chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,471 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported as sourc

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,471 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported as sources say CPS expected to announce all-remote learning plan

Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic , a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike , sources said .
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization ’ s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn ’ t agree to start the school year with full remote learning , sources said Tuesday .
Earlier in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the city ’ s stay-at-home list for travelers , meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive .
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady also announced that households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations .
Meanwhile , Illinois health officials on Tuesday reported 1,471 new known cases and 19 additional fatalities , including a teenager in Cook County .
The total number of known infections in Illinois now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toll is 7,545 .
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday , meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive .
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago .
Households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ danger of contracting the disease at a party , Arwady recounted a story she said a contract tracer heard about a woman attending her mother ’ s birthday party , along with her son , daughter , sister and niece .
Arwady said households are now “ 10 times the risk of any other exposures , ” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing , then came down with the virus .
6:58 p.m. : Wisconsin-based Epic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the office , though some workers fear ‘ untold deaths ’ Epic Systems is requiring its 9,000-plus employees to return to work in person at its sprawling campus outside of Madison by Sept. 21 .
The health software company is one of the first large employers in the state to no longer give employees the choice of working from home .
“ We do our best work when together , ” Ashley Gibson , a company spokeswoman , told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel .
“ And we are working to bring everyone back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Epic workers decried the order , saying company CEO Judy Faulkner was ignoring public health advice , according to a statement made in conjunction with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union .
6:24 p.m. : Naperville ’ s two superintendents explain why remote learning was their only option for the fall Administrators from both Naperville-area school districts Monday defended their decisions to start the school year in September and to have all students do remote learning through at least October .
The changes were made weeks after Naperville District 203 Superintendent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Superintendent Adrian Talley presented a different approach to the return to class : a choice between learning online on a full-time basis or going to school on some days and learning from home on others .
Bridges and Talley , speaking to their respective school boards at separate meetings , said information they ’ ve received in the past few weeks caused them to switch the plans .
District 204 said state figures show that from July 15 to July 28 , the positivity rate for the region that includes DuPage County rose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the region to the south that includes Will County , the rate rose from 4.6 % to 6.3 % .
Both districts have schools in DuPage and Will .
Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic , a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike , sources said .
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization ’ s House of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn ’ t agree to start the school year with full remote learning , sources said Tuesday .
The union ’ s governing body includes members representing schools from across the city .
College freshmen are facing unprecedented adjustments this year due to COVID-19 .
But for 18-year-old Anicia Miller , who ’ s lived in public housing all her life , the overjoyed feeling she gets thinking about school still hasn ’ t subsided , despite plans to stay remote for the upcoming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t believe it sometimes , ” said Miller , a St. Ignatius College Prep School graduate who plans to enroll at Harvard this fall .
“ To be able to say that I was able to just go throughout schooling and be involved in so many extracurriculars and , really , just be able to be accepted into Harvard is just amazing because of the prestige and all of the opportunities I ’ ll have as a student.
” Miller was one of 150 soon-to-be college students celebrated Tuesday morning in a send-off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ event marked the 10th rendition of the Chicago Housing Authority and its nonprofit Springboard to Success ’ annual celebration , which underwent major adjustments this year because of COVID-19 .
Students were given dorm room supplies meant to assist them in school , such as Chromebook laptops , and laundry and toiletry supplies .
Families picked up their packages from a distance in a drive-thru celebration .
The event “ means a lot to me , ” said Miller , who plans to major in biomedical engineering in hopes of creating prosthetic devices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still is great that this organization was able to adapt and ... congratulate the students and give them all the necessary things they need in college despite the circumstances.
” 5:13 p.m. : Setting up possible teachers strike , CTU plans to convene House of Delegates next week , sources say The Chicago Teachers Union is planning to convene its House of Delegates early next week to consider a process that could lead to a strike if Chicago Public Schools doesn ’ t agree to start the school year with full remote learning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not clear if the process would differ from the steps taken before the 11-day teachers strike last fall , but the union ’ s bylaws require a full membership vote to authorize a strike after the matter comes before the House of Delegates .
Educator unions nationwide , including the Illinois Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers , have said they ’ d support local unions if insufficient COVID-19 precautions on the part of school districts lead to “ health and safety strikes.
” With CPS ’ final fall instruction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be seen if the threat of a strike will affect the outcome .
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin said Tuesday that Democratic Gov .
