chicagotribune--2020-10-02--Where are they now? COVID-19 victims, family members and heroes reflect on their new normal.

Just two weeks before the decision , Rau won gold at the Pan American Games in Canada , a victory @ @ @ @ @ send a Greco-Roman wrestler in his 87-kg weight class to Tokyo , where the opening @ @ @ @ @ July 24 .
It was a crucial , emotional win for Rau , the Chicago @ @ @ @ @ trials in 2016 but did not compete in Rio because the American team had not @ @ @ @ @ .

Stacy St. Clair, Christy Gutowski, Karen Ann Cullotta, Susan Berger

Sabine Gonzalez, foreground, makes enchiladas with her sister Samantha, 22, and parents, Maria and Roberto, on Sept. 29, 2020, in their Glendale Heights home. Both Gonzalez daughters are members of the Illinois National Guard. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Some of them fought the new coronavirus from hospital beds, others at makeshift testing sites.
Some mourned their closest loved ones; others came to the aid of strangers.
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And some saw the pandemic upend their lives and dreams.
Six months into the greatest public health crisis in a century, how are they now faring? Here’s an update on six COVID-19 stories of loss, heroism and resilience.
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An Illinois Guard member staffed the state’s first test site. While on the front line, she lost her grandmother to COVID-19.
Army Pfc. Sabine Gonzalez’s life changed dramatically in mid-March when she answered the call, quite literally, to help the Illinois National Guard establish the state’s first coronavirus testing site.
Then 18 years old, the college student became one of the first — and one of the last — Illinois Guard members to serve as part of the state’s COVID-19 response, waging a war unlike any other the military has ever seen. The Tribune chronicled Gonzalez’s first few days at the testing site on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side, the only facility within city limits at the time dedicated to testing first responders and health care workers.
Army Pfc. Sabine Gonzalez helps operate the state's first coronavirus testing center, for first-responders, in March. She later lost her grandmother to COVID-19. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
“I joined the National Guard so I could help wherever I was needed,” Gonzalez said at the time. “I figured it would be in another state or somewhere I’ve never been. But this is my home, and I’m able to do something to directly help my friends and neighbors.”
Troops conducted about 233,000 tests during the first four months of the pandemic before private contractors took over at state-run sites in July. Though the median deployment time was about 45 days, many voluntarily extended their service. About 150 soldiers spent more than 100 days at testing sites, and Gonzalez was one of them.
She made the decision to stay for the mission’s duration on June 16, the day her grandmother, Lupe Rios, died from the coronavirus.
“It was a very difficult time for me and my whole family,” she said. “But the mission gave me a chance to help save someone else’s grandmother, so I wanted to stick with it until the end.”
Rios, a doting grandmother who enjoyed cooking for her family and rarely offered a harsh word, had worried endlessly about her granddaughter’s safety during her pandemic deployment. She called Gonzalez often during the early weeks of her mission with reminders to be safe and, alternately, promises that everything would be fine.
Gonzalez believes those repeated assurances were meant to comfort grandmother and granddaughter equally.
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On the day of her grandmother’s death, Gonzalez’s commanding officer gave her the day off from the testing site, where troops took up to 750 tests a day. She spent it in her hotel room, calling relatives to share stories about her grandmother and marvel at what a kind, positive force Rios had been in all their lives. Everyone told Gonzalez that she had inherited Rios' smile, a compliment she proudly accepted.
The following day, Gonzalez was back at the testing site, helping patients — many of whom had fevers and awful-sounding coughs — fill out their paperwork.
“My responsibilities took on a whole new meaning that day,” she said. “I knew exactly why I was needed for this mission.”
After the Guard concluded its work in mid-July, Gonzalez returned home to Glendale Heights and resumed her job at a local sporting goods store. She is taking classes at College of DuPage again this semester and is working toward a degree in criminal justice. Because of her military service, she is eligible for grants that will help pay for college.
She is expected to be promoted to specialist later this year, and she is contemplating switching to full-time active duty. It’s a testament, she said, to the profound impact her pandemic mission had on her life.
“The experience changed me,” she said. “It showed me that a group of people can come together and really make a positive difference in this world.” — Stacy St. Clair
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The struggle to move forward after losing her husband and both parents: ‘As much as I’m suffering, I know I’m not the only one'
Some mornings, in her first waking moments, Mayra Velazquez imagines hearing her father making breakfast in the kitchen.
Later in the day, she instinctively thinks to call her mother to see if she should stop at the store on her way home from work. And she still catches herself glancing out the window, expecting to see her husband’s truck pulling up in time for dinner.
Saul and Mayra Velazquez take a selfie from the front seat of a car. In the back seat are Mayra’s parents, Maria and Francisco Gomez. Mayra's father, mother and husband died weeks apart in May of complications related to COVID-19. (Family photo)
The moments are fleeting before the 38-year-old Hanover Park woman is jolted back into a harsh reality that all three are gone, casualties of a pandemic that took a devastating toll on her family.
It has been about four months since her father, mother and husband died weeks apart of complications related to COVID-19. Velazquez said her feelings of emptiness, loneliness and longing for the life she once had are often overwhelming. It is getting harder, not easier, despite what well-intentioned friends keep telling her.
Still, she said her faith in God and the support her family has received from friends, co-workers, neighbors — even strangers who reached out after hearing about her family’s tragedy — have sustained her through unimaginable grief.
“It’s like a roller coaster,” she said. “Sometimes when I’m talking to my sisters, we remember certain things and are able to laugh, and then there’s days when I’m more emotional and all I can do is cry.”
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Her father, Francisco Gomez, 81, was the first to die on May 2. Her husband, Saul, 39, died May 12. And her mother, Maria, 78, hung on for nearly two more weeks, but the family’s hopes were dashed May 23 when she, too, succumbed to the virus.
Velazquez said the family has not pinpointed how it all began. In a cruel twist, it was their closeness that perhaps made them more susceptible. She and her husband lived with her parents and two siblings. She said they followed strict safety precautions, but the fast-spreading virus proved inescapable.
Her large family has not yet gathered to console one another for fear of losing another loved one. But this month, before the ground freezes, relatives are meeting in a northwest suburban cemetery to bury their loved ones' ashes and officially say goodbye.
Velazquez said she is not sure if the intimate service will provide a sense of closure. For now, she keeps her anxiety at bay by focusing on one day at a time, reading the Bible and praying. She tries to be strong, recalling the strength she saw her parents and husband display during times of adversity. She hopes to make them proud.
“They would want me to be strong and to be there for my family,” she said. “They have been there for me through my good and bad times, and I want to be there for them and all the people who have supported me and stood by me.”
The older couple married in Mexico, then immigrated to find better opportunities. Francisco Gomez often worked two jobs to support his family. Maria Gomez worked in the home, raising eight children. Velazquez met her husband through friends two decades ago. Their friendship grew into love, and the couple celebrated their 13th anniversary one month before he became sick.
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Despite all that she has lost, Velazquez said she is thankful to be alive. She asked the public to continue to follow safety protocols because each death “is someone’s family member.” She fears people are letting their guard down as the pandemic continues.
“I know as much as I’m suffering, I’m not the only one,” she said through tears. “And I pray whoever is going through this, they will also find the strength to move forward.” — Christy Gutowski
Couple whose daughters arrived from college just before they became gravely ill have both survived. ‘You can recover, and it’s incredible for people to hear that.’
As the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed its wrath last March, Nancy Frohman and her husband, David Boden, landed in the intensive-care unit at a suburban hospital, hooked up to ventilators and fighting for their lives.
With the couple both unconscious and unable to receive visitors, the couple’s two college-aged daughters found themselves running the household and taking on the role of patient advocates, making urgent decisions on behalf of their critically ill parents.
David Boden and Nancy Frohman, flanked by their daughters Alexa, left, and Mariel Boden, both became seriously ill with COVID-19 and were placed on ventilators. Their daughters managed their care. The couple survived. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Since the Tribune wrote about the family’s COVID-19 odyssey, both Frohman and Boden survived their bouts with COVID-19 and have been reunited with their daughters at their Vernon Hills home. They couple said they’re grateful to their health care providers and hopeful others will remain vigilant about preventing the spread of the deadly virus.
“It’s such an important time to tell people this is real, take it seriously and wear your masks,” Frohman said during a break from her job as an administrator at a nonprofit.
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“The positive to all of this is the amazing support we’ve gotten from the community, which is beyond belief,” Frohman said. “So many people we talk to say, ‘If it happened to you, it can happen to anyone.’ But we’re also their silver lining, that you can recover from COVID, and it’s incredible for people to hear that.”
It all began shortly after the couple’s daughters, Mariel and Alexa Boden, learned their universities were shutting down due to the coronavirus.
Their mutual disappointment that they would have to finish the spring semester from home was replaced within days by fear and worry, after both of their parents — who’d initially assumed they were battling nasty sinus infections — were hospitalized in critical condition.
Despite the couple both being healthy and active prior to contracting COVID, Frohman said it’s miraculous that she and her husband, an IT sales representative, have both now returned to working from home. So far they are facing only a few lingering health issues; Frohman has a strained vocal cord, and her husband, who suffered a stroke while hospitalized, has some residual vision challenges.
The couple’s homecoming happened after spending five weeks hospitalized at Condell, followed by weeks of intensive rehabilitation therapy at a suburban care facility.
