Illinois – What numbers can the public trust?

Illinois (ECWd) –

Only 17% of Americans today say they can trust the government in Washington (Pew Research).

With Illinois being one of the worst ran states in the country, one can only wonder what percentage of Illinoisans trust their government.  We touched on the Public Trust issue in this article.

With a well-established political pattern in Illinois of never letting a crisis go to waste, information being shared by the Governor appears to raise more questions than provide answers.

To date, the Governor’s media contacts have not answered a single one of our questions so we are left to gathering answers to questions from multiple other sources.  The fact we can’t get answers from the horse’s mouth, or at least his people is concerning.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, as of today, Illinois has 1,535 confirmed cases of the China virus “COVID-19”.  Thirty-two Counties have confirmed cases with total deaths to date at 16.

Questions people are asking:

• How many people are “currently” hospitalized due to the China virus “COVID-19”?
• How many people have been “discharged” from hospitalization due to the China virus “COVID-19”?
• How many persons have been identified as “recovered” from the China virus “COVID-19”
• Of the 11,485 China virus “COVID-19” tests that have been taken, 1,535 resulted positive, how many were negative and how many are awaiting results?

Today’s press conference shared information which appears to be little more than space filler and back-patting for a job well done.

• 54% of our confirmed cases are white, 33% are black, 5% are categorized as Asian, we have 11% of Latino or Hispanic ethnicity.

54% +33% +5% +11% = 103% 

• 54% of 1535 =828.90 white
• 33% of 1535 = 506.55 black
• 5% of 1535 = 76.75 Asian
• 11% of 1535 = 168.85 Latino or Hispanic

Total People = 1,581.05

So how many are really infected?  1,535 as reported by IDPA or 1581.05 as reported by the Governor? 

One can only wonder where the extra 3% demographic comes from, maybe common core math?

Considering “COVID-19” is not a race-related virus as numerous politicians have made very clear, why do the demographics matter? Stay tuned to see if the demographics get spun to insinuate race has something to do with the spread of COVID-19.

• 16% of COVID cases have resulted in hospitalization –COVID-19 Update
  

16% resulted in hospitalization but that does not tell us how many are currently hospitalized or how long these patients were hospitalized.  Sixteen percent equates to 245 people in a state of 12.74 Million.  That equates to .0000192308% of the state’s population.

• 4% have resulted in ICU admission.- COVID-19 Update

Prayers are with them, as well as all those infected!  How many of those 61 people are still in ICU?  How many have been upgraded?  How many have been downgraded?  How many of them needed a ventilator? How many of them died?

• Of the lives lost, we see that 92% of those lives lost are in those older than 60. -COVID-19 Update

With 16 deaths from “COVID-19” in Illinois, using their numbers, 14.72 were older than 60.  How many were older than 70? 80? etc.?  Is it really that difficult to provide the people with a more comprehensive breakdown?  For those curious, 16 deaths equates to .0104234528% of those testing positive.

Never let a crisis go to waste:

“The Governor shared projections on what our infection rates would have been if he had not taken action to limit gatherings, practice social distancing, closing schools, and shutting down non-essential portions of the economy.” COVID-19 Update

“Below is a graphic shown in the press conference which shows the worst-case scenario of what Illinois could expect if the mitigatory actions were not taken by the Governor. The gauged charts show current utilization vs capacity. The scenarios below that show where those projections would be had no action been taken over a two-week period.” COVID-19 Update

While we understand the medical concerns, this “projection” appears to be a slick way of patting himself on the back with information that is, as they said, “worst-case” scenario based on projections.  There is no way to ever know if the “worst-case scenario” projections are accurate so why tell the public an unknown? Clearly it leads people to “believe” the Governor’s actions prevented a catastrophe.  Never mind there is no way to prove it.

While there is no way to prove the projections, there are things we can prove, or disprove as the case may be.

According to the Governor, there are 12,588 hospital beds available in Illinois with 51.6% occupied. Considering the Governor does not provide any detail as to what type of hospital beds he is pointing to, we will default to the data provided from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Board. According to HFSB reports, as of 2018, there are 36,174 Hospital beds in Illinois. That is over three times what the Governor reported. Even more interesting, the official report from the HFSB reflects more beds available than would be needed in the Governor’s worst-case scenario, 28,222.

ICU beds available according to the Governor, 1,106.  According to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Board. , HFSB reports, as of 2018, 3,477 ICU beds.  Again, over three times what the Governor reported.

We have not found any hard data on ventilators and can only pray those numbers are not misrepresented as the others appear to be.

We fully understand the importance of minimizing the spread of any disease, but we also understand the importance of being transparent and honest with people.  With conflicting numbers and selective disclosure of key information, it’s concerning, to say the least.

The report touts the shutting down of non-essential portions of the economy as a contribution to minimizing the spread.  Can anyone honestly explain how recreational marijuana is an essential part of our economy? How is having over 100 people standing right next to each other while standing in line at numerous facilities a smart move?  One can only wonder if the Governor has some financial connection to the Cannabis industry as it makes no sense to have so many people standing in line so close together in the middle of a declared emergency. Yes, we know, some of those people are in line for “medical” cannabis.

In a time when the government is truly trampling on people’s rights during this emergency declaration, the public trust continues to decay and today’s information did nothing towards restoring that so badly needed trust.

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