The following statement was released by SEIU Healthcare Illinois President Greg Kelley in response to Gov. JB Pritzker’s announcement on Covid-19 mitigation strategies:

Members of SEIU Healthcare Illinois support Gov. Pritker’s call for increased mitigation strategies as our state confronts the rising number of Illinoisians contracting and dying from the Covid-19 virus.

Our members – many of whom are frontline, essential workers who deliver vital care to patients in hospitals and nursing homes – find it necessary to navigate Covid environments every day. They go to work fearing that they could contract the virus and bring it home to their families.

These workers are predominantly female and mostly women of color who are predisposed to having underlying conditions. When many in the public are cavalier about a life-threatening virus, it endangers the lives of the essential healthcare workers that society depends on to save them.

If we as a society follow safety protocols, we can get through this pandemic with fewer illnesses and loss of life.