“When we were finally able to be wheeled out of our rooms, we had not seen each other for two months, so it was quite an emotional experience,” Frohman said.
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David Boden also spent three weeks in therapy at Chicago’s Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, where he relearned to walk, gradually moving from a walker to crutches and now relying only occasionally on a cane.
A lifelong musician who plays in local rock bands, Boden has also resumed playing the guitar, his wife said.
“What’s really amazing is our doctors have told us that it does not appear that we have permanent damage to our lungs, heart and other organs, especially as so many patients don’t walk back from this,” Frohman said.
As for their daughters, Frohman said Mariel is looking forward to starting graduate school in London later this year, and Alexa is busy completing her online college coursework for the fall semester.
Frohman said she knows her daughters are looking forward to the day when they can leave the nest and resume their studies in person. But she said having the close-knit family back together again has in many ways been an unexpected gift.
“We realize as a family that these are precious moments, and we don’t usually have this ability to spend so much time together,” Frohman said. “We’re just so proud of our girls. ... You can’t prepare your children for everything that will happen in life, and all you can hope for is that they will be resilient, and our daughters did it in spades.” — Karen Ann Cullotta
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Chicago news anchor Kathy Brock’s parents both landed in the ICU. Her father’s recovery is beyond what ‘we dreamed about.’
Frank Brock spent 53 days in the hospital fighting COVID-19 and was placed on a ventilator. During that time, Carol, his wife of 65 years, succumbed to the virus.
In April, when the Tribune wrote about the Brocks — the parents of longtime former Chicago TV news anchor Kathy Brock — Frank was still in an intensive care unit in his home state of Washington.
He survived, but the ensuing months have been “really difficult.”
“Losing my wife was really difficult. And (the recovery has) been a slow process,” he told the Tribune.
Kathy Brock, longtime former WLS-Ch. 7 news anchor in Chicago, from left, with her parents Carol and Frank Brock. Carol died of the coronavirus on April 5, but her husband has returned home after 53 days in the hospital. (Family photo)
The couple, who shared a birthday and turned 87 last November, were still working their farm and were rarely apart after more than 70 years together.
“It took a pandemic to separate them,” Kathy Brock told the Tribune shortly after her mother died on April 5.
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Due to COVID-19, the family has not yet held a memorial for Carol Brock. They hope to install a headstone and celebrate her life on the one-year anniversary of her death.
“This is a big, unresolved ache we all have,” Kathy Brock said.
Frank Brock still lives in the same house where the couple raised their family, walks about a mile and half each day, and is driving. He had 24-hour care when he first returned home from the hospital but has reduced that to eight hours a day and says he doesn’t think he really needs the caregiver now.
“The fact that he has come back in the way that he has isn’t even something we dreamed about happening,” Kathy Brock said. “He got really good care, is a fighter and pushed through all the obstacles he was facing.”
Kathy Brock said it’s been hard for her dad — not only dealing with his own recovery but also adjusting to life without her mom. She said her dad remains active, but it’s hard when activities and visits with friends are limited because of the pandemic.
Frank Brock is immensely proud of his daughter, whom he described as a “very hard worker.”
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As for the pandemic, Frank Brock said, “It’s one of those things I will be glad when we are on the other side of. I feel sorry for people who were hit so hard.” — Susan Berger, freelance reporter
Lessons from the coronavirus hospital ward in a ravaged neighborhood: ‘We’re not there yet, but we’ve come a long way'
As COVID-19 ravaged Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, Dr. Simone Liverpool bore witness to virus' often-unbeatable strength.
“People don’t understand how sick the patients are and how rapidly they can decline,” Liverpool told the Tribune in April. “They don’t see what we see every day. It has always been a difficult job, but our burden is now tenfold.”
Dr. Simone Liverpool has been treating COVID-19 patients at Loretto Hospital on the Far West Side since the early days of the pandemic. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
After six exhausting months, Liverpool, who works in the COVID-19 ward at Loretto Hospital on the city’s Far West Side, sees a reason for hope.
On the day she first spoke to the Tribune, her 12-bed ward had 15 positive patients in need of acute care. Within 45 minutes of arriving at work, she had intubated one patient and made plans for another to begin kidney dialysis.
Working in an underserved community hit hard by the coronavirus, Dr. Simone Liverpool said she sees both hopeful and troubling signs in the pandemic's progression and the response to it.
Flash forward to the end of September, when Loretto’s coronavirus ward held only two patients and neither required a ventilator to breathe. With both patients stable, Liverpool was able to sit down for a few minutes in the middle of her 12-hour shift, a short break that still felt like an indulgence after those grueling early months.
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She credits the medical community’s better understanding of the virus for the drop in both hospitalization and death rates. While the virus' many unknowns made the illness tougher to treat initially, Loretto, like many other hospitals, has seen good results from the medications remdesivir and dexamethasone in recent months, Liverpool said.
“They’ve been helpful measures to shorten the course of the coronavirus, but they’re not a cure or a guaranteed treatment,” she said. “We’re not there yet, but we’ve come a long way.”
The safety-net hospital — which provides medical treatment regardless of a patient’s ability to pay — also has significantly shortened the amount of time it takes to receive COVID-19 test results. In April, it took patients a week to get them back. Now it’s about three days, Liverpool said.
Any progress, however, comes after an extremely painful period for Austin residents. The neighborhood’s main ZIP code has the third-highest death rate in the city, with nearly 2 out of every 1,000 residents killed by the virus, according to data maintained by the Chicago Public Health Department. The neighborhood death rate is nearly twice that of the city, a reflection of the deadly consequences that underserved Black communities have endured for generations.
As the virus laid those racial inequities bare, Liverpool believed the undeniable truth would lead to real change in how society cares for its most vulnerable populations. But after the plans to close Mercy Hospital & Medical Center — a safety-net hospital in Bronzeville — were announced this summer, the doctor is no longer confident about public health care reform.
“Health care workers have always known about the disparity, but now everyone is aware of it unless they have closed their eyes,” she said. “The policymakers know now, too, but they don’t seem to be learning.” — Stacy St. Clair
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Despite setbacks, wrestler Joe Rau is still prospecting for Olympic gold: ‘You just have to accept what’s going on and do your best'
Olympic hopeful Joe Rau had been on the cusp of realizing a lifelong dream. Then the pandemic hit.
In late March, then-Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee reached an agreement to delay the Summer Games until 2021. The move marked the first time since World War II that a global crisis prevented the event from opening.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 15 Greco-Roman wrestler Joe Rau goes for a run with his then-girlfriend, Astrid De Leeuw, in March in Des Plaines. Rau was favored to make the U.S. team for the Tokyo Olympics (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Just two weeks before the decision, Rau won gold at the Pan American Games in Canada, a victory that ensured the U.S. could send a Greco-Roman wrestler in his 87-kg weight class to Tokyo, where the opening ceremony had been scheduled for July 24. It was a crucial, emotional win for Rau, the Chicago native who won the Olympic trials in 2016 but did not compete in Rio because the American team had not qualified in his weight class.
“I was expecting this to happen. You could see it coming,” Rau told the Tribune after the Games were postponed. “I’m just relieved there is a decision and I can start figuring out what my next steps are going to be.”
The relief was short-lived.
In the six months that followed, Rau lost his job, gained about 25 pounds and struggled to find a place where he could train with other wrestlers. With his first national tournament in nearly seven months scheduled for later this month, he has lost the extra weight and is just now regaining his rhythm.
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“I’ve definitely gotten really frustrated with some things, but I’ve got to remember everyone is going through it,” Rau said. “You just have to accept what’s going on and do your best.”
Shortly after the Olympics were postponed, Rau learned his contract with the Chicago Regional Training Center would not be renewed because of a pandemic-related drop in sponsorship money. With the Olympics still a year away, he lost both his monthly stipend and his access to Northwestern University’s wrestling facilities.
Olympic hopeful Joe Rau and Astrid De Leeuw married in July in front of just a few of his family members, due to the pandemic. (Family photo)
Rau contemplated moving out of state before signing in May with the Champaign-based Illinois Regional Training Center. The team typically trains at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but the school’s COVID-19 restrictions prevent the group from using campus facilities.
The team — which did not start group training until June in accordance with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-home order — now works out at a private wrestling gym a few miles away. Housed in shed-like building, the facility is smaller than the ones where world-class wrestlers typically train, and the mats are a bit more slippery than those used for international competition, but Rau says he’s grateful for the opportunity to simply wrestle again.
“I’ve got it a lot better than some other guys,” he said. “Some guys are still looking for places to train.”
And there’s more good news.
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When Rau won the Pan American Championships in March, he secured the United States a spot in 87-kg weight class in Tokyo and earned himself an automatic berth in the best-of-three finals at the U.S. Olympic trials. Both qualifications will still be honored in 2021, making the potential path to his first Olympic Games slightly easier.
He also got married to his girlfriend, Astrid De Leeuw, who was visiting Chicago from Belgium when the pandemic hit and spent the next six months quarantined in the United States. The couple wed on Cape Cod, with only Rau’s parents and brothers in attendance. De Leeuw’s parents could not travel to the U.S. for the wedding, so they watched via a livestream.
“We’re making the most of this crazy time,” he said. — Stacy St. Clair


chicagotribune--2020-10-02--Column: COVID hits the White House that played it down. Don’t gloat — vote.

Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio was one of Biden ’ s guests at the debate .
He has since @ @ @ @ @ but Friday he expressed his frustration at Trump and his family , telling Politico : @ @ @ @ @ 'em wore masks .
It was obnoxious when I saw it that night , but @ @ @ @ @ down my nose again , I ’ m angry at them .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s dangerous .
They endangered other people .
They were up on the @ @ @ @ @ .
”

Chris Duncan, whose 75-year-old mother Constance died from COVID on her birthday, walks through a COVID Memorial Project installation of 200,000 U.S. flags on the National Mall in Washington as the United States crosses the 200,000 lives lost in the COVID-19 pandemic on Sept. 22, 2020. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)
Viruses are opportunistic, and the coronavirus has now seized the opportunity to infect President Donald Trump, a man whose unwillingness to lead and model basic safety precautions has contributed mightily to the pandemic’s toll on America.
There’s nothing satisfying about writing that sentence. And there’s nothing satisfying or remotely good about the president, first lady Melania Trump and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel all testing positive for COVID-19.
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I wish them the same thing I wish every American who has had to face this disease: a speedy recovery and good health to follow.
I also hope this news drives home to Americans, and particularly to Americans who have supported Trump’s denialist approach to the coronavirus, that viruses don’t care about your boldness or politics, and that science is a better guide than mindless speculation.
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I hope this is the blow that swings America’s pendulum back into the realm of sanity. Though I’m not optimistic.
I had hoped more than 200,000 COVID-19 deaths and 7 million infections would have knocked sense into the nation, but it didn’t. We still had a president holding large outdoor campaign rallies, rarely wearing a mask or encouraging those around him to do so, while goading states to open their schools and lift pandemic restrictions.
We still had states like Florida, with infections raging, opening up bars.
We still lacked a cohesive national plan for contact tracing and widespread acceptance of best practices. When we crossed that 200,000-death threshold, we still had many so-called leaders, including the president and vice president, pretending everything was under control.
And we now know Trump’s top aide, Hope Hicks, tested positive for coronavirus Thursday morning. We learned about that only because a reporter broke the news Thursday evening.
Hicks had been on Air Force One and Marine One with the president this week, meaning Trump went to a Thursday fundraiser at one of his resorts in New Jersey knowing he had been exposed to the virus. Nobody at the fundraiser was notified.
Republican donor Dan K. Eberhart tweeted Friday morning that Trump “should not have gone to a fundraiser yesterday knowing Hope was sick. He should have not tried keeping it a secret!”
At Tuesday night’s presidential debate, Trump’s adult children refused to wear masks in the auditorium, despite specific rules requiring masks. And during the debate, Trump mocked the fact that Joe Biden almost always wears a face mask: “I don’t wear masks like him, every time you see him he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
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Like the rest of America, the former vice president and members of his campaign learned about a possible exposure to coronavirus through the media, not from President Trump or his campaign.
Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio was one of Biden’s guests at the debate. He has since tested negative for coronavirus, but Friday he expressed his frustration at Trump and his family, telling Politico: “Not a one of 'em wore masks. It was obnoxious when I saw it that night, but after having a Q-Tip jammed down my nose again, I’m angry at them. It’s the height of arrogance. It’s dangerous. They endangered other people. They were up on the stage where Joe Biden was.”
“Arrogance” is the right word to describe Trump and his administration’s approach to the pandemic. That arrogance spread like a virus to Trump’s devoted followers, instilling a devil-may-care attitude that has made it far more difficult to control the spread of coronavirus and get back to some form of normalcy.
So I hope Trump’s diagnosis creates a moment of national clarity. This is serious and deadly. The virus finds opportunities to infect those who take it for granted or let their guards down, and it’s not going to just disappear or be swiftly eradicated by the promise of a vaccine.
I hold Trump and his administration responsible for the reckless and ridiculous way America has handled this pandemic. But I find no satisfaction whatsoever in him and the first lady getting sick.
I don’t have time for schadenfreude. None of us does.
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This country needs to deal, sensibly and scientifically and finally, with the virus that has destroyed so many lives.
People need to wear masks religiously and recognize that we can’t have all the things we want — wide-open bars and restaurants, parties, in-person schooling — until we wrestle this pandemic to the ground.
This country needs a return to sanity. And a president who cares enough to set a good example and lead.
rhuppke@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-02--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Oct. 1 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

Americans awoke Friday to find that President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the novel coronavirus .
Additionally , the University of Notre Dame ’ s president has tested positive for COVID-19 , a school spokesman confirmed Friday morning , less than a week after he attended Amy Coney Barrett ’ s Supreme Court nomination ceremony at the White House without wearing a mask .
In Illinois , public health officials on Friday said 28 counties , none in the Chicago area , were considered at “ warning level ” for the coronavirus , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” mitigation measures such as social distancing .
The warning list came out as the state reported 2,206 new known cases of COVID-19 and 47 deaths connected to the virus .
The death toll is the highest daily count since late June , but still far below the 24-hour numbers reported during the pandemic ’ s peak in June .
There have now been 297,646 known cases and 8,743 deaths in Illinois since the pandemic began .
A day earlier , Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled Thursday a series of rules for Halloween @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebrate safely , including a requirement that everyone including candy-givers wear masks .
Among the rules , candy-givers are asked to leave a light on or hang a sign in their window letting people know whether they ’ re participating in the holiday while following social distancing rules and providing hand sanitizer .
Trick-or-treaters are asked to stay on the move in groups of six people or fewer .
7:15 p.m. : Someone present at Lane Tech high during SAT exam has tested positive for coronavirus At least one person who was at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SAT testing last week has tested positive for the coronavirus , according to an email from principal Brian Tennison .
Despite Chicago Public Schools giving classes remotely this fall , many of its high schools opened last Wednesday for the SAT test , a makeup date for seniors who missed the test last year because of the pandemic .
State education officials have been criticized for not waiving the SAT as a graduation requirement and providing the in-person testing .
7 p.m. : CPS violated union contract by failing to provide safe work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arbitrator has ruled that Chicago Public Schools violated its contract with the Chicago Teachers Union by making employees such as clerks work in school buildings that may not have been safe .
The ruling that CPS did not fulfill its “ promise ” of “ safe and healthful ” working conditions came a day after a teacher at Funston Elementary died from COVID-19 , according to the union .
The arbitrator ruled that clerks , assistants and others who have been reporting to school buildings during remote learning should be allowed to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the parties two days to agree on how to move forward .
6:05 p.m. : Cubs co-owner , RNC finance chair Todd Ricketts was tested for COVID-19 after attending Trump fundraiser in Minnesota A member of the Ricketts family that owns the Chicago Cubs got tested for COVID-19 after attending a Minnesota fundraiser this week with members of President Donald Trump ’ s family .
Todd Ricketts , the finance chair for the Republican National Committee and a co-owner of the Cubs along with other members of the Ricketts family , has not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but is exhibiting no symptoms , a Ricketts family spokesman said Friday afternoon .
Ricketts attended a Wednesday fundraiser with Trump in a suburb of Minneapolis , the spokesman said .
Trump announced late Thursday night on Twitter that he and first lady Melania Trump had both tested positive for COVID-19 .
Ricketts got the test after learning of Trump ’ s positive test .
The Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs Friday by the Miami Marlins .
Ricketts did not attend the game and is quarantining until he gets the results , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Looking to buy a new car ?
Auto industry is rebounding from pandemic shortage , but you still may need to wait till 2021 for next year ’ s model .
The hardest part about buying a new car during the pandemic may be finding a new car .
While the automotive industry is showing signs of recovery , months of production stoppage , supply chain interruption and stay-at-home disruption has left many Chicago-area dealers with few new cars and lots of empty spaces .
Adding to the inventory shortage , the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fall — has yet to hit showrooms in any significant numbers .
Many 2021 models may not actually arrive until 2021 .
“ It ’ s kind of hard to sell from an empty cupboard when you don ’ t have any new vehicles , ” said John Webb , a principal with family-owned Packey Webb Ford , a 58-year-old Downers Grove dealership .
3:14 p.m. : Trump ’ s COVID-19 diagnosis sends final stage of election into further chaos — and no one knows exactly what comes next An election year already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ descended further into chaos Friday , with President Donald Trump declaring that he ’ s tested positive for the coronavirus after consistently playing down the threat .
Democratic challenger Joe Biden , who spent 90 minutes on stage with Trump in their Tuesday debate , tested negative and moved forward with plans to attend a campaign event in Michigan Friday afternoon .
No one knows exactly what comes next .
2:53 p.m. : Illinois puts 28 counties on latest coronavirus warning list ; daily death toll of 47 is highest since late June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health officials on Friday said 28 counties , none in the Chicago area , were considered at “ warning level ” for the coronavirus , and again scolded businesses that “ blatantly disregard ” mitigation measures such as social distancing .
The warning list came out as the state reported 2,206 new known cases of COVID-19 and 47 deaths connected to the virus .
The death toll is the highest daily count since late June , but still far below the 24-hour numbers reported during the pandemic ’ s peak in June @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases and 8,743 deaths in Illinois since the pandemic began .
The counties on the warning list are put there after surpassing two more metrics such as the number of cases per 100,000 people and test positivity rates .
The counties on the latest list are : On Saturday , the northwest region of the state , which includes Rockford , DeKalb and Galena , will be placed back under tighter restrictions after its seven-day average of positive cases reached 8 % or higher for three consecutive days .
The Metro East region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same stricter rules since Aug. 18 .
12:38 p.m. : Notre Dame president also tests positive for COVID-19 after attending Rose Garden ceremony The University of Notre Dame ’ s president has tested positive for COVID-19 , a school spokesman confirmed Friday morning , less than a week after he attended Amy Coney Barrett ’ s Supreme Court nomination ceremony at the White House without wearing a mask .
The Rev .
John Jenkins has mild symptoms and contracted the illness “ from a colleague he was in regular contact with at Notre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paul Browne .
Jenkins , who ’ s led the Catholic university since 2005 , has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks for appearing not always to follow COVID-19 safety precautions .
Illinois public health officials reported Friday they had logged 2,206 newly diagnosed cases and 47 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19 , raising the statewide tally to 297,646 known cases and 8,743 deaths .
8:05 a.m. : US hiring slows for 3rd month but jobless rate falls to 7.9 % America ’ s employers added 661,000 jobs in September , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence from the final jobs report before the presidential election that the economic recovery has weakened .
With September ’ s hiring gain , the economy has recovered only slightly more than half the 22 million jobs that were wiped out by the viral pandemic .
The roughly 10 million jobs that remain lost exceed the number that the nation shed during the entire 2008-2009 Great Recession .
The unemployment rate for September fell to 7.9 % , down from 8.4 % in August , the Labor Department said Friday .
Since April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a peak of 14.7 % .
7:32 a.m. : Amazon : Nearly 20,000 workers tested positive for coronavirus Amazon says nearly 20,000 of its workers have tested positive or been presumed positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 .
Amazon says in a corporate blog it examined data from March 1 to Sept. 19 for its 1.37 million workers at Amazon and Whole Foods Market .
It said it compared COVID-19 case rates to the general population , as reported by Johns Hopkins University for the same period .
Based on that analysis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whole Foods employees were the same as it is for the general population , it estimated it would have seen 33,952 cases among its workforce .
“ We strongly recommend families social distance and choose alternative ways to celebrate Halloween this year , ” Normal police Chief Rick Bleichner said in a statement released by the Bloomington Police Department .
“ We recognize some families are going to participate and we want them to do this as safely as possible .
To ensure this , we ’ ve set trick-or-treat hours and released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Illinois Department of Public Health.
” 5 a.m. : Loss , heroism and hope : Catching up with Chicagoans whose lives were forever changed by COVID-19 Some of them fought the new coronavirus from hospital beds , others at makeshift testing sites .
Some mourned their closest loved ones ; others came to the aid of strangers .
And some saw the pandemic upend their lives and dreams .
Six months into the greatest public health crisis in a century , how are they now faring ?
Here ’ s an update @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heroism and resilience .
Read more here .
—Stacy St. Clair , Christy Gutowski , Karen Ann Cullotta and Susan Berger Here are five stories from Thursday related to COVID-19 :

