chicagotribune--2020-11-14--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 11,028 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 166 additional

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 11,028 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 166 additional deaths reported Saturday

The data — covering the period from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7 — shows that the state is short of @ @ @ @ @ tracing for 90 % of cases , although some regions came very close .
Others @ @ @ @ @ .
For example , in Region 4 in far southern Illinois , tracers reached out @ @ @ @ @ people , while in Region 10 , which is suburban Cook County , the figure @ @ @ @ @ to the state .

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 10,631 new and probable COVID-19 cases, as well as 72 additional fatalities.
The total number of known infections statewide is 573,616. The total number of fatalities since the pandemic began now stands at 10,742, officials said.
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There were 84,831 tests reported Sunday. The seven-day statewide test positivity rate is 14.8%.
The state had set a record on Friday with 15,415 new and probable cases.
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Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday he was extending a host of coronavirus-related executive orders for another 30 days, including an extension of a moratorium on evictions.
The state also updated the data that it posts related to contact tracing, which involves reaching out to people diagnosed with COVID-19, urging them to isolate and asking them where they’ve been and whom they’ve seen during the two weeks prior to their positive test so those people can be asked to quarantine.
The data — covering the period from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7 — shows that the state is short of its goal of launching contact tracing for 90% of cases, although some regions came very close. Others appear nowhere near that target. For example, in Region 4 in far southern Illinois, tracers reached out to 89% of sick people, while in Region 10, which is suburban Cook County, the figure was 17%, according to the state.
And speaking of the suburbs, one day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicago residents to stay home for the next month, suburban Cook County is doing the same.
The new advisory, similar to the city’s version, goes into effect on Monday and lasts for 30 days. Additionally, Lightfoot is imposing a 10-person limit on weddings, birthday parties, funerals and some social events in Chicago starting Monday.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
Cook County Jail halts in-person visits because of COVID-19
The Cook County sheriff’s office is cancelling all in-person visits to the county jail starting Monday because of the recent spike in coronavirus cases, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
After the state’s stay-at-home order was lifted in the spring, the jail resumed in-person visits in June at an outdoor setting, according to a news release.
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“Video visitation will continue to be provided to detainees as it has since April, and in-person visitation will be reinstated soon as it is safe to do so,” according to the release.
Although the jail “has had great success containing the virus, given the strong encouragement by state and local health officials to promote staying at home and the current test positivity rates in the community, this temporary modification will help protect the health and safety of staff and detainees,” the sheriff’s office said in the release. Read more here. — Chicago Tribune staff
Demonstration shows support for restaurants as Will County COVID-19 rate soars
A small group of Joliet area residents gathered Sunday to show their support for area restaurants and protest indoor dining bans.
Originally billed as a “Save our Restaurants” march, the event turned into a small caravan through Joliet streets.
The dozen or so residents gathered also expressed their discontent with Governor J.B. Pritzker’s orders banning indoor dining and bar service and questioned the COVID-19 data provided by health officials.
“We are the living men and women given dominion over this world by God himself, and it is time to realize how precious and powerful we truly are,” Michelle Lee, one of the organizers of Sunday’s events, said as she read from a lengthy statement. Read the full story here. — Alicia Fabbre, Daily Southtown
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Strong winds knock over trees, traffic lights and prompt COVID-19 test site closures
Wind gusts as strong as 60 mph were wreaking havoc around Chicago Sunday afternoon, toppling trees, traffic signals and causing the closure of coronavirus testing centers, officials said.
The state shut down community COVID-19 testing sites in Arlington Heights, Waukegan, South Holland and Aurora, according to the Department of Public Health, which said the sites would reopen Monday.
Read more here. —Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
Kaneland school district halts in-person classes due to increase in COVID-19 cases
Kaneland School District 302 will temporarily halt in-person learning in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
District officials announced Sunday a transition to full remote learning will begin Wednesday for all students.
To further ensure the health and safety of students and staff, athletics and after-school activities have been postponed effective immediately, the district said.
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The district is in its 14th week of school, Superintendent Todd Leden said. The district had been using a hybrid learning format, with a combination of in-person and remote learning.Parents had the choice to opt for fully remote learning for their children when school began in the fall.
Read more here. —Lisa Girardi, Aurora Beacon-News
10,631 new and probable cases, 72 new deaths reported
Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 10,631 new and probable COVID-19 cases, as well as 72 additional fatalities.
The total number of known infections statewide is 573,616. The total number of fatalities since the pandemic began now stands at 10,742, officials said. There were 84,831 tests reported Sunday. The seven-day statewide test positivity rate is 14.8%.
As of Saturday night, 5,474 state residents were in the hospital with COVID-19 — 1,045 of those patients were in the ICU and 490 were on ventilators, officials reported.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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Suburban school boards feel the heat — and the hate — as they weigh COVID-19 school closings
As the latest deadly surge of the virus is breaking records across the Chicago region, local school board members are being targeted by frustrated parents in towns including Wheaton, Deerfield and Naperville who are demanding that schools reopen and contending that the virus itself is far less dangerous to their kids than the devastating impact of shuttered schools.
While some parents have gone out of their way to show support and appreciation for their work, school board members are also getting pressure from teachers unions who feel in-person instruction places their members' and members' families' health at risk.
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
Lost in translation: How language barriers can add anguish and complicate care for COVID-19 patients who don’t speak English
Maria Isabel Alfaro was 50 when she died of COVID-19. She did not speak English, and before her death, she shared the anguish and desperation she felt because she wasn’t able to understand or communicate with the medical staff, her partner, Rodolfo Reyes said.
Although the medical staff at the Chicago hospital where Alfaro was hospitalized provided interpreters when possible, “it wasn’t enough,” he said.
Reyes worries that his partner couldn’t communicate something that could have saved her life.
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Patients, community leaders and health officials say language barriers are “an added burden” to those suffering from COVID-19 and their loved ones. They recognize the lack of bilingual medical staff and prevention resources in Spanish influenced the way the virus harshly hit the Latino community in Chicago and across the nation.
Facing a second coronavirus surge, hospitals will again see an influx of patients, including many who do not speak or understand English. Approximately 6 in 10 Latino adults have issues communicating with a health care provider due to language and or cultural barriers, according to a 2018 study by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Read more here. —Laura Rodríguez Presa and Alison Bowen
Saturday
11,028 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 166 additional deaths reported
The total number of new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Illinois is 11,028, a little lower than Friday’s record-breaking 15,415, state public health officials reported on Saturday.
But the number of new deaths on Saturday spiked to 166, at least six times higher than Friday’s figure, 27.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the IDPH director, noted during Friday’s COVID-19 state briefing that due to a data reporting issue there was a delay in deaths reported that day. According to a news release, 66 of the deaths “that occurred yesterday are being reported with today’s total.”
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The total number of known infections statewide is 562,995, The total number of fatalities since the pandemic began now stands at 10,670, official said.
—Rosemary Sobol
In rural areas with surging COVID-19 cases, masks are rare and concern levels low
t’s not that people in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and elsewhere don’t realize their states are leading the nation in new cases per capita. It’s that many of them aren’t especially concerned.
Wayne County, home to 6,400 people in southern Iowa, has the state’s second-highest case rate, yet its public health administrator, Shelley Bickel, says mask-wearing is rare. She finds it particularly appalling when she sees older people, who are at high risk, shopping at a grocery store without one.
“I just want to get on the speaker and say, ‘Why don’t you have your mask on?’ It’s just amazing,” Bickel said.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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Friday
No one fined for violating Chicago’s travel order so far
In the four months Chicago has had a mandatory travel quarantine order in place, only warning letters have gone out to people believed to have broken the rules, city officials said Thursday.
No one has been fined so far under the city’s order, implemented by Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the Fourth of July weekend, which requires travelers from states with high coronavirus infection rates to quarantine for 14 days after returning to Chicago, city spokesman Andrew Buchanan said in a statement. He said the city was not releasing information on how many letters have gone out.
Read more here. —Alice Yin


chicagotribune--2020-11-14--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--2020-11-14--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--2020-11-14--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 166 new deaths, 11,028 new confirmed and probable cases and 114,3

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 166 new deaths, 11,028 new confirmed and probable cases and 114,370 new test results

Illinois announced 11,028 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Saturday for a total of 562,985 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 10,670 and 114,370 new test results for a total of 8.99 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.


chicagotribune--2020-11-14--Cold front could bring damaging winds to Chicago on Sunday, forecasters warn

The strong winds will come after a breezy Saturday , with some storms likely , the weather service said .
@ @ @ @ @ afternoon and tonight , with winds of around 35 mph .

