Stay-At-Home Order 'Necessary:' Aurora Mayor

AURORA, IL — Moments after Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced a shelter-in-place order for the state of Illinois, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin released a statement for residents.

The statement read,

"Difficult times call for difficult decisions. I have spoken with Governor Pritzker during this challenging period, and I know his decision to mandate all Illinoisans to shelter in place was not an easy one. But based on the science and the experts, it certainly is the most logical one.

I fully support his decision and encourage all Aurorans to abide by this new mandate and stay home unless you absolutely have to obtain essential services like food and medical care. While this decision is certainly necessary, please remember it is also temporary. What we do and don’t do during this critical time can literally save lives and restore our community, state and country.

We are Aurora Strong, and we can serve as a model for the rest of the state by doing all we can to combat this crisis and to flatten the curve by socially distancing ourselves and sheltering in place. These efforts will also lessen the need for emergency and medical services while decreasing the burden on our healthcare workers and first responders who are doing heroic work on the frontlines.

Our circumstances are anything but normal right now, but they will be in due time. This is tough, but so are Aurorans. Tough times don’t last, but tough people do. I look forward to speaking to our community tomorrow – Saturday, March 21 – at Noon on Facebook and the City’s website.

We are in this together. We are One Aurora. Be Well."

Mayor Irvin declared a state of emergency Monday amid ongoing concerns over coronavirus. The emergency order was described as a "proactive measure" to help the city more quickly obtain emergency goods and services and to "quickly enforce emergency planning decisions."

As a further precaution, Aurora City Hall was initially closed to the public until April 1, effective Tuesday at 5 p.m. Most of City Hall's internal operations were originally set to continue as planned, with some employees working remotely.

IL Coronavirus 'Stay-At-Home' Order Issued As Death Toll Hits 5

As of Thursday, Fox Valley Mall and Chicago Premium Outlets had temporarily closed to the public. The closures, initially effective until at least March 31, will likely be extended due to the governor's shelter-in-place order, which is effective Saturday at 5 p.m. through April 7.