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday unveiled a series of rules for Halloween that she said will allow people to celebrate safely, including a requirement that everyone including candy-givers wear masks.
Among the rules, candy-givers are asked to leave a light on or hang a sign in their window letting people know whether they’re participating in the holiday while following social distancing rules and providing hand sanitizer. Trick-or-treaters are asked to stay on the move in groups of six people or fewer.
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The mayor’s announcement came as Illinois public health officials on Thursday reported 2,166 newly diagnosed cases and 25 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 295,440 known cases and 8,696 deaths.
Additionally, on Wednesday state public health officials warned the central Illinois region around Champaign-Urbana could be hit with stricter restrictions on restaurants, bars and other businesses as the percentage of positive coronavirus tests is on the rise.
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Here’s what’s happening Thursday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:30 p.m.: House Democrats pass partisan $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill as talks on smaller measure drag on
Democrats controlling the House narrowly passed a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Thursday night, a move that came as top-level talks on a smaller, potentially bipartisan measure dragged on toward an uncertain finish. An air of pessimism has largely taken over the Capitol.
The Democratic bill passed after a partisan debate by a 214-207 vote without any Republicans in support. The move puts lawmakers no closer to actually delivering aid such as more generous weekly unemployment payments, extended help for small businesses and especially troubled economic sectors such as restaurants and airlines, and another round of $1,200 direct payments to most Americans.
Passage of the $2.2 trillion plan came after a burst of negotiations this week between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The Trump administration delivered concessions Wednesday, including a $400 per week pandemic jobless benefit and a markedly higher overall price tag of $1.6 trillion, but that failed to win over Pelosi.
“This isn’t half a loaf, this is the heel of the loaf,” Pelosi said in a televised interview Thursday. Pelosi spoke after the White House attacked her as “not being serious.”
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:45 p.m.: Hope Hicks, one of President Trump’s closest aides, tests positive for coronavirus
Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s closest aides, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Hicks, who serves as counselor to the president and traveled with him to a rally Wednesday, tested positive Thursday, according to an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private health information. She is the closest aide to Trump to test positive so far.
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Hicks traveled with the president multiple times this week, including aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, to a rally in Minnesota Wednesday, and aboard Air Force One to Tuesday night’s first presidential debate.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5:25 p.m.: In August, Pritzker said FDA had given emergency use authorization to the U. of I.'s saliva-based COVID-19 test. FDA now says it never issued any such OK.
With great fanfare, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced over the summer that a new saliva-based COVID-19 test developed by the University of Illinois had been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, calling this “some of the best news” since the pandemic began.
The FDA, however, says the university’s test has never operated under an emergency use authorization, as the governor and university leadership have repeatedly claimed.
“The University of Illinois is not authorized under an umbrella emergency use authorization, and they have not had an emergency use authorization,” an FDA spokesman said.
The university can continue to administer its saliva-based test — which has already been used to test tens of thousands on campus and in the university community — but had to change the language it uses regarding FDA regulation.
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The university blamed the situation on confusion over FDA protocols. The university said it believed the saliva-based test had earned emergency use authorization through a study comparing it with a separate FDA-authorized test developed by Yale University researchers.
Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
5 p.m.: Suburban judge rejects attempt to revive high school football during pandemic
A DuPage County judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order that might have helped high school football and other contact sports return this fall, saying the Illinois High School Association is within its rights to delay the sports for safety reasons.
“We are in a pandemic, and I think what the IHSA did was within their authority under (the organization’s) bylaws and constitution,” Judge Paul Fullerton said Thursday.
The parents of four high school athletes had sued the IHSA, saying the group violated its own rules in agreeing to delay football, boys soccer and girls volleyball — sports the Illinois Department of Public Health determined were at medium to high risk of virus transmission — until the spring.
Read more here. —John Keilman
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2:50 p.m.: State of Illinois says haunted houses are not allowed to operate, but several are already open
In what would seem to be a stake through the heart of commercial haunted houses open for the Halloween scare season, an Illinois Department of Public Health statement issued Wednesday said those businesses were not allowed to operate.
Along with suggestions about safe ways to trick-or-treat during the pandemic, the directive said that haunts “currently are not allowed in Restore Illinois Phase 4.” An earlier Phase 4 FAQ from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office said indoor haunted houses “should remain closed.” (Hayrides and “haunted trail”-style attractions are allowed with COVID-19 precautions in place, since outdoor activities are considered less risky.)
That earlier FAQ came Sept. 25, during what was the unofficial opening weekend for haunted houses in the Chicago area.
About six large indoor haunts currently are open across the suburbs — places like The Massacre in Montgomery and 13th Floor in Melrose Park. The latter of those is run by the Denver-based Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, a national franchise; the rest are locally owned. (None of them is in Chicago.)
Read more here. —Doug George
1:53 p.m.: Chicago ‘Tamale Guy’ Claudio Velez discharged from hospital after more than a month due to COVID-19
Claudio Velez, owner of the Tamale Guy Chicago restaurant, previously known as the patron saint of late night drinkers at bars across the North Side of the city, was discharged Thursday afternoon from Rush University Medical Center hospital.
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Velez was hospitalized with COVID-19 Aug. 27, and placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit. He had opened his long-awaited namesake restaurant just two weeks earlier, with lines 10 blocks long and two hour waits.
A GoFundMe for Velez’s medical expenses has raised more than $56,000 to date. His family had planned to close the fundraiser. They decided to keep it open until Velez could decide for himself as his condition improved.
Read more here. —Louisa Chu
1:30 p.m.: Chicago won’t cancel Halloween as Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveils pandemic rules for the holiday
Halloween in Chicago isn’t canceled after all.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday unveiled a series of rules for the holiday that she said will allow people to celebrate safely, including a requirement that everyone including candy-givers wear masks.
Candy-givers are also asked to leave a light on or hang a sign in their window letting people know whether they’re participating in the holiday while following social distancing rules and providing hand sanitizer, according to the city’s rules.
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Trick-or-treaters are asked to stay on the move in groups of six people or fewer, avoid sticking their hand into candy bowls, and wait until they get home and wash their hands to eat candy, the rules said.
The city doesn’t want to see any haunted houses this year and also forbids house parties “large or small,” the rules said.
Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
1:02 p.m.: Christkindlmarket cancels in-person holiday markets in Chicago and Milwaukee, will begin selling online instead Nov. 1
Organizers of Christkindlmarket have canceled the popular outdoor holiday market and moved it online as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hamper large-scale events and travel.
The event, which typically takes place at Daley Plaza and in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood, will be virtual this year from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
