A new stay-at-home order issued by Gov. JB Prizker that takes effect today is looser than the one that expired at the end of April.
Boating, so long as no more than two people are afloat together, is allowed. Nurseries and garden centers can open, as can pet grooming establishments. Some state parks will reopen. Golfing will be allowed. Businesses not deemed essential will be able to fill online and curbside orders.
The governor is tightening some precautions. Beginning today, people who go to stores and other indoor places where six feet of separation can’t be maintained must wear masks. A ban on nonessential travel remains in place, although there are numerous exceptions to the edict that use of bicycles, scooters, automobiles, trains, planes and public transit is prohibited. Under an executive order issued Thursday, which comes as court challenges to the governor’s emergency authority mount, there are at least as many recommendations as hard-and-fast requirements, as many should’s as shall’s and as many may’s as must’s.
The Thursday executive order comes days after state Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, won a court order striking down Pritzker’s stay-at-home order that was renewed today. The court order applies only to Bailey, but several lawsuits have been filed seeking to overturn Pritzker’s authority to issue stay-at-home orders. The lawsuits include two from churches that say the governor has no right to ban religious gatherings.
Two weeks ago, Pritzker backed Sangamon County public health authorities who shut down a planned drive-in Easter service at Destiny Church on MacArthur Boulevard, telling the pastor that the planned service violated the governor’s order and that police had been alerted. “It’s as if they’re sitting in pews very near to each other,” Pritzker said a few days after Easter when asked about drive-in services.
The executive order issued Thursday, however, allows for drive-in church services: “Religious organizations and houses of worship are encouraged to use online or drive-in services to protect the health and safety of their congregants.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Spring Home & Garden 2020.
‘Effective immediately, the Governor has amended his stay-at-home order to exclude travel to Florida.’