Wind gusts as strong as 69 mph were wreaking havoc around the Chicago area Sunday, toppling trees and traffic signals and causing the closure of coronavirus testing centers, officials said.
A wind advisory that had been set to expire early Sunday evening was extended until 8 p.m. in Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane and McHenry counties, as well until 9 p.m. in parts of Wisconsin. Although snow that had been forecast was looking less and less likely, the wind and low cloud cover wasn’t expected to let up until closer to Tuesday morning, meteorologists said.
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Windy days are to be expected in autumn, but this year and the last month in particular have had a higher frequency of gusty days, according to the National Weather Service. In the last 35 days, gusts 30 mph or greater were recorded at O’Hare on 20 days, up from an average of 11 days. There were nine days with gusts 40 mph or greater clocked, up from an average of two days. Three days have seen gusts 50 mph or greater, with two of those just in the last week.
Due to high winds and the safety of patients and staff, the Arlington Heights, Waukegan, South Holland, and Aurora COVID-19 Community Based Testing Sites are closed for the remainder of the day and will re-open tomorrow 11/16. — IDPH (@IDPH) November 15, 2020
A cold front moved into the area Sunday, bringing with it increasingly strong wind gusts, leading to a wind advisory for all of northern Illinois and much of northwest Indiana, said Brian Leatherwood, a National Weather Service meteorologist. South to southwest wind gusts of 40 mph had been recorded by about 9 a.m., he said. By late morning, a wind gust of 69 mph was recorded at Midway Airport, the peak of the day. Additionally, gusts of 61 mph at the Harrison-Dever Crib in Lake Michigan and 59 mph in Kane County were recorded, according to the weather service.
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“It’s a pretty significant weather system moving in,” Leatherwood said. “We have a wind advisory in effect and have already seen gusts of 40 mph and we could see gusts of up to 50 or 60 mph throughout most of the day, until about 10 p.m., when it should ease up a bit.”
By 1 p.m. a large tree fell in the 3000 block of East Cheltenham Place in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, striking a gas meter and multiple cars, according to preliminary information from the fire department. A traffic signal at the intersection of South Archer Avenue and South Loomis Street in Bridgeport was downed during the afternoon as well.
And the state shut down community COVID-19 testing sites in Arlington Heights, Waukegan, South Holland and Aurora, according to the Department of Public Health, which said the sites would reopen Monday.
Leatherwood said the front also was responsible for the low cloud ceiling that was expected to persist.
“That low cloud extends pretty far back into Iowa,” he said.
With the 875 North Michigan Avenue building, formerly known as the John Hancock Center, in the background, a person crosses Chicago Avenue in Chicago's West Town neighborhood on Nov. 14, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
All of northern Illinois was under the wind advisory until early Sunday evening, and the weather service warned residents to secure objects outdoors and cautioned drivers of high-profile vehicles driving may be unsafe at times.
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. Difficult travel is expected for high profile vehicles on north-south oriented roads,” according to the weather service.
Leatherwood said concerns about an early morning dusting of snow didn’t pan out but there was a slight chance of flurries in the afternoon.
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“We might see some additional showers, maybe even some snow, but it’s more of an irritant, along with the continued strong winds,” he said.
Leatherwood said there isn’t much moisture within the system, which is why any precipitation, whether it falls as rain, snow, or a mix of the two, shouldn’t last long.
The wind was expected to begin to die down overnight and into Monday, he said. The week will be off to a cold start, but it should gradually warm up, he said. Still, it won’t reach the record-breaking warmth from earlier this month when Chicago was treated to six straight days of November weather reaching into the 70s.
“Hopefully the weather’s looking decent after the cold start. We’ll have a slow trending up in temperatures and the week is looking decent with high 40s, low 50s, once we get rid of this system,” Leatherwood said. “We first just have to contend with these really strong winds today.”
For more weather news, visit the Tribune’s weather page.
kdouglas@chicagotribune.com
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chicagotribune--2020-11-14--2 dead, at least 4 wounded in shootings since Friday afternoon, police say

Shortly after 8 p.m. , February Burage was walking on the sidewalk when he heard shots , and felt pain @ @ @ @ @ , of west suburban Bloomingdale , was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was @ @ @ @ @ .

Two men were fatally shot, and four others were wounded including a 16-year-old boy in separate city shootings since Friday afternoon, Chicago police said.
The latest homicide involved a 28-year-old man who was shot on the West Side in the South Austin neighborhood in the 5600 block of West Madison Street.
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Shortly after 8 p.m., February Burage was walking on the sidewalk when he heard shots, and felt pain in the head. Burage, of west suburban Bloomingdale, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Another fatal attack happened about 4 p.m. Friday in the Englewood neighborhood in the 5900 block of South LaSalle Street. Officers responded to a call of a person down and found 37-year-old Victor Garcia unresponsive on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the back.
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Garcia was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
No one was in custody for either homicide.
In other shootings:
Shortly before 7:45 p.m. Friday, a 37-year-old man suffered a graze wound to the back in the 6400 block of South Meade Avenue in the Clearing neighborhood. The victim told police he was walking when he heard shots and felt pain. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was treated and released, police said.
Shortly after 11 p.m., a 16-year-old boy was shot in the South Loop neighborhood in the 500 block of West Taylor Street. The boy was in a vehicle when the person behind him, who was in a black Jeep started honking his horn which led to both exiting their vehicles and fighting. The person he was fighting with pulled out a gun and shot the teenager. He was taken in fair condition to Stroger Hospital. No one was in custody, police said.
Shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday, a 32-year-old man was shot in a drive-by in the East Garfield Park neighborhood in the 3800 block of West Adams Street. He was walking when someone inside a passing white SUV or black sedan fire shots, striking him in the leg. He was taken in good condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.
Shortly before 3:15 a.m., a 54-year-old man was shot in the Lawndale neighborhood in the 800 block of South Kolmar Avenue. The man was driving when he heard shots and felt pain in the torso. He was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was listed in fair condition, police said.
No one was in custody for any of the overnight attacks, and detectives were investigating.


chicagotribune--2020-11-14--Under Cook County budget proposal, sheriff’s office faces 4% budget cut. Activists who support less

Under Cook County budget proposal, sheriff’s office faces 4% budget cut. Activists who support less funding for law enforcement say that’s ‘not enough’

Greer-Lee , fueled by what she said was the belief that jail officials did not act swiftly enough to curb @ @ @ @ @ days of the pandemic , kept protesting outside the facility this summer to call for @ @ @ @ @ Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and a medical paper have said Cook County Jail successfully @ @ @ @ @ . )
An influx of other activists soon joined her , she said , after @ @ @ @ @ George Floyd in May , which sparked a nationwide movement that led thousands to march @ @ @ @ @ as reallocating law enforcement funds .