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12:11 p.m.: 2,166 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional deaths reported
Illinois public health officials reported Wednesday they had logged 2,166 newly diagnosed cases and 25 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 295,440 known cases and 8,696 deaths.
—Chicago Tribune staff
11:41 a.m.: White House ups offer to $1.6 trillion in last-ditch COVID-19 relief effort
The White House is backing a $400 per week pandemic jobless benefit and is dangling the possibility of a COVID-19 relief bill of $1.6 trillion as last-ditch, pre-election negotiations hit a critical phase Thursday.
The offer by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on unemployment is higher than many Republicans would like in any potential COVID deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Significant, possibly unbridgeable hurdles remain.
After Pelosi said the new offer still fell short, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the speaker was “not being serious” in the negotiations.
“We raised our offer to $1.6 trillion,” McEnany told reporters Thursday. “It’s one that she is is not interested in.”
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Mnuchin and Pelosi are scheduled to talk by phone early Thursday afternoon, a Pelosi spokesman said.
The Trump administration is pressing for an agreement, more so than Capitol Hill Republicans.
Read more here. —Associated Press
11:05 a.m.: ‘I’m ready to do it’: Chicago voters flock to Loop Super Site on city’s first day of early voting in Nov. 3 election
While in-person early voting for Chicago voters began Thursday at the Loop Super Site location, all 50 wards will open their polls on Oct. 14. The locations of the ward sites can be found at chicagoelections.gov/earlyvoting. Suburban Cook County voters can begin early voting in person later this month.
The poll booths will be more spread out at the sites than usual to comply with coronavirus social distancing rules, said Marisel Hernandez, chairwoman of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Masks will be available for voters who arrive at polling sites without them, she said.
People who want to instead vote by mail need to have their ballot envelope postmarked by Election Day, Hernandez said. If voters applied and were approved for a mail-in ballot but decide to vote in person instead, they must bring their mail-in ballot with them to an early voting location and surrender it to an election official. Voters who apply for a mail-in ballot but don’t receive one can vote in person but must sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury.
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Read more here. —Alice Yin
10:25 a.m.: In ‘painful’ decision, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago cancels 2020-21 season
The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago said Thursday that it has canceled its entire 2020-21 season at the Lyric Opera House.
The canceled programing includes the world premiere of Cathy Marston’s “Of Mice and Men” and the Joffrey premiere of George Balanchine’s “Serenade” (slated for Feb. 17-28, 2021), as well as the Chicago premiere of John Neumeier’s “The Little Mermaid” (April 21-May 2, 2021). Previously, Joffrey had canceled this fall’s production of Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon” (Oct. 14-25) and the first staging at the Lyric of Christopher Wheeldon’s “The Nutcracker” (December 5-27), typically a huge source of revenue for the company and a highlight of the holiday season in Chicago, drawing tens of thousands to the Loop.
The Joffrey said that the decision, sparked by the COVID-19 crisis, will cost the non-profit institution in excess of $9 million at the box office. A philanthropic fund, dubbed the Joffrey Crisis Stabilization Fund, has been set up to address the disparity and cover basic operations costs through the fall of 2021.
Read more here. —Chris Jones
9:30 a.m.: Illinois launches small business COVID safety program to help workers and customers returning to the office
After six months of working from home, many small businesses are facing a new challenge — how to safely return to the cubicle farm in the age of COVID-19.
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The Illinois Department of Labor is launching the “Back to Business” program to help small businesses protect workers and customers as they begin to reopen.
“There’s so many businesses now that are wanting guidance on how to come back safely,” Mike Matulis, an Illinois Department of Labor spokesman, said Wednesday. “This is aimed at giving them the best guidance for keeping their customers, employees and visitors … from getting sick.”
Open to businesses with 250 or fewer employees, the program combines online training with a virtual consultant — a Department of Labor employee — to navigate everything from configuring office space to quarantining a symptomatic sales manager.
Read more here. —Robert Channick
7:10 a.m.: Lightfoot, Arwady to announce Chicago plans regarding Halloween
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and city health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady were scheduled to announce plans Thursday afternoon “for a safe and healthy Halloween.”
Arwady has previously talked about possible restrictions the city could put in place for Halloween revelry. Asked specifically about door-to-door trick-or-treating, the health commissioner has said there’s still time to get cases down, but things will certainly be different from normal.
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“We’re going to have to have guidance that will be different in some way. I’m not going to get into the details of exactly what that’s going to look like,” she said. “People have said, ‘Are you canceling Halloween?’ I’m not canceling Halloween. We are going to be thinking about how to do this in ways that are as safe as they can be.”
State health officials Wednesday released guidelines for the holiday Wednesday, urging trick-or-treaters to socially distance on Halloween, while cautioning the holiday is best celebrated without the usual celebrations.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Column: As arts in Chicago and the nation suffered, the Kennedy Center in D.C. was about to open a nightclub on its roof
Of all the strange and desperate cultural stories to emerge from a pandemic that has sent daggers straight through the heart of the performing arts in America, here is one of the weirdest. It comes from Washington, D.C. (where else?) and is the tale of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a planned rooftop nightclub called, believe it or not, “Heist.”
There was a sudden reversal Wednesday. But first some backstory.
In March, the Kennedy Center found itself on the defensive after the Congress earmarked $25 million within the initial $2.2 trillion federal coronavirus relief bill. Around Capitol Hill, there was some predictable back-and-forth with Republicans complaining that Democratic members had privileged a “swanky opera house” over needier causes, but the Kennedy Center and its allies were able to effectively counter by rightly reminding people that it was a job creator, a crucial cultural asset and a shuttered institution so deprived of critical revenue as to be in the middle of an existential crisis not of its own making.
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All of that was true. The Kennedy Center is a glorious place. The bigger issue, though, which neither party seemed to see, was that the politicians' notion of earmarked arts relief was limited to their own back yards.
Read more here. —Chris Jones
5 a.m.: A nervous person’s guide to viewing fall foliage in the Midwest. —
Watching leaves turn color and drop dead — “Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away” (Emily Bronte) — may be one of the few activities this autumn you can do safely, without too many caveats. Maybe don’t get into a bus full of leaf peepers this year. Maybe don’t call yourself a leaf peeper to begin with. Look, just stay in your car, OK? Roll down the window and peep, then roll up the window. Peep with familial peepers. Maybe don’t stay overnight, all right? Do I sound stressed? I am stressed. Here’s the thing: So are trees.
Stress creates fall foliage.
Stress is also what makes the annual admiring of foliage — aka leaf peeping — so poignant this pandemic year. “The trees are stressed, yet so is everyone else,” said David Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan, the agency that produces those nearly somnolent, stress-relieving “Pure Michigan” tourism spots. Scientifically, foliage is all sacrifice and hunkering down — leaves change colors because their trees are prepping for months of austerity. Aesthetically, fall foliage is all metaphor and melancholy. Because “nothing gold can stay” (Robert Frost), we spend three too-short months noticing what Gwendolyn Brooks called “summer-gone.” We wonder if leaves dream “how comfortable it will be to touch the earth” (Mary Oliver). We ascribe to foliage our own need for calm.
Read more here. —Christopher Borrelli
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In case you missed it
Here are five stories from Wednesday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-10-03--University of Notre Dame president tests positive for COVID-19 after attending White House Rose Gard

