(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Gov. JB Pritzker is casting blame at Republicans while defending his administration’s handling of a COVID outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home that killed 36 residents.
A state audit released Thursday criticizes the Illinois Department of Public Health for not stepping in to help, despite a request from the VA’s chief of staff for a site visit, rapid tests and antibody treatments.
Pritzker said IDPH wasn’t visiting nursing homes then because of concerns about spreading the virus. The Democratic governor said the virus entered LaSalle because it was spreading rampantly in the area — something he blamed Republicans for.
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said the audit shows the Pritzker Administration failed to protect the state’s military veterans.
Pritzker fired LaSalle’s administrator at the end of 2020. VA Director Linda Chapa LaVia and her chief of staff later resigned.
The audit also criticized the home’s testing procedures as taking too long.
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