The day after her husband’s death on Easter Sunday, Cassandra Greer-Lee got up from her couch and rummaged for a piece of cardboard, she said. With a black Sharpie, she wrote, “#Justice for Nick” and headed to Cook County Jail, where her husband Nickolas Lee had been locked up before he died of COVID-19.
Greer-Lee said she had never protested before and didn’t know what slogans to chant. As she planted her feet under the shadow of the barbed fences, she came to realize the writing on her sign was too small for passing drivers to read, she said.
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“Everyone talked about how Chicago is so big. I never realized how empty it was until I opened my front door and walked out with that sign because the unknown is scary,” Greer-Lee said. “But I just knew my heart was gone. My heart was broken. I lost my best friend. I was numb. So I took that sign. I stood in front of the Cook County Jail.”
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Greer-Lee, fueled by what she said was the belief that jail officials did not act swiftly enough to curb the coronavirus during the early days of the pandemic, kept protesting outside the facility this summer to call for defunding the jail. (Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and a medical paper have said Cook County Jail successfully stamped out an initial outbreak.) An influx of other activists soon joined her, she said, after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd in May, which sparked a nationwide movement that led thousands to march in Chicago for causes such as reallocating law enforcement funds.
Cassandra Greer-Lee, widow of Nickolas Lee, who died of COVID-19 while in Cook County Jail, at the Rally to Demand Democracy and Defend the Election at Union Park in Chicago's West Town neighborhood on Nov. 7, 2020. Several groups, including the Chicago Teachers Union and the SEIU, organized the rally. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
In July, Cook County commissioners overwhelmingly passed a resolution that said the county should “redirect funds from policing and incarceration to public services.”
Several months later, as commissioners get set to vote in the coming weeks on Cook County’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, Greer-Lee and other activists said they feel the county is making strides toward reallocating funding from the sheriff’s office. But they also said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposed $25.9 million cut in the sheriff’s budget, which is about a 4.2% decrease and includes the elimination of about 300 vacant positions, is a disappointment after they clamored for much greater divestment.
A coalition of advocacy groups such as The People’s Lobby, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, Shriver Center on Poverty Law and Chicago Community Bond Fund joined with Greer-Lee and the union National Nurses United in September outside of Stroger Hospital to roll out their own budget plan, dubbed the “Budget for Black Lives.” Their blueprint, among other things, called for cutting funding to the sheriff’s office by $157 million and followed the County Board’s nonbinding “Justice for Black Lives” resolution.
“Twenty-five million is not a number that we want to see,” Tanya Watkins, executive director of SOUL, said. “Twenty-five million is not enough. One hundred and fifty-seven million is not enough. But we are moving in the right direction.”
The “defund the police” movement, which calls for shifting law enforcement dollars into other social services and, for some, abolishing police entirely, became a rallying cry for protesters nationwide in the wake of Floyd’s death. In Chicago, Watkins said, activists have targeted the Chicago police and Cook County Jail budget for years as high-profile abuses such as the murder of Laquan McDonald have convinced them that other entities can best keep their communities safe.
In an October speech, Preckwinkle said her budget proposal included a historic level of cash for “equity-focused investments.” Her plan includes $20 million more toward the Justice Advisory Council for street outreach, restorative justice and reentry services for formerly incarcerated people over the next two years. Another extra $20 million would go toward economic development and housing assistance.
But when it comes to reallocating law enforcement funding, Preckwinkle has said the reduction in her proposed 2021 budget is a response to massive budget woes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to a question on the radio show Connected to Chicago about how much her budget plan would move money from law enforcement to equity programs, she said, “We’re not.” She elaborated to reporters that each office was asked to reduce budgets in light of a $409 million coronavirus-driven shortfall for 2021.
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After the July meeting in which commissioners passed the “Justice for Black Lives” resolution, Preckwinkle reiterated her support for reducing law enforcement funds — a break from her political rival Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has said the “defund” cause is a “hashtag.”
At the city level, Lightfoot is facing her own pressure from aldermen and activists who want to see her make more Police Department cuts as she tries to get the City Council to pass a budget that plugs a $1.2 billion 2021 shortfall.
Lightfoot plans to cut the Police Department budget by about 3.4% next year by eliminating more than 600 vacant positions. But critics want her to go further to lower the department’s share of total city spending as the mayor prepares to lay off hundreds of workers in other city agencies and proposes a series of tax increases, including a $94 million property tax hike.
Lightfoot has repeatedly said meaningfully reducing the Police Department budget would require firing police. Most Chicagoans don’t want that, according to the mayor, who has said cutting the most recently hired officers as required under the city’s contract with the Fraternal Order of Police would hurt the department’s diversity by getting rid of many young Black and Latino members of the department.
For Dart, Preckwinkle’s current plan represents “a little of both” diverting resources from the sheriff’s office and a reflection of financial strain from the pandemic, his spokesman Matt Walberg wrote in a statement.
“Sheriff Dart has long said that there is a critical need to increase the kinds of programs and services — both within the community and in the sheriff’s office — to prevent or break the cycles of violence, poverty, mental health, and substance abuse disorders,” Walberg wrote.
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Dart has dismissed the call to defund police departments as a “sound bite,” saying he believes his office provides the very social services that protesters want.
“The defund folks, they’re misplaced because I always said, OK well then what’s your solution, what are you going to do once you defund the police?” Dart said during a City Club of Chicago speech in July. “There needs to be changes, absolutely needs to be changes, but the defunding part of it does not make sense as far as it doesn’t begin to address any of these issues at all.”
During a November budget hearing, Dart stressed to commissioners that the concessions he agreed to in the 2021 budget plan are “workable” for only that year, predicting that afterward he might need to recoup some of the eliminated vacant positions.
Out of the 4.2% proposed cut to the sheriff’s office, divisions overseeing incarceration would not see a substantial drop. The Department of Corrections would see a net increase of $5.4 million from last year, despite about $3.1 million less in non-personnel funds because of a decrease in the jail population. In community corrections, which oversees electronic monitoring, there would be a $29,000 net increase that accounts for eliminated vacant positions but a jump in operations and maintenance expenses because of the rise in the electronic-monitoring population.
The sheriff’s office’s court services division, which provides security at courthouses and executes court orders, would see one of the deepest cuts at nearly $23 million after getting rid of a net 264 vacant positions. The police department of more than 500 officers would get about $1.5 million more, mostly due to increased benefits costs.
April Friendly, an organizer with The People’s Lobby, said the overall proposal was “a very small step.”
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“The money we saw coming out of the sheriff’s department were dollars for vacant positions essentially, so the actual reduction from the sheriff’s budget I would say is not in line with how do we reduce this footprint of harm into our communities,” Friendly said.
On the county side, efforts to reallocate funding from policing and incarceration likely aren’t going away. Lanetta Haynes Turner, Preckwinkle’s chief of staff, said during a budget hearing in November that while law enforcement is necessary, some of their functions can be served by other entities.
“One of the first areas that we’re going to address is the re-imagination of public safety in alignment with the Justice for Black Lives and the moment,” Haynes Turner said. “Where are there opportunities to realign or shift or reallocate resources from the separately elected offices and back to communities?”
Greer-Lee, the protester whose husband died at the jail, said she will be closely following the matter. Still staking out Cook County Jail with her signs on Sundays, she said she doesn’t consider herself an activist but simply a “hurt widow.”
“Reality has set in that I will never talk to my husband again,” Greer-Lee said. “I’m never tired, but some days the devastation of grief overtakes me.”
Chicago Tribune’s John Byrne contributed.
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ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-14--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Nov. 13 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

