J.B. maintains stance on sports
“THIS DEADLY VIRUS SHOULD REMIND US THAT THERE ARE SOME INDIVIDUAL CHOICES THAT HAVE AN ENORMOUS LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT ON OTHERS.” GOV. J.B. PRITZKER
High school sports, specifically football, were once again a major topic of discussion at Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 news conference Wednesday.
Pritzker had two doctors with him to support his position on not allowing contact sports in the fall, Dr. Michael Lin from Rush and Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Pritzker reiterated all of the points he has made before about the dangers of youth sports during the pandemic, but his tone was more conciliatory and less combative.
He also gave a big-picture view of where he stands on youth sports during the pandemic.
“This is a terrible and unprecedented moment in our country,” Pritzker said. “Living together in a free society means neighbors protecting each other so that we can all enjoy freedom and safety. This deadly virus should remind us that there are some individual choices that have an enormous life-changing impact on others.
“While parents might choose to send their children out onto the playing field, I can tell you that someone else who becomes ill because of that decision wouldn’t call that your personal choice. I want our kids back on the playing field or on the ice as much as anyone, and we’ll get there. When the doctors say it’s safe.”
Pritzker pointed to regular testing as the major difference between college and high school sports.
“When you’re talking about the Big Ten and professional sports, it’s different because of the amount of testing, the number of doctors available, the testing for myocarditis,” Pritzker said.
Lin outlined how a single infection can threaten a community.
“Just one youth athlete showing up with a virus can start a chain reaction of spread that can quickly threaten an entire team,” Lin said. “There’s no practical way to prevent outbreaks from happening in sports such as football with all the contact that’s inherent in the sport.”
Protests are scheduled in the suburbs Wednesday and Thursday, and football coaches have organized major rallies Saturday at the Thompson Center and in Springfield. The goal is to start football and other fall sports immediately.
But on Wednesday, Pritzker said he doesn’t even know what the threshold for a return might be.
“What I’m being told by the doctors, there is not a positivity level that they’re labeling for me that [says] at this level it’s safe,” Pritzker said.