PEORIA, Ill. — There’s no word yet on when Gov. J-B Pritzker will open Illinois back up. At a minimum, the mandatory stay-at-home order will continue until April 30.
Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis told WMBD’s Greg and Dan, the governor has done a pretty good job of dealing with Illinois’ fight against COVID-19.
But, Ardis is concerned that the whole state isn’t going to be ready to come out of the order at the same time.
“I think there’s areas, hopefully like Peoria, that aren’t as densely populated that can start coming out of this before the major metro areas like Chicago and the major collar counties,” Ardis said.
“COVID-19 testing that’s beginning here will help up get a better handle on how prevalent the virus is. It’s a lot more prevalent than the 30 or 40 people that we are seeing in the ICUs.”
Ardis said,” the science and data from additional local testing will hopefully be some of the things that assure Gov. Pritzker it’s not dangerous to open some of these communities.”
Being a part of the Illinois Municipal League’s board of directors, Ardis will have the opportunity to talk with the governor about when local businesses can reopen.