University of Notre Dame president tests positive for COVID-19 after attending White House Rose Garden ceremony with President Trump

“ I regret my error of judgment in not wearing a mask during the ceremony and by shaking hands with @ @ @ @ @ the Rose Garden , ” the message says .
“ I failed to lead by @ @ @ @ @ when I ’ ve asked everyone else in the Notre Dame community to do so @ @ @ @ @ mistake in light of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by many , particularly @ @ @ @ @ their lives to observe our health protocols .
”

A member of the cleaning staff sprays the James Brady Briefing Room of the White House on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP)
The University of Notre Dame’s president has tested positive for COVID-19, a school spokesman confirmed Friday, less than a week after he attended Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination ceremony at the White House without wearing a mask.
The Rev. John Jenkins, 66, has mild symptoms and contracted the illness “from a colleague he was in regular contact with at Notre Dame,” according to university spokesman Paul Browne.
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University of Notre Dame President John Jenkins, pictured in 2017, announced Friday he was positive for COVID-19. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
In an email announcing his diagnosis, Jenkins told students and faculty that he will work from home as he enters an “extended period of isolation,” according to a copy obtained by the Tribune. He is following guidance from university medical personnel and county health officials, the email said.
"The positive test is a good reminder for me and perhaps for all of how vigilant we need to be,” Jenkins said in the message.
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Jenkins, who’s led the Catholic university just outside of South Bend, Indiana, since 2005, has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks for not always appearing to follow COVID-19 safety precautions.
In August, Jenkins sent an apology to students after he was photographed taking a group picture with many standing around him, and within 6 feet, as the school reopened for in-person classes. The photo, which was shared widely on social media, appeared to show everyone wearing masks.
More recently, Jenkins came under fire for not wearing a mask when he attended the Rose Garden ceremony for Coney Barrett’s nomination Saturday. Photos from the event also show Jenkins in close proximity to other guests and shaking hand with attendees.
University of @NotreDame President Rev. John Jenkins is in attendance for Barrett’s nomination. He is one of the many people in the audience not wearing a mask pic.twitter.com/dzlPvmsCEu — Max Lewis (@MaxLewisTV) September 26, 2020
Jenkins apologized to students and faculty for that in a message Monday. He said he had a rapid COVID-19 test before the event and that it came back negative.
“I regret my error of judgment in not wearing a mask during the ceremony and by shaking hands with a number of people in the Rose Garden,” the message says. “I failed to lead by example, at a time when I’ve asked everyone else in the Notre Dame community to do so. I especially regret my mistake in light of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by many, particularly our students, in adjusting their lives to observe our health protocols.”
Jenkins said he decided to quarantine after returning to campus as a precaution. It’s not clear when he would have contracted the virus following the Rose Garden ceremony if he was limiting interactions.
Jenkins' diagnosis comes to light as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive and shared the results early Friday.
Coney Barrett, a judge on the federal appeals court in Chicago, attended Notre Dame Law School and has been a faculty member of the law school since 2002. The Washington Post also reported Friday that Coney Barrett tested positive for COVID-19 this summer and has since recovered. A message left with her chambers Friday afternoon was not returned.
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According to media reports, others who attended Saturday’s event — including journalists, Trump adviser Hope Hicks and Utah Sen. Mike Lee — have also tested positive.
[ Live updates: Biden tweets he has tested negative as COVID-19 wave sweeps through Republican ranks ]


chicagotribune--2020-10-03--Billionaire Ken Griffin drops extra $26.7M against Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax amendment pr

Billionaire Ken Griffin drops extra $26.7M against Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax amendment proposal. His total stands at more than $46.7M

“ Griffin is growing increasingly desperate to ensure he can keep the special deal he gets under our current tax @ @ @ @ @ pay the same tax rate as our essential workers , ” Foulks said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ fellow opponents have already made clear they want to raise taxes on working families and @ @ @ @ @ fair share .
”

Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder and CEO of the Chicago-based Citadel hedge fund and investment firm, put another $26.7 million into the campaign against billionaire Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ballot proposal to shift the state from a flat-rate income tax to a graduated tax with rates that increase with income.
With Griffin’s latest investment, he has now given $46.75 million of the approximately $48.1 million million that has been received by the Coalition to Stop the Proposed Tax Hike Amendment. In August, Griffin gave the group $20 million.
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Griffin and Pritzker are the main funding sources of the campaigns for and against the proposal asking voters to change the state’s constitution to replace Illinois' current flat-rate income tax with a graduated-rate tax. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, has given the Vote Yes for Fairness campaign $56.5 million. Forbes estimates his worth at $3.4 billion.
[ Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated-rate income tax: Here’s what you need to know ]
In a statement, Griffin labeled the proposed amendment “Gov. Pritzker and Mike Madigan’s tax increase,” making reference to the veteran Democratic House speaker who has been implicated in a federal investigation that resulted in ComEd agreeing to pay a $200 million fine for its involvement in a near decadeslong bribery scheme to curry favor with Madigan. Madigan has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
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Griffin said if the proposal is adopted by voters on the Nov. 3 ballot, it would mean “the continued exodus of families and businesses, loss of jobs and inevitably higher taxes on everyone.”
Griffin said he believed “well-informed voters are increasingly speaking out against this tax hike, and I am committed to ensuring each of us has the facts to make a thoughtful decision about this catastrophic constitutional amendment.”
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Quentin Fulks, who chairs the pro-amendment Vote Yes for Fairness group, contended Griffin, who is estimated to be worth $15 billion by Forbes, has now “spent more than he would have paid additionally last year under the Fair Tax in an attempt to defeat it.”
“Griffin is growing increasingly desperate to ensure he can keep the special deal he gets under our current tax system that allows him to pay the same tax rate as our essential workers,” Foulks said. “Mr. Griffin and his fellow opponents have already made clear they want to raise taxes on working families and retirees rather than pay their fair share.”
Earlier this week the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, made up of the region’s top business executives, came out against the amendment. In 2019, that group promoted an $8 billion package of new revenues and cuts, including a 20% increase in the current 4.95% income tax rate to 5.95%, and imposing the income tax on retirement income. Illinois does not tax retirement income.
Pritzker and supporters of the proposed amendment have contended its failure on the ballot would mean a 20% hike in the current flat rate, a 15% across-the-board cut in state spending or a combination of both.
Supporters of the graduated tax, backed by organized labor and Democratic allies, say that 97% of Illinoisans — those who make $250,000 or less — would pay the same if not less in income taxes under a law passed that would take effect if the amendment is ratified. They contend the current flat-tax mandate unfairly puts a higher tax burden on lower incomes to pay the state’s bills.
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[ Illinois income tax calculator: How would Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed graduated income tax affect you? ]
Opponents representing the business community and its Republican allies in the legislature contend a graduated tax would allow lawmakers to cherry pick incomes to impose higher taxes, cost jobs and fuel an exodus of wealthy taxpayers from the state.
Other major spenders in the campaign against the proposal also added more money to the effort. Jay Bergman, president of Hinsdale-based Petco Petroleum Corp., and Craig Duchossois, who leads the diversified Duchossois Group, doubled their donations to $200,000 in recent days, State Board of Elections reports showed.
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chicagotribune--2020-10-04--Families of Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor rally with hundreds in Evanston to call for justice: ‘We’re

Families of Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor rally with hundreds in Evanston to call for justice: ‘We’re going to stand united in this fight'

Blake and Taylor were both shot by police in the last year , Taylor fatally .
Their families met in @ @ @ @ @ they called a “ family reunion of sorts ” to show their solidarity with each @ @ @ @ @ have lost their loved ones at the hands of police , to call for systemic @ @ @ @ @ to vote .