J.B. Pritzker has dealt with the pandemic as “ well as anybody ” but has “ overextended himself ” as he continues to use emergency powers without review or action by the General Assembly .
Durkin , speaking at a virtual event for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale , also said GOP legislative candidates this fall will need to acknowledge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of support in the state and focus on the ongoing federal corruption scandal and its ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan .
“ I agreed with him on it because I knew that the virus is for real and we had to see if we could stop the spread of it quickly , ” he said .
But , he said , as restrictions began to be lessened in subsequent executive orders , there were things he disagreed with .
“ I just had a very difficult time understanding the logic of keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ small mom-and-pops couldn ’ t open their stores .
They were determined to be nonessential , ” Durkin said .
“ To me , that ’ s where the governor made a mistake , that we allowed these big-boxes to never stop operations at all , ” he said .
“ He could have found a common ground with the hospitality industry .
That ’ s where most of our jobs have been lost , in the restaurants , where people live ... week by week.
” 3:37 p.m. : Big Ten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ canceling the 2020 football season — is getting input from conference athletes via video calls Pac-12 football players penned an essay in The Players ’ Tribune under the headline “ # WeAreUnited ” to get the attention of Commissioner Larry Scott .
They are threatening a boycott if their demands — including revenue sharing — are not met .
Sources say Commissioner Kevin Warren has attempted to meet with two student-athletes from each Big Ten school by video conference — one football player , one from a different sport .
He completed some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clearly wants to get the pulse of players before deciding whether to move forward or pull the plug on the 2020 season .
That also explains why the Big Ten , which initially planned to release its football schedule Tuesday , will wait at least another day before making an announcement .
Sources say that after Warren learned Monday of the COVID-19 outbreak at Rutgers — NJ.com reported that 28 football players plus “ multiple team staffers ” have been infected , forcing the team into isolation until Saturday — he reconsidered the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ p.m. : Is the coronavirus issuing last call for Chicago ’ s old school neighborhood bars ?
The closing two weeks ago of 34-year-old Guthrie ’ s Tavern , announced hours after the city said it would roll back bars ’ abilities to operate , may have just been the first sign that the simple business model of offering a pint , a pool table and late night camaraderie has become particularly tenuous in the era of coronavirus .
Before restaurant groups , before cell phones and before Chicago transitioned from blue collar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pieces of Chicago ’ s fabric , and they remain key to understanding the city .
They ’ re often far older than a neighborhood ’ s current character .
They are vehicles to the past .
But the COVID-19 pandemic — and the city ’ s response to it , whether flawed , justified or somewhere in between — threatens their futures .
“ Before the pandemic not having a food license and not having to deal with a patio was a blessing , ” said Gman Tavern manager Tom Cathcart said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curse.
” 2:32 p.m. : Private schools in Naperville being deluged by parents wanting in-person classes for their children Since Naperville District 203 and Indian Prairie District 204 announced back-to-school plans that included remote learning , there ’ s been a significant spike in emails and calls from parents wanting what private schools can provide this fall : daily in-person instruction in a classroom , officials said .
Patricia Bajek , director of student services for All Saints Catholic Academy , said admission inquiries at the K-8 school on Aurora Avenue were quiet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end of May .
By July , when public school districts announced they would be offering a mix of in-person and remote learning , requests for information “ took off like lightning , ” she said .
The two districts have since decided all classes will be done remotely through October .
Michelle Etchason is starting her 29th year as a teacher in High School District 230 , and said she ’ s never been fearful about returning to the classroom , until now .
The president of the union that represents more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which operates high schools in Orland Park , Palos Hills and Tinley Park , said that for the safety of teachers and students the district should drop plans for a reopening that has students alternating between classroom and online learning .
She and about 50 other teachers took part in a car caravan Tuesday , starting at the district ’ s administration center then passing by the high schools with signs reading “ stay online until cases decline ” and “ go virtual no viral.
” 2:24 p.m. : Coalition works to expand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have been hit hard by COVID-19 Monia Taylor , 64 , must decide whether her monthly Supplemental Security Income will pay for food or rent , but not both .
COVID-19 worsened the problem .
Taylor , a member of the Chicago Disability Activism Collective , works with the organization to expand rights for people in the disability community .
She has lupus , an autoimmune disease .
The group on Tuesday kicked off a campaign to push for an increase in Supplemental Security Income for Cook County residents with disabilities that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to all Illinois residents with disabilities .