The number of new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus in Illinois topped 15,000 for the first time Friday , setting a record for the fourth straight day .
The 15,415 cases state public health officials reported Friday are 2,713 more than the previous record set a day earlier .
Over the past week , the state is averaging 12,345 cases of COVID-19 per day .
The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 551,957 and the statewide death toll is 10,504 since the start of the pandemic , with 27 additional fatalities reported Friday .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ it posts related to contact tracing , which involves reaching out to people diagnosed with COVID-19 , urging them to isolate and asking them where they ’ ve been and whom they ’ ve seen during the two weeks prior to their positive test so those people can be asked to quarantine .
The data — covering the period from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7 — shows that the state is short of its goal of launching contact tracing for 90 % of cases , although some regions came very close .
Others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example , in Region 4 in far southern Illinois , tracers reached out to 89 % of sick people , while in Region 10 , which is suburban Cook County , the figure was 17 % , according to the state .
And speaking of the suburbs , one day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicago residents to stay home for the next month , suburban Cook County is doing the same .
The new advisory , similar to the city ’ s version , goes into effect on Monday and lasts for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imposing a 10-person limit on weddings , birthday parties , funerals and some social events in Chicago starting Monday .
In the meantime , the mayor on Friday defended her appearance last weekend when she joined a crowd celebrating the presumptive win of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as COVID-19 cases surge .
6:30 p.m. : No one fined for violating Chicago ’ s travel order so far In the four months Chicago has had a mandatory travel quarantine order in place , only warning letters have gone out to people believed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Thursday .
No one has been fined so far under the city ’ s order , implemented by Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the Fourth of July weekend , which requires travelers from states with high coronavirus infection rates to quarantine for 14 days after returning to Chicago , city spokesman Andrew Buchanan said in a statement .
He said the city was not releasing information on how many letters have gone out .
Two suburban long-term care facilities where hundreds of residents and staff contracted COVID-19 and dozens died have been fined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for coronavirus-related citations , according to the federal agency .
Under the new gubernatorial order , which runs through Dec. 12 , tenants must sign a form declaring that they meet certain qualifications , including an income limit of $ 99,000 for individuals or $ 198,000 for joint tax filers .
They also must attest that they are unable to make housing payments due to a COVID-19-related hardship and would likely be homeless or forced to live in close quarters if evicted .
Tenants also have to be making their “ best efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as close to the full payment as the individual ’ s circumstances may permit.
” 4:05 p.m. : As surging COVID-19 cases collide with Thanksgiving food shopping , city warns of a crackdown on crowds at grocery stores Grocery shoppers making their Thanksgiving runs may encounter something they haven ’ t seen since the early days of the pandemic : Lines outside of stores as the city steps up enforcement of capacity limits during the holiday rush .
Chicago ’ s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection plans to proactively investigate retail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other COVID-19 regulations , which carry fines up to $ 10,000 for violations , spokesman Isaac Reichman said .
Meanwhile , grocers expect bigger holiday crowds than usual given that restaurant closures , scuttled travel plans and calls by city officials to cancel family gatherings could result in smaller yet more Thanksgiving dinners cooked at home overall .
4:04 p.m. : Evanston issues stay-at-home advisory after reporting record-high number of new COVID-19 cases last two days On Thursday and Friday , city officials reported 43 and 60 confirmed new COVID-19 cases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since the pandemic began in March , according to a news release .
Evanston ’ s seven-day positivity rate now is 5.57 % , still lower than the 15 % in suburban Cook County , according to the release.Evanston ’ s advisory is in line with similar advisories already issued by the Cook County Department of Public Health , according to the release .
Like the Cook County advisory , Evanston ’ s will begin at 6 a.m. Monday and last for 30 days .
“ Our collective actions can reduce the rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being overwhelmed , and , ultimately , save lives , ” said Health and Human Services Director Ike Ogbo , in the release .
“ We are asking residents to take these necessary actions today to prevent more restrictive mitigation measures in the future.
” Evanston community centers remain open , but residents are encouraged to complete city business online .
Parks and Recreation camp programs will also continue running for the time being , according to the city .
Illinois driver services facilities will close temporarily for in-person business starting on Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Secretary of State Jesse White will again extend the expiration dates for driver ’ s licenses and ID cards , his office announced Friday .
The facilities are slated to reopen Dec. 7 .
The expiration date for driver ’ s licenses and identification cards has now been extended to June 1 , because of the coronavirus pandemic .
Anyone with a license that expires before the extended deadline will be considered to have a valid license until June 1 , though commercial driver ’ s license holders are excluded from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3:20 p.m. : Officials want you to stay home for the holidays .
Still traveling ?
Here ’ s what to expect .
As COVID-19 cases rise and state and local officials urge residents to stay home as much as possible , fewer people are expected to board planes , trains and buses ahead of Thanksgiving .
AAA forecasts that 2.48 million people in Illinois , and 50.6 million nationally , are expected to travel for the holiday , with most people driving .
The number of travelers could fall further as consumers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restrictions and guidance from health officials , AAA said .
Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked residents to avoid nonessential travel and cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans , and suburban Cook County followed up with a similar advisory Friday .
Gov .
J.B. Pritzker advised those choosing to travel to self-quarantine for two weeks before gathering .
Still , the desire to celebrate with family — even with a smaller group , or without a lengthy feast — could convince some who have been avoiding travel to make the trip.If you ’ re considering travel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2:55 p.m. : Chicago has a lot of cold storage space .
But will it be cold enough to support a COVID-19 vaccine rollout ?
Yet the complexity of the vaccine rollout and unique facilities requirements mean Chicago ’ s sprawling network of warehouses — which includes more than 11 million square feet of freezer and cooler space — may not play a major role .
“ Nothing that we ’ re building can even get that cold , ” said Tony Pricco , president of Chicago-based developer Bridge Development Partners , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other warehouses throughout the country .
“ I don ’ t think it ’ s even feasible to keep a large space that cold .
This is not a conventional freezer type of use.
” No matter which vaccine emerges for mass distribution , the process of transporting and storing it could require a marshaling of public and private resources seen in only the rarest of instances .
The Cook County State ’ s Attorney ’ s office is urging its employees to stay at home , foreshadowing future “ COVID policy changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shutdown is looming , according to an internal email obtained by the Tribune .
As courtrooms began to reopen over the summer , more prosecutors returned to the office , sometimes on a rotating basis .
Now , employees designated as “ stay-at-home staff ” by their supervisors will need to get prior permission to come to the office .
The Friday morning memo did not mention a shift in the way staffers are informed of COVID cases within the office — which has been a common source of concern among rank-and-file staffers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Chief Judge ’ s office and the Clerk of the Circuit Court , circulate regular memorandums notifying employees when a staffer tests positive .
The memos include details about where the staffer worked and how many positive cases the offices have measured so far in the pandemic .
Due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases throughout the region , Rush Oak Park hospital has again adopted its no visitor policy that had been in place earlier this year , and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park has also reinstated limits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of COVID cases could overwhelm the number of available hospital beds , that has not yet occurred at these two hospitals .
On Wednesday , the state reported a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations , at 5,042 , compared with a previous high of 5,037 patients on April 28 .
Some area hospitals have begun adding beds in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases and have delayed elective surgeries .
A pause on River Forest District 90′s return to in-person learning has been extended until at least the end of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in COVID-19 cases in the area .
At the end of October , District 90 began a “ blended in-person learning plan , ” which allowed for students to gradually return to classrooms while still taking some courses remotely .
The district began welcoming its pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students back to school buildings on Oct. 21 , but increasing COVID-19 cases caused the district to take an “ adaptive pause ” on the plan just one week later .
Officials had hoped to re-start its blended learning plan on Nov. 16 , however @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has caused administrators to extend that pause until at least Nov. 30 .
The state on Friday updated the data it posts related to contact tracing , which involves reaching out to people diagnosed with COVID-19 , urging them to isolate and asking them where they ’ ve been and whom they ’ ve seen during the two weeks prior to their positive test so those people can be asked to quarantine .
The data — covering the period from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7 — shows that the state is short of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 90 % of cases , although some regions came very close .
Others appear nowhere near that target .
For example , in Region 4 in far southern Illinois , tracers reached out to 89 % of sick people , while in Region 10 , which is suburban Cook County , the figure was 17 % , according to the state .
The data also shows outbreak locations , defined as places where there were five or more cases within 14 days , and exposure locations , or places that people with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before diagnosis .
The top three categories of outbreak locations over the past 30 days were day care operations , workplaces and factories , which have their own classification .
The top three exposure locations were schools , businesses including retail operations and then restaurants and bars , which share a classification .
