Illinois Governor to Defiant Partygoers: ‘You’re Putting Everyone in Danger’

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker reprimanded social distancing violators on Sunday after a video posted to Facebook appeared to show more than 100 people crammed together in one room at a house party in Chicago over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune reported. “I have not seen the video though I did hear about it,” Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus press briefing. “First, I want to remind everyone that by doing that, by standing together, not social distancing, many people not wearing masks, you’re literally putting everyone around you in danger. They are putting you in danger and, very importantly, all of those people are putting their families and their friends who are not there with them in danger.” The video showed a few party-goers wearing masks, and all the attendees appeared to be packed together from wall to wall.

The governor last week extended Illinois’ stay-at-home order through May 30, citing the possibility of a “second wave” of the coronavirus outbreak if the order was lifted. The Chicago police department said it could not “authenticate the nature or location of the gathering” but asserted that officers would not hesitate to issue citations and arrests “if necessary.”