There are more than 150,000 Cook County residents who receive SSI , according to the proposal .
2:10 p.m. : Pritzker says U. of I.
‘ s COVID-19 saliva test could be made more widely available Gov .
J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday his administration is in talks with University of Illinois officials about making a saliva test researchers there have developed for use on campus more widely available in Illinois .
The saliva test developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be used for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on campus this fall , and differs from the invasive nasal swab that ’ s been much more widely used as the method for testing for COVID-19 .
“ We ’ re going to continue to ramp up testing across the state , make sure that that ’ s available .
You may have heard that the University of Illinois now has a saliva test , ” Pritzker said Tuesday at a news conference at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale .
“ We ’ re talking to the University of Illinois about how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to other locations.
” The University of Illinois announced Monday that students and faculty participating in in-person classes this fall are required to undergo the saliva-based testing twice weekly , beginning later this month .
A day after announcing the launch of a mask awareness campaign that seeks to target areas of the state with rising coronavirus metrics that indicate a resurgence there , Pritzker aimed his message in Carbondale directly at universities and colleges .
“ There ’ s not a single one of these institutions that should be opening without making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask mandate , ” Pritzker said .
“ We have a statewide mask mandate , we ’ ve had one since May 1 .
There ’ s some people who don ’ t follow it , but on university campuses , it ’ s vitally important that everybody follow it , keep their social distance and then we make sure we don ’ t have overcapacity in this environment so that there ’ s a viral load that builds up in any given space.
” For years , the Open House Chicago architecture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the promise of peeking behind facades and getting a look at splendid interiors , like the soaring Art Deco lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade Building .
The Chicago Architecture Center , which runs the festival , announced Tuesday that this year ’ s event will offer exterior and online tours due to “ the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.
” Unless plans change , there will be no interior tours .
As if to compensate for the loss of the event ’ s signature feature , the center will expand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oct. 16-25 , marking the event ’ s 10th anniversary .
In the past , the festival was on a single weekend .
12:58 p.m. : Reputed mob boss Michael ‘ the Large Guy ’ Sarno wants out of prison 12 years early because of the pandemic Reputed mob boss Michael “ the Large Guy ” Sarno says 10 years behind bars has reduced him to “ a senior citizen with severe medical issues , ” and he wants out of federal prison early because of the “ deadly risk ” of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compassionate release for the 62-year-old Sarno , who was sentenced to 25 years in 2012 for ordering the bombing of a rival business in Berwyn to protect his illegal and lucrative video poker operation .
Big house parties and weddings , summer camps , concerts , crowded bars and restaurants , shopping trips without masks — Americans ' resistance to curbs on everyday life is seen as a key reason the U.S. has racked up more confirmed coronavirus deaths and infections by far than any other country .
The nation has recorded more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than six months and is fast approaching an almost off-the-charts 5 million COVID-19 infections .
Some Americans have resisted wearing masks and social distancing , calling such precautions an over-the-top response or an infringement on their liberty .
Public health experts say such behavior has been compounded by confusing and inconsistent guidance from politicians and a patchwork quilt of approaches to containing the scourge by county , state and federal governments .
“ The thing that ’ s maddening is country after country and state after state have shown us how we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jonathan Quick , who is leading a pandemic initiative for the Rockefeller Foundation .
“ It ’ s not like we don ’ t know what works .
We do.
” The number of confirmed infections in the U.S. has topped 4.7 million , with new cases running at over 60,000 a day .
While that 's down from a peak of well over 70,000 in the second half of July , cases are on the rise in 26 states , many of them in the South and West , and deaths are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the number of COVID-19 deaths per day in the U.S. over the past two weeks has gone from about 780 to 1,056 , according to an Associated Press analysis .
Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 1,471 new known cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional fatalities , including a teenager in Cook County .
The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 184,712 and the statewide death toll is 7,545 .
Officials also reported 42,598 new tests in the last 24 hours .
The seven-day statewide positivity rate is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the channel , sources said , are host Leila Rahimi and TV part-timer Laurence Holmes as NBCSCH is reducing its original programming , focusing on White Sox , Blackhawks and Bulls games and the studio shows that complement them .
“ Due to the ongoing economic challenges caused by the pandemic and with the need to better position NBCUniversal for the future , we have made a number of difficult decisions to achieve cost savings , including eliminating some roles across the portfolio , ” NBCUniversal said in a statement .