Pritzker ’ s shutdown of indoor service at restaurants and bars has become a matter of fierce debate , with Pritzker saying it ’ s just not safe right now and restaurateurs contending he can ’ t prove that .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on outbreaks and exposures at schools , showing a smattering of outbreaks in six counties including McHenry , and exposures across central and northern Illinois , with many in Chicago and its suburbs .
1:13 p.m. : Indiana ’ s daily COVID-19 deaths near peak set in April surge ; Gary mayor clamps down on bars , restaurants and churches Indiana is averaging nearly as many coronavirus-related deaths now as it did during the spring ’ s initial surge of cases , with heath officials adding 50 more deaths to the state ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths occurring over several days have pushed the state ’ s moving seven-day fatality average to 40 per day , just short of highest average of 42 a day recorded in late April .
Indiana ’ s COVID-19 deaths average has tripled since Gov .
Eric Holcomb lifted nearly all coronavirus-related restrictions in late September .
During that time , COVID-19 hospitalizations have gone up 200 % and the seven-day moving average of newly confirmed infections is six times higher .
12:30 p.m. : Daily coronavirus cases top 15,000 in Illinois for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fourth straight day The number of new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus in Illinois topped 15,000 for the first time Friday , setting a record for the fourth straight day .
The 15,415 cases state public health officials reported Friday are 2,713 more than the previous record set a day earlier .
Over the past week , the state is averaging 12,345 cases of COVID-19 per day .
State health officials also reported 27 more fatalities Friday , bringing the statewide death toll to 10,504 since the pandemic began .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ than in recent days , the state has averaged 61 deaths per day over the past week , up from 41 at the beginning of the month .
In all , there have been 551,957 known cases of COVID-19 in Illinois , according to state health officials .
For the week ending Thursday , the average number of cases as a share of total tests was 13.2 % , up from 8.1 % at the beginning of the month and 3.4 % at the beginning of October .
Hospitalizations , which are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spreading , also continue to surge .
As of Thursday night , 5,362 people were in the hospital with COVID-19 , 990 of them in intensive care and 488 on ventilators .
Over the past three days , there have been more coronavirus patients in the hospital each day than at any time during the first wave in the spring .
11:27 a.m. : Lightfoot on joining crowd celebrating Biden-Harris win as COVID-19 cases surge : ‘ There are times when we actually do need to have ... relief and come together ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mayor was asked about joining revelers Saturday amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Chicago and nationwide — a surge so bad that on Thursday she announced a stay-at-home “ advisory ” while Gov .
J.B. Pritzker warned a second statewide mandatory shutdown order could be coming .
The mayor nodded to the fact that crowds were taking to the streets across the country last weekend after news outlets declared Biden the winner in Pennsylvania , giving him the 270 electoral votes he needed to beat Republican President Donald Trump .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ packed crowd via bullhorn that was shared on social media .
10:56 a.m. : Following in Chicago ’ s footsteps , suburban Cook County issues stay-at-home advisory , urges holiday plans to be postponed One day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicago residents to stay home for the next month , suburban Cook County is doing the same .
The suburban advisory , similar to the city ’ s version , goes into effect on Monday and lasts for 30 days , according a Friday news release from the Cook County Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop short of a mandatory stay-at-home order because they are intended to be a final attempt at curbing the coronavirus ' recent resurgence before more drastic measures are taken .
“ Now more than ever , we must come together to stay apart , ” Dr. Rachel Rubin , Cook County ’ s public health department ’ s senior medical officer , said in the release .
“ We know limiting gatherings with friends and family can be hard , but we also know that virtual celebrations will save lives.
” 9:38 a.m. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 patients , as health executive pleads with public to take precautions Aurora ’ s Rush Copley Medical Center and AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center both treated record high numbers of COVID-19 patients this week , as the virus continues to surge in the region and another layer of COVID-19 mitigation measures takes effect .
Mercy hospital , on Aurora ’ s near West Side , was treating 41 inpatients for COVID-19 Thursday , and another 11 people were under investigation for the virus , AMITA Health system spokesman Tim Nelson said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 24 inpatients who were positive for the virus and 15 people under investigation , he said .
Rush Copley , on the city ’ s Southeast Side , had 82 COVID-19 patients at one time in the past week , also marking the highest number it treated at once since the start of the pandemic , Chief Operating Officer Mary Shilkaitis said .
By Thursday afternoon the number of virus patients at the hospital was 77 .
That , too , amounted to more people than the hospital ever treated at once during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March , April and May , Shilkaitis said .
8:59 a.m. : Number of COVID-19 cases and deaths climbing at Edward Hospital in Naperville The number of patients being treated and hospitalized for COVID-19 continues to climb at Edward Hospital , with a record 93 patients as of Thursday morning , hospital officials announced .
“ When you look at the first of October , we had 14 patients ( being treated ) .
By the end of the month it was 51 .
And two weeks later , we are now at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , things that happened practically overnight , ” said hospital spokesman Keith Hartenberger .
Students in general education were tentatively scheduled to return Nov. 6 , which was then delayed until Nov. 16 , but now officials say they will stick with remote learning until the region is no longer under COVID-19 mitigation measures .
“ We saw the positivity rates begin to rise , which prompted our ( initial ) announcement to delay that return , ” Superintendent Nick Polyak explained in a memo to parents .
“ Over the last couple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see this positivity rate decrease .
Unfortunately , after leveling off slightly , our local positivity rate has continued to rise.
” Billboard reported this week that the ticketing juggernaut , which shares ownership with Live Nation — the world ’ s leading concert promoter — is discussing plans that would require patrons to provide either proof of a coronavirus vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test to gain entry to a concert .
This would be done through a combination of third-party entities : A fan would need to request that its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a health pass provider , such as CLEAR Health Pass or IBM ’ s Digital Health Pass , who would then verify the results to Ticketmaster , who would not store or have access to customers ' medical records , Billboard said .
Tingley said that , based on reports from contact tracing , there was little evidence that any of the cases resulted from students and staff contracting the virus in school buildings , and that most were traced back to social gatherings or family settings .
He said district officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to attend school due to self-quarantine will rise as positivity rates increase in the suburbs the district serves , which include Frankfort and New Lenox .
“ There are simply too many students not able to attend in person learning at this point due to exposure or a close contact , ” Tingley said .
Homer 33C Superintendent Craig Schoppe told families Thursday that 64 staff and 224 students were quarantined due being symptomatic for the virus or having had close contact with someone who had tested positive .
There were 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among district staff , and 9 positive and 10 probable cases among students , he said .
The district had “ reached a point where we will be unable to cover classrooms and bus routes next week , ” Schoppe wrote .
District 228 Superintendent Bill Kendall said Thursday that COVID-19 guidance from public health officials showing the schools are located in an orange warning zone prompted the move to remote learning .
“ We ’ re being cautious for our students , staff and community , ” he said .
Rising positivity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with schools in Blue Island , Oak Lawn and Palos Heights , to put off plans to bring students back on a limited basis , parents were told this week .
5 a.m. : Arbitrator rules against Chicago Public Schools in labor dispute over clerks , but district will still require them to work mostly in person , saying COVID-19 measures in place The Chicago Public Schools has indicated it will continue to require certain staff members to work in person , despite an arbitrator ’ s ruling Thursday that they should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until CPS proves it ’ s minimized the risk of COVID-19 at each school .
Thursday ’ s ruling applies to clerks , technology coordinators and other select staff whom the independent labor arbitrator presumed should be permitted to work from home at least four days a week , except where duties can ’ t be performed remotely .
It also requires CPS to determine which schools pass certified hazard assessments and provide the union with all the information they need to confirm the district ’ s determination .
If a school is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 100 % in-person work “ is appropriate , ” according to the arbitrator .
The ruling comes the week after CPS officials released an air quality and ventilation assessment that they said cleared most classrooms for students to return .
5 a.m. : One-third of Springfield firefighters in quarantine because of COVID-19 More than one-third of Springfield ’ s firefighters are in quarantine as a COVID-19 outbreak spreads through the department .
Seventy-three firefighters are quarantined , including 19 who have tested positive for the virus .
But two of the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be in operation until further notice , according to city officials .
The engines in question are each part of a multi-company station house .
“ While this is not ideal , it is our current reality with so many of our members who have been exposed , ” said Springfield Fire Chief Allen Reyne .
“ The department will begin working with our regional hospitals to determine if our methodology for quarantine , which we have used since day one , is still supported by CDC.
” The engines taken out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stevenson Drive , and Station 12 , 2925 S. Koke Mill Road .
The stations are also each home to one of the city ’ s three truck companies , which carry features like ladders and extrication equipment .
Reyne said the decision to take the engines out of operation were done due to the manpower shortage as well as a desire to better socially distance as the stations in question are both small .
So instead of two companies with six people present at each station , there will be one with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking those off and that brings down your manning level to alleviate individuals that are needed , ” said Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder .
Here are five things that happened Thursday regarding COVID-19 :

