(The Center Square) – As the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end, Illinois state officials honored health care workers who battled the virus during the pandemic.
In March 2020, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his first disaster proclamation of the pandemic. The actions ranged from stay-at-home orders, closing schools and businesses deemed “nonessential,” and even mandating masks and vaccines for some workers.
On Thursday, the governor’s executive orders ended, marking the declared public health emergency over.
“Today, we are reaching a major milestone in our fight to protect Illinoisans from the life-altering COVID-19 pandemic,” Pritzker said. “The public health emergencies that were declared more than three years ago, at both the state and national levels, are ending.”
The pandemic-era disaster proclamations lasted more than three years. In that time, the Pritzker administration reports more than 4 million COVID-19 cases and 36,000 COVID-19 related deaths in Illinois, though critics say those numbers are dubious because of how they were recorded and other factors.
The governor thanked the health care workers involved in fighting the pandemic.
“As we recognize public health and health care hero day, I want to give a special word of thanks to those who boldly chose to care for people and the work you do to save lives and care for those who might be ill,” Pritzker said.
Illinois did not get to where it is today without their hard work, he said.
“It was thanks to you that we were able to overcome the darkest days of the pandemic,” Pritzker said. “You showed up to deliver care to hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans in hospitals across the state at a time when our ICU wards were overwhelmed and mobilized to deliver life-saving vaccinations to people in all 102 counties, all while putting your own safety on the line.”
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra, who replaced Dr. Ngozi Ezike earlier this year, also thanked the workers.
“Their bravery and fortitude in the face of this overwhelming public health crisis is a gift to cherish and appreciate,” Vohra said. “As we write the next chapters in the story of public health in Illinois, we look forward to their continued leadership and guidance to help address inequities and promote health throughout our great state.”
Prairie Cardiovascular Dr. Brian Miller said the healthcare workers in Illinois stayed on top of the virus and set themselves up for success through their work.
“By February, we had our infrastructure set, we were ready for what might be coming. Then in mid-March, it hit,” Miller said. “We were ready, we had our response team available, and we were ready to go where the battle was.”
Miller also spoke of the sacrifices health care workers had to make.
“We would go a week and maybe have ten hours of sleep in that week. You had to do it. That was just the way that it was,” Miller said. “The goal was to protect the medical infrastructure, to respond to the illnesses, and take care of the people and to save the people that we could save.”
In total, Pritzker issued 42 disaster proclamations relating to COVID-19, and the state’s public and private sectors received nearly $107 billion in federal taxpayer-funded relief dollars.