Jacob Blake Sr. speaks during a rally in Evanston in support of his son, Jacob Blake, and Black lives on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Locked arm in arm, the families of Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor led a crowd of hundreds in Evanston on Saturday afternoon as they marched for justice and unity.
Blake and Taylor were both shot by police in the last year, Taylor fatally. Their families met in Chicago on Saturday in what they called a “family reunion of sorts” to show their solidarity with each other and other families who have lost their loved ones at the hands of police, to call for systemic reform and to urge people to vote.
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“We’re going to push at every door and corner that we can in the United States until we get justice for not only little Jake, but for all the little Jakes out there,” said Justin Blake, Jacob Blake’s uncle.
Blake, who lived in Evanston for years and attended Evanston Township High School, was shot by a police officer in Kenosha in August. Cellphone footage shared online following the shooting appears to show an officer firing several shots at Blake, who is Black, while he was facing away from the officer. He remains paralyzed, according to his family.
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The rally started across the street from Jacob Blake Manor, an affordable senior living facility that was named in honor of Blake’s late grandfather, who shares his name. The elder Blake was a pastor at the historic Ebenezer AME Church in Evanston, and was active in the civil rights movement and a push for affordable housing in town, including Ebenezer-Primm Towers.
The group marched a half-mile down the street to Ebenezer-Primm Towers, holding signs high and echoing chants of “Say his name,” “Say her name,” “Black lives matter” and “You can’t stop the revolution.”
Shauna Brewton, a lifelong Evanston resident, said she grew up knowing the Blake family, and she wanted to attend to support them and the cause.
“We’re just trying to live,” she said. “That’s all we’re doing.”
Blake’s uncle, Justin Blake; his father, Jacob Blake Sr.; and his sister, Letetra Wideman, all spoke to the crowd in front of Ebenezer-Primm Towers about the need for justice for their loved one. They said he’s still paralyzed, undergoing physical therapy and “working hard.”
Letetra Wideman holds up her phone showing her brother, Jacob Blake live from his hospital bed, as the Blake family leads people in a rally in Evanston on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
At one point, Wideman carried around a phone with Blake on a video call, showing her brother to the crowd.
“This day is about unity," Blake Sr. said. “I don’t care what you look like. I don’t care what you smell like. We are part of humanity. I should not have to prove to you that we are part of humanity.”
Breonna Taylor’s aunt, Bianca Austin, said their family wanted to come and show their love for the Blake family. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot to death in her Louisville apartment in March during a police raid.
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Austin said they’re not looking for revenge for the shooting of Taylor and others, but that they want those in charge in the justice system to “do the right thing for our kids.”
“We’re going to stand united in this fight together,” Austin said to Blake Sr.
The Rev. Deborah Scott, pastor at Ebenezer AME Church, said that as a person of faith, she always keeps hope alive. Despite the uncertain times, she said, she still has hope that they can make a difference and that “justice will come.”
“Well, protest — that’s a sign of hope,” she said. “We’re protesting that somebody will hear us. We’re protesting because something needs to change. We’re protesting because we’re standing up for those that might not have a voice to speak. So continue in the protest, continue in the struggle, continue in the fight, continue to show up.”
Many of the speakers, including civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson, also emphasized the need to vote in the upcoming election. Jackson led the crowd in a series of chants of “We have the power.”
He also called for justice and systemic reform in Blake’s, Taylor’s and others' cases, saying anybody who kills another person, regardless of race, should face consequences.
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“I am somebody,” Jackson led in a chant. “Respect me. Protect me.”
Justin Blake ended the rally with a final message to get out and vote. He also encouraged everyone to show love to those around them — to hug their loved ones before they leave the house, to “pump the brakes” as they pass those experiencing homelessness and to help out neighbors and senior citizens.
“Change starts here today,” he said. “It’s 2020. All we have to do is work together.”
kedquist@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kaitlinedquist


chicagotribune--2020-10-04--After dodged questions and bungled timeline, White House doctor and chief of staff offer a confusing

After dodged questions and bungled timeline, White House doctor and chief of staff offer a confusing picture of Trump’s health

The White House has said Trump was expected to stay at the hospital for “ a few days ” and @ @ @ @ @ its presidential suite , which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official @ @ @ @ @ accessibility to tests and equipment , the decision to move to the hospital on Friday @ @ @ @ @ in part , with the understanding that hurrying there later could send a worrying signal @ @ @ @ @ for the worse .

JONATHAN LEMIRE, JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump went through a “very concerning” period Friday and faces a “critical” next two days in his fight against COVID-19 at a military hospital, his chief of staff said Saturday — in contrast to a rosier assessment moments earlier by Trump doctors, who took pains not to reveal the president had received supplemental oxygen at the White House before his hospital admission.
Trump offered his own assessment Saturday evening in a video from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, saying he was beginning to feel better and hoped to “be back soon.”
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Hours earlier, chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters outside the hospital, “We’re still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery.”
The changing, and at times contradictory, accounts created a credibility crisis for the White House at a crucial moment, with the president’s health and the nation’s leadership on the line. With Trump expected to remain hospitalized several more days and the presidential election looming, his condition is being anxiously watched by Americans.
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Moreover, the president’s health represents a national security issue of paramount importance not only to the functions of the U.S. government but to countries around the world, friendly and otherwise.
Saturday’s briefing by Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley and other doctors raised more questions than it answered. Conley repeatedly refused to say whether the president ever needed supplemental oxygen, despite repeated questioning, and declined to share key details including how high a fever Trump had been running before it came back down to a normal range. Conley also revealed that Trump had begun exhibiting “clinical indications” of COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, earlier than previously known.
Dr. Sean Conley, physician to President Donald Trump, briefs reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Oct. 3, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP)
Conley spent much of the briefing dodging reporters' questions, as he was pressed for details.
“Thursday no oxygen. None at this moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said.
But according to a person familiar with Trump’s condition, Trump was administered oxygen at the White House on Friday morning, well before he was transported to the military hospital by helicopter that evening. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity,
Conley said that Trump’s symptoms, including a mild cough, nasal congestion and fatigue “are now resolving and improving,” and said the president had been fever-free for 24 hours. But Trump also is taking aspirin, which lowers body temperature and could mask or mitigate that symptom.
“He’s in exceptionally good spirits,” said another doctor, Sean Dooley, who said Trump’s heart, kidney, and liver functions were normal and that he was not having trouble breathing or walking around.
In an evening health update, Conley said Trump had been up and moving around his medical suite without difficulty and conducting business. “While not yet out of the woods, the team remains cautiously optimistic,” he said.
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In the hospital video, Trump defended his decision to continue campaigning and holding large events in the midst of a pandemic.
“I had no choice,” said Trump, who refused to abide by basic public health recommendations, including mask-wearing. “I had to be out front ... I can’t be locked up in a room upstairs and totally safe. ... As a leader, you have to confront problems.”
Trump also thanked his medical team and hailed the state-of-the-art treatments he was receiving, comparing them to “miracles coming down from God.” Trump’s medical care is far superior to the average American’s, with around-the-clock attention and experimental treatments.
The president was angry at Meadows' public assessment of his health and, in an effort to prove his vitality, Trump ordered up the video and authorized longtime confidant Rudy Giuliani to release a statement on his behalf that he was feeling well, according to a Republican close to the White House not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.
Doctors, Nurses and ALL at the GREAT Walter Reed Medical Center, and others from likewise incredible institutions who have joined them, are AMAZING!!!Tremendous progress has been made over the last 6 months in fighting this PLAGUE. With their help, I am feeling well! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020
Trump is 74 years old and clinically obese, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has infected more than 7 million people nationwide and killed more than 200,000 people in the U.S.
First lady Melania Trump remained at the White House to recover from her own bout with the virus. She was “really handling it very nicely,” Trump said in the video, noting with a touch of humor that she was “just a little tiny bit younger” — in fact, 24 years younger.
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Meadows himself had insisted Friday morning that Trump had only “mild symptoms” as the White House tried to project an image of normalcy. It was unclear whether Trump already had received oxygen when Meadows spoke.
“President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms and has been working throughout the day,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said late in the day on Friday. She said Trump had only been sent to Walter Reed as a precaution.
Trump’s administration has been less than transparent with the public throughout the pandemic, both about the president’s health and the virus' spread inside the White House. The first word that a close aide to Trump had been infected came from the media, not the White House. And aides have repeatedly declined to share basic health information, including a full accounting of the president’s symptoms, what tests he’s undertaken and the results.
In a memo released late Friday, Conley did report that Trump had been treated at the hospital with remdesivir, an antiviral medication, after sharing that he’d taking another experimental drug at the White House.
Conley declined to say when Trump had last been tested before he was confirmed to have COVID-19 late Thursday. He initially suggested that Trump was 72 hours into the diagnosis — which would mean that he was confirmed infected Wednesday. Conley later clarified that Trump was administered an accurate test for the virus on Thursday afternoon, after White House aide Hope Hicks was confirmed to be positive and Trump exhibited “clinical indications” of the virus.
Marine One, with President Donald Trump aboard, lifts off from the White House to go to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP)
The White House has said Trump was expected to stay at the hospital for “a few days” and would continue to work from its presidential suite, which is equipped to allow him to keep up his official duties. In addition to accessibility to tests and equipment, the decision to move to the hospital on Friday was made, at least in part, with the understanding that hurrying there later could send a worrying signal if he took a turn for the worse.
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On Saturday, Conley said Trump’s blood oxygen level was 96%, which is in the normal range. The two experimental drugs he has received, given through an IV, have shown some promise against COVID-19. On Friday, he was given a single dose of a drug Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is testing to supply antibodies to help his immune system fight the virus.
Friday night, he began a five-day course of remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug currently used for moderately and severely ill patients. The drugs work in different ways — the antibodies help the immune system rid the body of virus and remdesivir curbs the virus' ability to multiply.
“We’re maximizing all aspects of his care,” attacking the virus in multiple ways, Conley said. “I didn’t want to hold anything back if there was any possibility it would add value to his care.”
He noted that in many cases, COVID-19 can become more dangerous as the body responds. “The first week of COVID, and in particular day seven to 10, are the most critical in determining the likely course of this illness,” he said.
At the same time, the White House has been working to trace a flurry of new infections of close Trump aides and allies. Attention is focused in particular on last Saturday’s White House event introducing Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. That day, Trump gathered more than 150 people in the Rose Garden, where they mingled, hugged and shook hands — overwhelmingly without masks. There were also several indoor receptions, where Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, her family, senators and others spent time in the close quarters of the White House, photographs show.
[ Republicans seek to stop legislative work after 3 GOP senators test positive this week, but McConnell says confirmation hearings still on ]
Among those who attended and have now tested positive: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, the president of the University of Notre Dame, and at least two Republican lawmakers — Utah Sen. Mike Lee and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. The president’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, and the head of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, have also tested positive, though they were not at the event.
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[ Ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie diagnosed with COVID-19 ]
Despite its failure to protect the president and senior staff from infection, the White House has given no indication that it intends to make any major protocol changes, such as mandating that everyone wears a mask.
Meadows, the chief of staff, accompanied the president to the hospital aboard Marine One, the kind of small, enclosed space where experts say the virus easily spreads. Those aboard did wear masks.
While Vice President Mike Pence is currently off the campaign trail preparing for the coming week’s vice presidential debate, he and his staff are operating under a “business as usual” approach. He’s still planning to travel to Arizona on Thursday, Indiana on Friday and Florida on Saturday for events instead of isolating himself after potential exposure and to protect himself from contracting the virus anywhere else.
Colvin and Miller reported from Washington. Associated Press chief medical writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee contributed to this report.


