Metro East Sun

Veteran state Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) is sounding the alarm about a dramatic surge in overdose deaths across DuPage County that trace to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.

“Suicides and overdoses are surging," Plummer said of the period since Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted his initial shutdown order as a way of mitigating the spread of the virus. “This is the silent public health crisis; it is getting far too little attention from the media and many elected officials.”

In all, the County of DuPage reports overdose deaths are up by 52% and local officials are frantically studying the data for answers. As alarming as the raw numbers is the fact that the majority of increased fatalities involve young people between the ages of 20 and 30 years old.

“Reach out to your family, friends and those that might be isolated or need a little extra help as we continue to see young people isolated, businesses destroyed and families stretched to the max because of arbitrary government edicts,” Plummer added.

Plummer has proved to be a constant critic of the governor and his handling of the pandemic, recently throwing his support behind a suit filed by the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce naming Pritzker as a defendant in the wake of his extending his stay-at-home order.

“The governor has taken advantage of this crisis to exercise a level of power and authority this state has never witnessed before, so the push back from so many people … is a sign that they are uncomfortable with J.B. Pritzker’s autocratic ways and his lack of transparency,” he said. “Everybody knows that the pandemic is a crisis, but that being said we are at the point now where the governor is using the bully pulpit to go after our small businesses and our local law enforcement.”