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The number of new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus in Illinois topped 15,000 for the first time Friday, setting a record for the fourth straight day.
The 15,415 cases state public health officials reported Friday are 2,713 more than the previous record set a day earlier. Over the past week, the state is averaging 12,345 cases of COVID-19 per day.
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The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 551,957 and the statewide death toll is 10,504 since the start of the pandemic, with 27 additional fatalities reported Friday.
Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday he was extending a host of coronavirus-related executive orders for another 30 days, including an extension of a moratorium on evictions.
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The state also updated the data that it posts related to contact tracing, which involves reaching out to people diagnosed with COVID-19, urging them to isolate and asking them where they’ve been and whom they’ve seen during the two weeks prior to their positive test so those people can be asked to quarantine.
The data — covering the period from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7 — shows that the state is short of its goal of launching contact tracing for 90% of cases, although some regions came very close. Others appear nowhere near that target. For example, in Region 4 in far southern Illinois, tracers reached out to 89% of sick people, while in Region 10, which is suburban Cook County, the figure was 17%, according to the state.
And speaking of the suburbs, one day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicago residents to stay home for the next month, suburban Cook County is doing the same.
The new advisory, similar to the city’s version, goes into effect on Monday and lasts for 30 days. Additionally, Lightfoot is imposing a 10-person limit on weddings, birthday parties, funerals and some social events in Chicago starting Monday.
In the meantime, the mayor on Friday defended her appearance last weekend when she joined a crowd celebrating the presumptive win of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as COVID-19 cases surge.
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
6:30 p.m.: No one fined for violating Chicago’s travel order so far
In the four months Chicago has had a mandatory travel quarantine order in place, only warning letters have gone out to people believed to have broken the rules, city officials said Thursday.
No one has been fined so far under the city’s order, implemented by Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the Fourth of July weekend, which requires travelers from states with high coronavirus infection rates to quarantine for 14 days after returning to Chicago, city spokesman Andrew Buchanan said in a statement. He said the city was not releasing information on how many letters have gone out.
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Read more here. —Alice Yin
6:03 p.m.: Suburban nursing homes issued coronavirus-related citations by OSHA
Two suburban long-term care facilities where hundreds of residents and staff contracted COVID-19 and dozens died have been fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for coronavirus-related citations, according to the federal agency.
This month, OSHA issued citations to Bria of Geneva nursing home and Meadowbrook Manor in Bolingbrook.
Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat
4:30 p.m.: Pritzker extends moratorium on housing evictions
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday he was extending a host of coronavirus-related executive orders for another 30 days, including an extension of a moratorium on evictions.
Under the new gubernatorial order, which runs through Dec. 12, tenants must sign a form declaring that they meet certain qualifications, including an income limit of $99,000 for individuals or $198,000 for joint tax filers. They also must attest that they are unable to make housing payments due to a COVID-19-related hardship and would likely be homeless or forced to live in close quarters if evicted. Tenants also have to be making their “best efforts to make timely partial payments that are as close to the full payment as the individual’s circumstances may permit.”
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Read more here. —Dan Petrella
4:05 p.m.: As surging COVID-19 cases collide with Thanksgiving food shopping, city warns of a crackdown on crowds at grocery stores
Grocery shoppers making their Thanksgiving runs may encounter something they haven’t seen since the early days of the pandemic: Lines outside of stores as the city steps up enforcement of capacity limits during the holiday rush.
When announcing a stay-at-home advisory that starts Monday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned businesses will face fines and potentially be shut down if they don’t follow social distancing rules or properly manage crowds.
Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection plans to proactively investigate retail stores to ensure compliance with capacity limits and other COVID-19 regulations, which carry fines up to $10,000 for violations, spokesman Isaac Reichman said.
Meanwhile, grocers expect bigger holiday crowds than usual given that restaurant closures, scuttled travel plans and calls by city officials to cancel family gatherings could result in smaller yet more Thanksgiving dinners cooked at home overall.
Read more here. —Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
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4:04 p.m.: Evanston issues stay-at-home advisory after reporting record-high number of new COVID-19 cases last two days
Evanston officials Friday issued an advisory stay-at-home order for residents after the city reported its highest daily totals of positive COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started.
On Thursday and Friday, city officials reported 43 and 60 confirmed new COVID-19 cases, the city’s largest daily numbers since the pandemic began in March, according to a news release.
Evanston’s seven-day positivity rate now is 5.57%, still lower than the 15% in suburban Cook County, according to the release.Evanston’s advisory is in line with similar advisories already issued by the Cook County Department of Public Health, according to the release. Like the Cook County advisory, Evanston’s will begin at 6 a.m. Monday and last for 30 days.
“Our collective actions can reduce the rate of infections, prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, and, ultimately, save lives,” said Health and Human Services Director Ike Ogbo, in the release. “We are asking residents to take these necessary actions today to prevent more restrictive mitigation measures in the future.”
Evanston community centers remain open, but residents are encouraged to complete city business online. Parks and Recreation camp programs will also continue running for the time being, according to the city.
—Genevieve Bookwalter
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3:56 p.m.: State closing drivers services offices from Tuesday until Dec. 7 because of COVID-19
Illinois driver services facilities will close temporarily for in-person business starting on Tuesday due to the statewide resurgence of COVID-19, and Secretary of State Jesse White will again extend the expiration dates for driver’s licenses and ID cards, his office announced Friday.
The facilities are slated to reopen Dec. 7. The expiration date for driver’s licenses and identification cards has now been extended to June 1, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Anyone with a license that expires before the extended deadline will be considered to have a valid license until June 1, though commercial driver’s license holders are excluded from the extension due to federal requirements.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
3:20 p.m.: Officials want you to stay home for the holidays. Still traveling? Here’s what to expect.
As COVID-19 cases rise and state and local officials urge residents to stay home as much as possible, fewer people are expected to board planes, trains and buses ahead of Thanksgiving.
AAA forecasts that 2.48 million people in Illinois, and 50.6 million nationally, are expected to travel for the holiday, with most people driving. The number of travelers could fall further as consumers monitor rising case numbers, new travel restrictions and guidance from health officials, AAA said.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked residents to avoid nonessential travel and cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans, and suburban Cook County followed up with a similar advisory Friday. Gov. J.B. Pritzker advised those choosing to travel to self-quarantine for two weeks before gathering.
Still, the desire to celebrate with family — even with a smaller group, or without a lengthy feast — could convince some who have been avoiding travel to make the trip.If you’re considering travel, here’s what to expect.
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
2:55 p.m.: Chicago has a lot of cold storage space. But will it be cold enough to support a COVID-19 vaccine rollout?
Chicago plays a key role in the nation’s supply chain, which is gearing up for the logistics challenge of a lifetime: mass distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Yet the complexity of the vaccine rollout and unique facilities requirements mean Chicago’s sprawling network of warehouses — which includes more than 11 million square feet of freezer and cooler space — may not play a major role.
That’s because there’s a big difference between storing foods like hamburger patties, frozen peas and ice cream and preserving a promising Pfizer vaccine that must stay below Arctic-winter temperatures.
