community Leaders and then make a difference i want to mention one family. Wife. Joseph and his we are doing their Funeral Services next week. Both of them died from covid19. Four surviving children and eight Church Family and community. Us, its our time to do our best to make sure we follow through. We have to work hard to make sure that we do this. Small and great, included in all of us is an opportunity to make a difference. We need to do that with the best of our efforts. Governorank you to our for stepping up to the cutting edge, hearing our voices, and making sure that whatever needs to happen happens so that we can see illinois be a victory state when it comes to this. To present back to you our governor. Gov. Pritzker thank you. To all of you who maybe dont know the three new people who stand behind me today, these are great public servants. I have known them for some time. They are great people who represent communities across chicago and are real leaders. I am honored to have all of you here today. Im happy to take questions from members of the media in the room and that online. Reporter following up on summer gatherings possibly being canceled. Is it inevitable you will have to cancel onsite schooling . And you mentioned the need for widespread testing. Is 10,000 the number you have in throwing out been throwing out . Theld the president invoke defense production act . Gov. Pritzker i have been saying the president should invoke the defense production act for everything we need. This is a war against covid19. If there is ever a time you need toorganize our industries address this with pde, testing these aremachines, all things we need to accomplish our goals, so that is my first answer. As to your earlier question, yesterday, i was trying to address the question as to whether people should be thinking about what to do with their festivals. I was merely suggesting people should complement contemplate what it. If. We need to follow what doctors tell us. We need to save as many lives as possible. Thats whats most important. Saying on at im. Iven day this is all about savi