Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a veto Tuesday striking down the Cook County Board resolution that would provide addresses of COVID-19 positive patients to suburban Cook County first responders.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle issued a veto Tuesday striking down the Cook County Board resolution that would provide addresses of COVID-19 positive patients to suburban Cook County first responders.
The information would be from the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) with jurisdiction over 127 municipalities and 2.5 million residents.
It was the first veto action taken by Preckwinkle in her tenure as Cook County Board president dating back to 2010.
“We must rely on data and science to drive our decision-making while also encouraging first responders to take the same precautions they would going into any home,” Preckwinkle said.
The Flossmoor Board of Trustees approved a resolution on May 4 in support of the measure to provide addresses of persons who tested positive for COVID-19.
Flossmoor officials cited the need to protect first responders as the basis for their support. Mayor Paul Braun said that under the circumstances, public safety concerns should take precedence over privacy concerns.
On May 21, Cook County commissioners narrowly passed the resolution which calls for CCDPH to temporarily share addresses of COVID-19 positive patients to municipal first responders through Public Safety Answering Point (“PSAP)” dispatch systems.
At the time, Preckwinkle responded to the vote calling it “discouraging and dismaying” to not listen to Cook County and state health experts who opposed the measure.
As stated in the veto message, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has indicated that providing first responders and law enforcement with the “identity of positive COVID-19 cases has limited epidemiologic and infection control value and IDPH does not recommend notification to law enforcement of individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.”
Rather, IDPH recommends that first responders and law enforcement take appropriate protective precautions when responding to all calls.
Preckwinkle said the veto was necessary because CCDPH has already considered and balanced the need to release appropriate information against the individuals’ strong and legitimate privacy expectations. Considerations include:
- The potential stigma that individuals or groups may face because of their diagnosis.
- The potential for individual harassment.
- The potential that information may be used by law enforcement to identify and target undocumented persons.
- The fact that such an approach tends to discourage individuals from coming forward to receive testing and treatment.
Additionally, CCDPH has advised that current data indicates COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting black and brown communities.
“I don’t see how anyone who understands the endemic nature of racism in this country, and the discrimination that black and brown people have experienced, will assume that this resolution is somehow going to be immune from that discrimination,” Preckwinkle said during last week’s board meeting.
Black and Latinx residents are most at risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19, according to data provided by CCDPH. Cook County is seeing 3.5 times as many positive cases among Latinx residents, and almost 3 times as many positive cases among black residents, than non-Hispanic white residents, according to CCDPH data.
“Our soon to be launched enhanced contact tracing program will be in jeopardy if we are forced to push out addresses of positive cases,” said CCDPH Co-Leader Dr. Rachel Rubin. “Residents of our black and brown communities will lose confidence in the health department, and may be reluctant to participate in testing and tracing efforts, causing more illnesses and fatalities that could have been avoided in these already disproportionately affected communities.”
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