www.dailyegyptian.com Wednesday,November 11, 2020
Vol. 134, Issue 37
Region 5 to Southern Illinois move back to reacts to Biden win tier 2 restrictions
Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks on Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 as he rallies supporters for Hillary Clinton in Orlando, Fla. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS) George Wiebe | gwiebe@dailyegyptian.com
The 2020 election is almost complete and as of now every major outlet has called the race in favor of Joe Biden, but not all southern Illinoisans are happy about the results. Contention over the 2020 presidential election results has caused a new political rift at a time when the public hoped to find unity. “I voted as soon as possible,” Isaac Ludington, a junior studying political science at SIU said. “And I voted for Joe Biden.” Isaac described an anxious mood around campus prior to the election and the relief following its results. “Most of [the students] are letting themselves relax like they haven’t been able to in the last four years,” Ludington said. As of Nov. 10 president Donald Trump has not conceded the election. “I think what most people are seeing at this point is an unprecedented confusion,” Virginia Tilley, a political science professor at SIU said. The president’s claims of election fraud has caused a rift between Congressional Republicans who see this reaction as a conspiracy theory full of misinformation. “Even his Republican colleagues are saying you have to show us the evidence […] and no evidence has come forward,” Tilley said. “I don’t think there’s ever been anything like this.” Tilley said she felt relief over the election results due to the president’s disruptive actions and behavior while in office. Mike Bost, the Republican Congressman for Illinois’s
12th District who won reelection this November, said “I support President Trump’s efforts to ensure that every legal vote is counted” when asked if the election was handled properly. “If it isn’t proven to the people that it’s fair and it was honestly done then that is going to undermine the people’s ability to believe in the government,” Bost said. Bost said it is in the hands of the legal system to figure out if there was any fraud and what the results would be, not the “media making a statement in an evening broadcast.” The Congressman went on to say he would support whichever candidate won. When asked about the legitimacy of the Illinois election, Bost said the lack of voter I.D. laws in the state were an issue. “We’ve always had a problem in Illinois with certain areas of the state,” Bost said. “It has been a system wrought with fraud.” Illinois, along with 16 other states, do not have any requirements to show proof of identification at the polls; of the major swing states this election only Pennsylvania and Nevada are included in that group. The American Civil Liberties Union opposes voter identification laws in the U.S. saying that as many as 21 million people lack a government issued photo I.D., particularly the low income population.
Staff reporter George Wiebe can be reached at gwiebe@ dailyegyptian.com.
Regions 5, 7 and 8 of Illinois will be moving back to tier 2 mitigations beginning Nov. 11 due to an increased rolling positivity rate. These regions are seeing a test positivity rate that remains above 8% and continues to rise after more than 14-days under Tier 1 mitigations, which exceeds the threshold set for establishing additional mitigation measures under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan, according to a release from the Office of the Governor. As of Tuesday, Region 5 is seeing an average positivity rate of 11.5%, with more than twice as many COVID-19 patients entering a hospital each day compared to the summer peak in late August, the release said. These mitigations will reduce the maximum gathering number both indoors and outdoors from 25 down to 10, it will reduce the maximum party size allowed at bars and restaurants from 10 to six and organized recreational activities will be limited to 25 guests or 25% of overall room capacity both indoors and outdoors with a group limit of 10 individuals. “Mitigations are only effective if they are followed,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “The end goal of mitigating the damage the virus is doing to people’s lives is this: keep as much of our economy and our schools as open as possible in a safe manner, and when risk rates in the community surge up, take meaningful action to bring things back down in order to protect ourselves and the people we love.” These restrictions will not apply to schools, according to the release. “We continue to see COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths increase,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. “Science tells us that when you are in close contact with someone, there is an increased risk for virus transmission. We must reduce the opportunities for the virus to spread. Only when the virus can no longer sustainably spread can we end this pandemic. It will take all of us working together, so please, be part of the solution and not the problem and help us reduce the risk of spread.” Every region in Illinois is currently under stricter mitigations due to a resurgence of the virus. “In the coming days, IDPH will continue to track the positivity rate in Regions 5, 7, and 8 to determine if mitigations can be relaxed, if additional mitigations are required, or if current mitigation should remain in place. IDPH has been working closely with local health departments in the three regions to provide education to the public and offer information to businesses and organizations on safe ways to reopen,” the release said. The Daily Egyptian News Desk can be reached at editor@ dailyegyptian.com