Grundy Reporter

Illinois Rep. David Welter (R-Morris) proposed legislation directing the state auditor general to investigate what caused COVID-19 to ravish the LaSalle Veterans Home.

An outbreak of the virus at the LaSalle County Veterans home in early November infected 90% of the residents. At the time, Gov. J.B. Pritzker blamed the community for COVID-19 making its way into the home, but a report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs painted a much different story.

"What they found out after they arrived almost two weeks later was things as simple as alcohol sanitizers, which is recommended by the CDC, were not in all the stations that they should have," Welker said on the Leading Voices podcast. "They were using other sanitizers that were not alcohol-based."

Welter said the report also revealed CDC-approved masks weren't being worn, and social distancing wasn't happening during lunch breaks. It took 13 days for someone to intervene and address the issues taking place.

He believes that had that happened earlier, lives could have been saved. Welter wants to know why it took the Illinois Department of Public Health 13 days to step in and make sure basic CDC guidelines were followed.

"Had they shown up, it truly could have prevented some of the deaths or the spread of the virus in the home," he said.

Welter has been outspoken about figuring out what happened and who's to blame for the outbreak at LaSalle. He felt a big factor in some of the nation's heroes dying from the virus was the result of inaction by the Pritzker administration and the Illinois Department of Public Health.

"That's what we're working on right now is holding this administration accountable and ensuring in the future that our veterans are cared for the way that they should be," Welter said.