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“Nothing that we’re building can even get that cold,” said Tony Pricco, president of Chicago-based developer Bridge Development Partners, which builds and owns cold storage buildings and other warehouses throughout the country. “I don’t think it’s even feasible to keep a large space that cold. This is not a conventional freezer type of use.”
No matter which vaccine emerges for mass distribution, the process of transporting and storing it could require a marshaling of public and private resources seen in only the rarest of instances.
Read more here. —Ryan Ori and Lisa Schencker
2:46 p.m.: State’s attorney’s office reviewing coronavirus policy for staff, urging them to work from home
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office is urging its employees to stay at home, foreshadowing future “COVID policy changes,” and hinting that another court shutdown is looming, according to an internal email obtained by the Tribune.
As courtrooms began to reopen over the summer, more prosecutors returned to the office, sometimes on a rotating basis. Now, employees designated as “stay-at-home staff” by their supervisors will need to get prior permission to come to the office.
The Friday morning memo did not mention a shift in the way staffers are informed of COVID cases within the office — which has been a common source of concern among rank-and-file staffers.
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Other county entities, such as the Chief Judge’s office and the Clerk of the Circuit Court, circulate regular memorandums notifying employees when a staffer tests positive. The memos include details about where the staffer worked and how many positive cases the offices have measured so far in the pandemic.
Read more here. —Megan Crepeau
2:44 p.m.: Oak Park hospitals restrict visitors as COVID-19 cases increase; haven’t overloaded capacity yet
Due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases throughout the region, Rush Oak Park hospital has again adopted its no visitor policy that had been in place earlier this year, and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park has also reinstated limits. While public health officials worry the number of COVID cases could overwhelm the number of available hospital beds, that has not yet occurred at these two hospitals.
On Wednesday, the state reported a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, at 5,042, compared with a previous high of 5,037 patients on April 28. Some area hospitals have begun adding beds in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases and have delayed elective surgeries.
Due to the increase, Rush Oak Park, 520 S. Maple Ave., has again implemented a “no visitor” policy in most of its inpatient and outpatient areas.
Read more here. —Steve Schering and Anna Kim
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2:04 p.m.: River Forest District 90 to remain on remote learning through end of November
A pause on River Forest District 90′s return to in-person learning has been extended until at least the end of the month as administrators respond to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the area.
At the end of October, District 90 began a “blended in-person learning plan,” which allowed for students to gradually return to classrooms while still taking some courses remotely. The district began welcoming its pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students back to school buildings on Oct. 21, but increasing COVID-19 cases caused the district to take an “adaptive pause” on the plan just one week later.
Officials had hoped to re-start its blended learning plan on Nov. 16, however, the continued rise in coronavirus cases has caused administrators to extend that pause until at least Nov. 30.
Read more here. —Steve Schering, Pioneer Press
1:25 p.m.: New contact tracing data shows state still not reaching 90% target
The state on Friday updated the data it posts related to contact tracing, which involves reaching out to people diagnosed with COVID-19, urging them to isolate and asking them where they’ve been and whom they’ve seen during the two weeks prior to their positive test so those people can be asked to quarantine.
The data — covering the period from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7 — shows that the state is short of its goal of launching contact tracing for 90% of cases, although some regions came very close. Others appear nowhere near that target. For example, in Region 4 in far southern Illinois, tracers reached out to 89% of sick people, while in Region 10, which is suburban Cook County, the figure was 17%, according to the state.
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The data also shows outbreak locations, defined as places where there were five or more cases within 14 days, and exposure locations, or places that people with the disease reported going in the 14 days before diagnosis.
The top three categories of outbreak locations over the past 30 days were day care operations, workplaces and factories, which have their own classification. The top three exposure locations were schools, businesses including retail operations and then restaurants and bars, which share a classification.
Pritzker’s shutdown of indoor service at restaurants and bars has become a matter of fierce debate, with Pritzker saying it’s just not safe right now and restaurateurs contending he can’t prove that.
Finally, there’s also data on outbreaks and exposures at schools, showing a smattering of outbreaks in six counties including McHenry, and exposures across central and northern Illinois, with many in Chicago and its suburbs.
—Hal Dardick
1:13 p.m.: Indiana’s daily COVID-19 deaths near peak set in April surge; Gary mayor clamps down on bars, restaurants and churches
Indiana is averaging nearly as many coronavirus-related deaths now as it did during the spring’s initial surge of cases, with heath officials adding 50 more deaths to the state’s toll on Friday.
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The new deaths occurring over several days have pushed the state’s moving seven-day fatality average to 40 per day, just short of highest average of 42 a day recorded in late April.
Indiana’s COVID-19 deaths average has tripled since Gov. Eric Holcomb lifted nearly all coronavirus-related restrictions in late September. During that time, COVID-19 hospitalizations have gone up 200% and the seven-day moving average of newly confirmed infections is six times higher.
Read more here. —Associated Press
12:30 p.m.: Daily coronavirus cases top 15,000 in Illinois for the first time, setting a record for the fourth straight day
The number of new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus in Illinois topped 15,000 for the first time Friday, setting a record for the fourth straight day.
The 15,415 cases state public health officials reported Friday are 2,713 more than the previous record set a day earlier. Over the past week, the state is averaging 12,345 cases of COVID-19 per day.
State health officials also reported 27 more fatalities Friday, bringing the statewide death toll to 10,504 since the pandemic began. While there were fewer deaths reported Friday than in recent days, the state has averaged 61 deaths per day over the past week, up from 41 at the beginning of the month.
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In all, there have been 551,957 known cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, according to state health officials.
For the week ending Thursday, the average number of cases as a share of total tests was 13.2%, up from 8.1% at the beginning of the month and 3.4% at the beginning of October.
Hospitalizations, which are a key indicator of how the virus is spreading, also continue to surge. As of Thursday night, 5,362 people were in the hospital with COVID-19, 990 of them in intensive care and 488 on ventilators. Over the past three days, there have been more coronavirus patients in the hospital each day than at any time during the first wave in the spring.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
11:27 a.m.: Lightfoot on joining crowd celebrating Biden-Harris win as COVID-19 cases surge: ‘There are times when we actually do need to have ... relief and come together’
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday defended her appearance last weekend when she joined a crowd celebrating the presumptive win of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
During a morning interview on MSNBC, the mayor was asked about joining revelers Saturday amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Chicago and nationwide — a surge so bad that on Thursday she announced a stay-at-home “advisory” while Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned a second statewide mandatory shutdown order could be coming.
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The mayor nodded to the fact that crowds were taking to the streets across the country last weekend after news outlets declared Biden the winner in Pennsylvania, giving him the 270 electoral votes he needed to beat Republican President Donald Trump. She delivered a celebratory message to a tightly packed crowd via bullhorn that was shared on social media.
“I will tell you in that big crowd a week ago, everybody was wearing masks,” the mayor told MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle.
Read more here. —Lisa Donovan
10:56 a.m.: Following in Chicago’s footsteps, suburban Cook County issues stay-at-home advisory, urges holiday plans to be postponed
One day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicago residents to stay home for the next month, suburban Cook County is doing the same.
The suburban advisory, similar to the city’s version, goes into effect on Monday and lasts for 30 days, according a Friday news release from the Cook County Department of Public Health. Both of the notices stop short of a mandatory stay-at-home order because they are intended to be a final attempt at curbing the coronavirus' recent resurgence before more drastic measures are taken.
