CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The mayor of southwest suburban Orland Park has lashed out against more mask-wearing requirements and said people should be living normal lives.
Mayor Keith Pekau said on Monday he has not agreed with the way Gov. J.B. Pritzker has handled the pandemic. Even before the governor’s newest mask order for schools and among some state workers, Pekau was critical of the new masking trend.
He said adults at-risk have had plenty of time to get vaccinated to stay safe and that children should not bear the brunt of keeping adults safe.
“The data shows that we do not need to be requiring mask-wearing for our children’s safety, which means we would be forcing them to wear masks for the safety of unvaccinated adults,” Pekau said. “Any adult that is at risk has had plenty of time to get a vaccination. If they have not, it’s their decision and it is ludicrous and irresponsible to force vaccines upon children to protect those adults from COVID.”
Pekau said the number of people in intensive care units of southwest suburban hospitals is very low.
“For an entire year, we took away many of our children’s activities. What is encouraging is that many states and cities took different approaches and showed that schools could be opened safely. Sports and other curriculars could be conducted safely and children could be allowed to live and learn relatively normally,” continued Pekau, adding, “it’s sad” others didn’t learn from their success.
Pekau had begun his six-minute prepared speech without the issue being brought up at the end of Monday night’s village board meeting.
“For the first time ever, we’ve quarantined healthy people. We locked down businesses and destroyed people’s lives in the name of health and safety. Now we’re arresting people in the United States Capitol for not wearing a mask.”
The southwest suburban mayor said how officials deal with COVID-19 now will set a precedent for decades to come.
Early on in the pandemic, Pekau had his village challenge the legality of Pritzker’s coronavirus restrictions.
“When we started taking these measures, we were told emphatically that it was to protect our hospitals and make sure they were not overrun. Somehow, this goal has morphed into eradication of a coronavirus,” he said.
The mayor wrapped up by plugging the village’s annual event.
“On that note, I hope you all come out and enjoy our event this weekend at Taste of Orland. We saw everything that’s happening in Chicago with Lollapalooza. We saw everything happening at Guaranteed Rate Field with 36,000 people. I was there. Nobody was wearing masks. People are carrying out normal lives.”
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