State Representative Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, issued the following statement in response to Wednesday’s announcement of COVID-19 mask mandates issued by Governor JB Pritzker:
“COVID-19 must be taken seriously as a public health concern, but it is just one of many threats confronting communities across our state. The fact is, COVID patients represent only 4% of the total number of people hospitalized in Illinois. COVID patients comprise 9% of occupied intensive care beds in the state. Meanwhile, according to the CDC, one person dies every 36 seconds in the United States from heart disease and just under 600,000 die each year from various types of cancer. The Governor does not declare these to be public health emergencies and usurp power from the people’s elected representatives in order to rule the state by executive order to reduce heart disease and cancer. We need to look at life holistically and not single out COVID-19 as the single greatest threat to our health. Vaccination should remain an individual’s personal choice and children should not be forced to wear masks in school.”
Representative Sosnowski serves the 69th District, which includes portions of Winnebago and Boone Counties.