“Now more than ever, we must come together to stay apart,” Dr. Rachel Rubin, Cook County’s public health department’s senior medical officer, said in the release. “We know limiting gatherings with friends and family can be hard, but we also know that virtual celebrations will save lives.”
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Read more here. —Alice Yin
9:38 a.m.: Aurora hospitals treating record numbers of COVID-19 patients, as health executive pleads with public to take precautions
Aurora’s Rush Copley Medical Center and AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center both treated record high numbers of COVID-19 patients this week, as the virus continues to surge in the region and another layer of COVID-19 mitigation measures takes effect.
Mercy hospital, on Aurora’s near West Side, was treating 41 inpatients for COVID-19 Thursday, and another 11 people were under investigation for the virus, AMITA Health system spokesman Tim Nelson said. One week prior, the hospital had 24 inpatients who were positive for the virus and 15 people under investigation, he said.
Rush Copley, on the city’s Southeast Side, had 82 COVID-19 patients at one time in the past week, also marking the highest number it treated at once since the start of the pandemic, Chief Operating Officer Mary Shilkaitis said.
By Thursday afternoon the number of virus patients at the hospital was 77. That, too, amounted to more people than the hospital ever treated at once during the first wave of the pandemic in March, April and May, Shilkaitis said.
Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat, The Beacon-News
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8:59 a.m.: Number of COVID-19 cases and deaths climbing at Edward Hospital in Naperville
The number of patients being treated and hospitalized for COVID-19 continues to climb at Edward Hospital, with a record 93 patients as of Thursday morning, hospital officials announced.
The Naperville hospital’s daily count this week changed from 72 on Monday, 82 on Tuesday, 85 on Wednesday, and up to 93 inpatients Thursday morning.
“When you look at the first of October, we had 14 patients (being treated). By the end of the month it was 51. And two weeks later, we are now at 93. Those are pretty dramatic spikes, things that happened practically overnight,” said hospital spokesman Keith Hartenberger.
Read more here. —Rafael Guerrero, Naperville Sun
8:29 a.m.: Leyden District 212 delays return to in-person learning due to rising COVID-19 cases
Leyden High School District 212 again delayed its planned return to in-person learning, citing rising cases of COVID-19 in the area.
Students in general education were tentatively scheduled to return Nov. 6, which was then delayed until Nov. 16, but now officials say they will stick with remote learning until the region is no longer under COVID-19 mitigation measures.
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“We saw the positivity rates begin to rise, which prompted our (initial) announcement to delay that return,” Superintendent Nick Polyak explained in a memo to parents. “Over the last couple weeks, we had been hoping to see this positivity rate decrease. Unfortunately, after leveling off slightly, our local positivity rate has continued to rise.”
Students in English language learning classes, special education services and those in the Bridge, Transition and LIFE programs began a four-day-a-week, hybrid learning plan on campus in early November.
Read more here. —Anna Kim, Pioneer Press
7:40 a.m.: Ticketmaster may require proof of coronavirus vaccination to attend future concerts
While the timing of live music’s return remains uncertain, Ticketmaster has already begun reimagining the future of concert safety.
Billboard reported this week that the ticketing juggernaut, which shares ownership with Live Nation — the world’s leading concert promoter — is discussing plans that would require patrons to provide either proof of a coronavirus vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test to gain entry to a concert.
This would be done through a combination of third-party entities: A fan would need to request that its vaccine or test provider send their results to a health pass provider, such as CLEAR Health Pass or IBM’s Digital Health Pass, who would then verify the results to Ticketmaster, who would not store or have access to customers' medical records, Billboard said.
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In lieu of a vaccine, a negative test would need to be produced approximately 24 to 72 hours before the event, according to the plan, which remains in developmental stages.
Read more here. —Syracuse.com
6 a.m.: Lincoln-Way and Bremen high school districts switch to remote learning Thursday and Homer Elementary District to do the same starting Monday as 100s of students quarantine
Lincoln-Way Superintendent R. Scott Tingley told families this week that as of Monday about 600 students in the district’s three schools were in quarantine due either to a positive test result for the coronavirus or being in close contact with someone who had tested positive.
Tingley said that, based on reports from contact tracing, there was little evidence that any of the cases resulted from students and staff contracting the virus in school buildings, and that most were traced back to social gatherings or family settings.
He said district officials expect the number of students not being able to attend school due to self-quarantine will rise as positivity rates increase in the suburbs the district serves, which include Frankfort and New Lenox.
“There are simply too many students not able to attend in person learning at this point due to exposure or a close contact,” Tingley said.
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Homer 33C Superintendent Craig Schoppe told families Thursday that 64 staff and 224 students were quarantined due being symptomatic for the virus or having had close contact with someone who had tested positive. There were 10 positive coronavirus cases and four probable cases among district staff, and 9 positive and 10 probable cases among students, he said.
The district had “reached a point where we will be unable to cover classrooms and bus routes next week,” Schoppe wrote.
District 228 Superintendent Bill Kendall said Thursday that COVID-19 guidance from public health officials showing the schools are located in an orange warning zone prompted the move to remote learning.
“We’re being cautious for our students, staff and community,” he said.
Rising positivity rates have led High School District 218, with schools in Blue Island, Oak Lawn and Palos Heights, to put off plans to bring students back on a limited basis, parents were told this week.
Read more here. —Mike Nolan, Daily Southtown
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5 a.m.: Arbitrator rules against Chicago Public Schools in labor dispute over clerks, but district will still require them to work mostly in person, saying COVID-19 measures in place
The Chicago Public Schools has indicated it will continue to require certain staff members to work in person, despite an arbitrator’s ruling Thursday that they should be allowed to work mostly from home until CPS proves it’s minimized the risk of COVID-19 at each school.
Thursday’s ruling applies to clerks, technology coordinators and other select staff whom the independent labor arbitrator presumed should be permitted to work from home at least four days a week, except where duties can’t be performed remotely.
It also requires CPS to determine which schools pass certified hazard assessments and provide the union with all the information they need to confirm the district’s determination. If a school is in compliance with health and safety requirements, 100% in-person work “is appropriate,” according to the arbitrator.
The ruling comes the week after CPS officials released an air quality and ventilation assessment that they said cleared most classrooms for students to return.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
5 a.m.: One-third of Springfield firefighters in quarantine because of COVID-19
More than one-third of Springfield’s firefighters are in quarantine as a COVID-19 outbreak spreads through the department.
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Seventy-three firefighters are quarantined, including 19 who have tested positive for the virus.
All fire stations remain open and are providing service to residents.
But two of the city’s 12 fire engines will not be in operation until further notice, according to city officials. The engines in question are each part of a multi-company station house.
“While this is not ideal, it is our current reality with so many of our members who have been exposed,” said Springfield Fire Chief Allen Reyne. “The department will begin working with our regional hospitals to determine if our methodology for quarantine, which we have used since day one, is still supported by CDC.”
The engines taken out of operation are from Station 2, 2810 Stevenson Drive, and Station 12, 2925 S. Koke Mill Road.
The stations are also each home to one of the city’s three truck companies, which carry features like ladders and extrication equipment.
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Reyne said the decision to take the engines out of operation were done due to the manpower shortage as well as a desire to better socially distance as the stations in question are both small.
So instead of two companies with six people present at each station, there will be one with three.
“So they’re taking those off and that brings down your manning level to alleviate individuals that are needed,” said Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder.
—Brenden Moore, the State Journal-Register, via Tribune Content Agency
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