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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION HONORING AND REMEMBERING THE LIVES LOST DURING 2020 IN COOK COUNTY DUE TO COVID-19
WHEREAS, on January 27, 2020, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services declared that COVID-19, a respiratory illness spread by close contact through respiratory droplets, presents a public health emergency, and the World Health Organization characterized the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020; and
WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation giving the state access to state money and possibly federal reimbursement for the costs of fighting the potentially deadly illness; and
WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle found that the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 constitute a public health emergency under the
Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act and a disaster under the Cook County Code of Ordinances Sec. 26-36 and issued a issued a proclamation of disaster for Cook County activating Cook County’s emergency operations plan; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the worst healthcare and economic crisis in most of our lifetimes, disrupting our lives in innumerous ways, and far too many souls have succumbed to this terrible disease; and
WHEREAS, the unprecedented level of disparities in healthcare outcomes during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic especially in the African-American and Latinx Communities in Chicago and Cook County has been particularly devastating; and
WHEREAS, in 2020 a total of 8,316 lives were lost in Cook County as a result of contracting COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, this Honorable Body wishes to honor and remember those who perished by conducting a wreath laying ceremony in the lobby of the County Building at 118 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL on March 10, 2021, which marks the one-year anniversary of the County’s initial disaster proclamation; and
WHEREAS, the ceremony will also serve to memorialize and stand as a tragic reminder that we must remain vigilant even while we are being vaccinated so that we can protect our friends, loved ones and neighbors as we work in unity to overcome this pandemic and limit the number of lives lost in the coming year;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the President and the Board of Commissioners of Cook County, on behalf of the 5.2 million residents of Cook County, commemorates the lives of the Cook County residents who died from COVID-19 in 2020, and does hereby offer its deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to their families and loved ones; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, a wreath laying ceremony shall be held in the lobby of the County Building at 118 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL on March 10, 2021, which marks the one-year anniversary of the County’s initial disaster proclamation, to honor and remember those who perished in 2020 due to COVID-19; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, this text be spread upon the official proceedings of this Honorable Body.
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