As COVID-19 Cases Surge In Illinois, A Clash Over Safety Guidelines

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker answers questions from the media, along with Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, during his daily press briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic on May 22, in Springfield, Ill.

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«Our team spends more time having to do this than I really think that we would want to be spending our public health resources on, Martell said at a press conference this week, pleading with businesses to follow the state’s orders.

Similarly, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike told Morning Edition host David Greene that her office would prefer «to focus our energy on educating the public and getting the right data to them, but instead, we’re now dividing our efforts on two fronts, trying to combat people who are actively working against what will keep our community safe. It’s a continuous struggle.

Ezike says she understands the desire to return to a pre-COVID world.

«Unfortunately, the mixed messaging has not helped the public health cause at all, she said. «And the desire by people to believe in things which are comforting but not true is incredibly strong right now.

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Fighting COVID-19 Is A Struggle, Illinois’ Public Health Director Says

Fighting COVID-19 Is A Struggle, Illinois’ Public Health Director Says

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Ezike herself was overcome at a recent press briefing, when she began to cry as she reported new coronavirus deaths and thousands of additional cases. Speaking to NPR, she said she was experiencing a combination of pandemic fatigue, frustration, anger and anxiety.

«It was a visceral reaction, she said.

Since the press conference, she’s heard from plenty of other people who feel the same way. «I guess I let something out for all of us, she said.

«I’m hoping that eventually, just with days, people understand that tomorrow still needs to be written and each of us gets to be an author and use our authorship to create a story not of continued doom, but of actually turning this pandemic around.