Despite social distancing orders amid the coronavirus pandemic, 1,000 Chicago residents all crammed into a house for a party on the city's west side. Now, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is condemning the affair.

Illinois has been under a stay-at-home order since March 21, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker has recently extended it until May 30, reports NBC5 Chicago.


Young Chicago residents didn’t seem too worried about the order though, as videos show people packed into a residence from wall to wall.

"I'm not worried about [the coronavirus] … but if I didn't have it before, I probably got it now. Oh well,” one guest said, according to TMZ.

State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford wants the partygoers to now get tested for COVID-19.

“What we have to do is try and meet them where they’re at and get them tested and see if they’re employed. See if they have a job, see why they feel they're life is not valuable,” he told NBC5 Chicago.

Lightfoot called the gathering reckless.

“I have seen the video which shows what appears to be a house party taking place inside a Chicago residence,” the mayor tweeted. “What was depicted on the video was reckless and utterly unacceptable.”

Lightfoot agrees with Pritzker’s decision to extend the order and believes it may need to be prolonged until June.

“I know this is a very difficult time for Chicagoans, but there is a reason we are asking you to stay home and socially distance: it saves lives,” Lightfoot wrote.

“While most Chicagoans are doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19, reckless actions like these threaten our public health and risk erasing the progress we have made,” she tweeted. “We will hold those responsible accountable. I am asking everyone to be in this together.”

The politician asked Chicagoans to send in anonymous tips about house parties to the police department website.

Pritzker also denounced the partygoers during his daily coronavirus briefing on Sunday.

“By standing together, not social distancing and not wearing masks, you’re literally putting everyone around you in danger,” the 55-year-old said. “They’re putting you in danger, and very importantly, all of those people are putting their families and friends who are not there with them in danger.”

Chicago police say they are looking into the matter.

While residents of one state are opposing stay-at-home orders by throwing a party, in another state they are protesting.

A group of about 100 in Kentucky took to the lawn of the Capitol building in Frankfort on Wednesday and shouted “Open up Kentucky!” and “King Beshear” during the governor’s coronavirus briefing, reports the New York Post.

Two days later, they returned but found barricades, so they drove around the area instead to continue protesting coronavirus precautions.

On Sunday, the state saw it’s highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases with 273 new diagnoses.

“We are still in the midst of this fight against a deadly and highly contagious virus,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “Let’s make sure, as much as we’re looking at those benchmarks and we’re looking at the future, that we are acting in the present and we are doing the things that it takes to protect one another.”

It is unclear if the protests aided in the spike of COVID-19 cases.

Beshear is standing firm in his decision and said he will not reopen the state despite the protestors.

“We’re not in the 14 days of decreasing under the White House guidelines to do certain things,” Beshear said.

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