chicagotribune--2020-10-03--More than 300,000 Illinoisans stricken with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, officials

More than 300,000 Illinoisans stricken with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, officials say

On Friday , Illinois issued a “ warning list , ” of 28 counties , none of which are in @ @ @ @ @ were considered at a “ warning level ” for the coronavirus .
The counties on @ @ @ @ @ there after surpassing two more metrics , such as the number of cases per 100,000 @ @ @ @ @ .

Illinois has surpassed 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic hit last spring, state health officials said Saturday.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,442 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 31 additional deaths.
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There have now been 300,088 known cases and 8,774 deaths in Illinois since the pandemic began, according to the state’s coronavirus response website.
On Friday, Illinois issued a “warning list,” of 28 counties, none of which are in the Chicago area, that were considered at a “warning level” for the coronavirus. The counties on the warning list were put there after surpassing two more metrics, such as the number of cases per 100,000 people and test positivity rates.
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The warning list came out as the state on Friday reported 2,206 new known cases of COVID-19 and 47 deaths connected to the virus. The death toll was the state’s highest daily count since late June, but still far below the numbers reported during the pandemic’s peak in June.
Meanwhile, with Election Day fast approaching and voting underway, apprehension is surging in Washington after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump announced they had taken ill with the virus as well as Trump’s senior aide Hope Hicks and former adviser Kellyanne Conway.
Also on Friday, University of Notre Dame President the Rev. John Jenkins tested positive for COVID-19 less than a week after attending a White House Rose Garden ceremony with President Trump without wearing a mask.
Earlier Saturday, ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced that he tested positive for COVID-19, and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said he tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the third Republican senator to report a positive test this week, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis.
rsobol@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-03--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State surpasses 300,000 total known COVID-19 cases since beginning

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: State surpasses 300,000 total known COVID-19 cases since beginning of pandemic

The league on Saturday announced the Bears game — originally scheduled for noon on CBS-2 — was being moved to @ @ @ @ @ the New England Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs game was postponed to Monday or Tuesday .
The @ @ @ @ @ the Patriots and Chiefs tested positive for COVID-19 , and multiple reports said Patriots star @ @ @ @ @ the positives .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois public health officials reported Sunday they had logged 1,453 newly diagnosed cases and 17 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 301,541 known cases and 8,791 deaths.
The state surpassed 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, public health officials reported.
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On Friday, public health officials said 28 counties, none in the Chicago area, were considered at “warning level” for the coronavirus, and again scolded businesses that “blatantly disregard” mitigation measures such as social distancing.
That warning list came out as the state reported 47 deaths connected to the virus Friday. That death toll is the highest daily count since late June.
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Meanwhile, with Election Day fast approaching and early voting already underway, apprehension is surging in Washington after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump announced late Thursday they were stricken with the virus, as well as many other aides and allies in the president’s circle.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
1,453 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 17 additional deaths reported
Illinois public health officials reported Sunday they had logged 1,453 newly diagnosed cases and 17 additional confirmed deaths of people with COVID-19, raising the statewide tally to 301,541 known cases and 8,791 deaths.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Local farmers markets get through season in good shape, despite coronavirus pandemic
While the coronavirus pandemic has had a negative, and in some cases even a lethal, effect on many businesses, local farmers markets have done well during the spring and summer, as many are winding down for the year in October.
“I really didn’t know what to expect this year, but it’s been really great,” said Laura Marquardt, co-president of the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the village’s weekly downtown Thursday markets on Prospect Avenue. “Our vendors have sometimes closed a little early because they run out of stuff for the week."
Marquart said she believes farmers market business, in some cases, has been stronger than usual because of the pandemic, something with which Margaret Reed of Westmont agreed while she shopped at the Clarendon Hills market Thursday.
Read more here. —Chuck Fieldman and Kimberly Fornek
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White House doctor says Trump continues to improve during treatment for COVID-19; president’s blood oxygen level dropped suddenly Saturday
President Donald Trump’s blood oxygen level dropped suddenly on Saturday, but he “has continued to improve,” the White House physician said Sunday, suggesting that Trump could be discharged from the hospital as early as Monday.
Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley sought to clarify contradictory statements and confusion about the president’s condition on the steps of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Trump was being treated for COVID-19.
Conley said the president had a “high fever” and a blood oxygen level below 94% on Friday and again on Saturday. The level currently stands at 98%, Trump’s medical team said.
“The president has continued to improve,” Conley said.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Saturday
Bears' game against Colts moved to 3:25 p.m. Sunday after COVID-19 hits the NFL
Kickoff for the Chicago Bears' game against the Indianapolis Colts at Soldier Field has been moved to 3:25 p.m. Sunday after a number of COVID-19 cases popped up around the NFL.
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The league on Saturday announced the Bears game — originally scheduled for noon on CBS-2 — was being moved to a later time slot because the New England Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs game was postponed to Monday or Tuesday. The NFL said members of both the Patriots and Chiefs tested positive for COVID-19, and multiple reports said Patriots star quarterback Cam Newton was among the positives.
The postponement is the second Week 4 game to be moved because of the coronavirus. The Tennessee Titans' outbreak — currently at 18 players and staff — pushed their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers to a later date.
Sunday marks the first Bears start for quarterback Nick Foles, who replaced incumbent Mitch Trubisky mid-game to lead a second-half comeback against the Atlanta Falcons.
—Chicago Tribune staff
More than 300,000 Illinoisans stricken with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, officials say
Illinois has surpassed 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the global pandemic hit last spring, state health officials on Saturday said.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,442 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 31 additional deaths.
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There have now been 300,088 known cases and 8,774 deaths in Illinois since the pandemic began, according to the state’s coronavirus response website.
Read more here. —Rosemary Sobol
Senate cancels legislative work after 3 GOP senators test positive this week, but McConnell says confirmation hearings still on
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said Saturday that he tested positive for COVID-19 and Senate Republicans have canceled legislative work until Oct. 19 as the coronavirus sweeps through their ranks and lawmakers increasingly call for comprehensive testing on Capitol Hill.
Johnson’s office announced the diagnosis in a statement Saturday morning. He’s the third Republican senator to report a positive test this week, joining Utah Sen. Mike Lee and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and adding to tension in Washington since President Donald Trump announced his positive test Friday.
Read more here. —Associated Press
White House doctor says Trump is fever free and COVID-19 symptoms are improving, but dodges on oxygen questions
President Donald Trump’s doctor insisted Saturday that he is doing “very well” as he is treated for COVID-19 at a military hospital. But Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley and other doctors raised more questions than they answered at a briefing, leaving unclear whether the president has ever required supplemental oxygen.
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Conley’s assessment was contradicted by an account provided by a person familiar with Trump’s condition, who said some of his vital signs over the past 24 hours were “very concerning” and that the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A person familiar with President Donald Trump’s medical condition says the president had been administered supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday before he was hospitalized.
Read more here. —Associated Press


chicagotribune--2020-10-03--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area

Among the metrics ( see below ) tracked under guidelines set by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of @ @ @ @ @ , the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses , and the capacity of hospitals @ @ @ @ @ state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through the 11 regions of Emergency Medical Services. The city of Chicago is one region, for example, and the rest of Cook County is another.
Among the metrics (see below) tracked under guidelines set by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of coronavirus tests that return positive, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses, and the capacity of hospitals to take in new patients.The state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics. (Cases, deaths and tests data is as of Dec. 31).
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus.
• Other Chicago, suburbs and Illinois COVID-19 metrics.
• See how the governor’s plan to manage the regions works.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health
Created by the Chicago Tribune dataviz team. On Twitter @chitribgraphics


chicagotribune--2020-10-03--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-10-03--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 31 new deaths, 2,442 new confirmed cases and 71,634 new test resu

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 31 new deaths, 2,442 new confirmed cases and 71,634 new test results

Illinois announced 2,442 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Saturday for a total of 300,088 .
The state also announced 31 @ @ @ @ @ of 8,774 and 71,634 new test results for a total of 5.83 million .

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.