On Monday, a downstate judge issued a temporary restraining order against the extension of Illinois’ stay-at-home order, which is set to expire Thursday before a modified order takes effect May 1.

“It’s insulting and it’s dangerous, and people’s safety and health have now been put at risk,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday afternoon during his daily press briefing. “The stay-at-home order has prevented tens of thousands of illnesses and thousands of deaths.”

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Public health officials announced 1,980 new cases of the coronavirus and 50 additional deaths Monday. Statewide, there have been 45,883 cases and 1,983 deaths across 96 of Illinois’ 102 counties.

State Rep. Darren Bailey of Xenia filed a lawsuit Thursday – the same day the governor announced he was extending the statewide order – claiming Pritzker had overextended his power by issuing additional orders to stay home after the original disaster proclamation expired on April 9.

“Enough is enough! I filed this lawsuit on behalf of myself and my constituents who are ready to go back to work and resume a normal life,” Bailey said in statement announcing the lawsuit.

Pritzker disputed those claims.

“In Illinois and nationally, we are operating on decades of precedent in terms of how disaster proclamations work, from floods to tornadoes and now to global pandemics. Disasters don’t necessarily evaporate on a 30-day time frame,” he said.

“Rep. Darren Bailey’s decision to take to the courts to try and dismantle public health directives designed to keep people safe is an insult to all Illinoisans who have been lost during this COVID-19 crisis and it’s a danger to millions of people who may get ill because of his recklessness,” he said. “At best, no one is better off because of this ruling and at worst, people’s health and safety will suffer tremendously.”

The governor vowed to appeal the ruling, which only applies to Bailey because he was the only plaintiff.

“People are in danger as a result of the judge’s ruling on the suit brought by Darren Bailey. We’re certainly going to act in a swift fashion to have it overturned and to put a stay in place,” he said. “History will remember those who put politics aside to come together to keep people safe. It will also remember those who so blindly devoted to ideology and pursuit of personal celebrity that they made an enemy of science and of reason.”

Contact Kristen Thometz: @kristenthometz | (773) 509-5452 | [email protected]

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