Governor Pritzker says he and his family have been threatened amid COVID-19 pandemic

CHICAGO - Governor JB Pritzker said Friday that Illinois is still on track to move forward with reopening in two weeks.

The governor also defended his family's travels to Florida, adding their safety has been threatened.

“I would hope that the GOP, the Republican Super PAC that's pushing stories like this about my family would stop doing it because they are putting my children and my family in danger,” Pritzker said.

The governor said he and his family felt threatened by some of the “Reopen Illinois” protesters holding signs suggesting violence towards them. But before those demonstrations, he says his family was in Florida doing work on their farm.

“My wife and daughter were down in Florida in early March, and in fact even before that,” he said.

Pritzker says his family is now at home in Chicago after a staffer in his office tested positive for COVID-19.

The governor also announced some good news about testing. A new drive-thru site will be opening this weekend in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood and another one in Rolling Meadows next week.

In addition, Pritzker announced that people working essential jobs can get tested for the virus whether or not they show symptoms of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the White House is now calling for all states to test 2-percent of their populations this month.

“Illinois has far surpassed that level, and has now tested more than double that amount using a 7-day average. Illinois is testing 4.7-percent of our population, per month,” Pritzker said.

Part of our state’s testing initiative has included the Abbott Labs Rapid Test machine, which the FDA now says may be missing up to 48-percent of infections.

Those machines have been deployed across the state and private entities have purchased them. Pritzker is discouraging people from using those machines for the time being.

As of Friday, Illinois had a 14-percent virus positivity rate.