Allstate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawsuits alleging they failed to sufficiently reduce premiums to Illinois policyholders as more drivers stay off the road during the coronavirus pandemic .
10:30 a.m. : One of the biggest hurdles for COVID-19 patients is breathing .
Respiratory therapists help make it happen , but the field is dwindling .
Even as they are needed to help COVID-19 patients , many respiratory therapists say people don ’ t understand their role .
Meanwhile , the workforce is dwindling .
According to the National Board for Respiratory Care , more than 125 million patient @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with an aging population increasing the need .
Respiratory therapist jobs are projected to grow , but the number of people entering the field is shrinking , said board CEO Lori Tinkler .
COVID-19 has even brought people out of retirement , she said .
10:15 a.m. : Chicago health commissioner supports students attending class in schools if virus under control Chicago ’ s health commissioner on Tuesday said she wants children learning in schools this fall “ if the outbreak is broadly in control.
” Dr. Allison Arwady warned that lots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place right now within households , but said if the city ’ s pandemic numbers look good , she feels Chicago Public Schools can handle in-person learning safely .
” Where the child is at school wearing a mask with the social distancing , with the appropriate procedures in place , I honestly do not think the risk of spread is significant , ” Arwady said at her weekly news conference about the city ’ s travel list .
“ I wouldn ’ t be promoting this if I thought it was.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each other in school are significant , Arwady said .
” I ’ m a pediatrician , and I feel pretty strongly that there are benefits for in-person education , especially for younger children who don ’ t learn well from screens , and all of the social and emotional benefits , and all of the other things we ’ ve talked about , ” Arwady said .
“ But it all comes back to what that local data looks like.
” Chicago Public Schools has told parents to choose by this Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in school as part of a hybrid model this fall , or stay at home .
As Chicago ’ s positivity rate for coronavirus cases continues to rise , Arwady said “ I can ’ t say the risk is zero , of course.
” ” And again , the more our numbers are going up in Chicago , the more concern I have about this .
Because as our cases increase , the risk of people having COVID , especially asymptomatic COVID , does go up , ” she said .
Chicago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list for travelers Tuesday , meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive .
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago , with households and social gatherings overtaking congregate settings like nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations .
Arwady said households are now “ 10 times the risk of any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing , then came down with the virus .
People who live with high-risk relatives should consider social distancing and wearing masks within their homes after they have potentially high-risk exposures outside the home , Arwady said .
While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents , Arwady said Iowa , Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold .
If they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they would get removed from the list , she said .
6 a.m. : Parents who want schools to reopen this fall say it ’ s a matter of choice , not politics .
‘ Students ’ mental health ... has got to be weighed . '
When Mairin Gradek ’ s local schools superintendent posted a cheerful YouTube video in early July describing tentative plans to welcome students back into the classroom , the Arlington Heights mother of three was excited that more remote learning was merely an option for parents , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s optimism that her neighborhood schools would reopen this fall was also buoyed by the results of a recent School District 25 survey , which found that around 75 % of parents supported either an in-person or hybrid plan , with remote learning trailing as the least popular option in third place .
But in recent days , District 25 joined a rapidly growing list of suburban school systems that have abandoned hopes of bringing kids back into the classroom at the start of the new school year .
“ In my naivete @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have to provide public comment on this issue , because it looked like my wishes for schools to reopen were being served , and that e-learning would only be one of the options , ” Gradek said .
“ Parents like me are seeking at least some bit of in-person learning for our kids , so I ’ m still praying that the district ’ s decision will change.
” Now , with the start of school just weeks away , many parents say they feel like they ’ re part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have their children back in school has been pushed aside by school officials who are buckling to pressure from teachers unions .
6 a.m. : In search for COVID-19 treatments , consumer group pushes drugmaker Gilead to test alternative to remdesivir The pharmaceutical company that makes remdesivir — the only medication that has emergency authorization to fight COVID-19 — should also be conducting human trials on a related drug with strong potential , according to a citizen advocacy group that believes the alternative could be more effective , less expensive and easier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Citizen sent a letter dated Tuesday to the CEO of Gilead Sciences and top federal regulators , urging the company and the government to work together to move forward with clinical trials of the drug “ or publicly provide evidence why it is not scientifically or medically feasible to develop this drug in parallel with its close analogue , remdesivir.
” Failing either of those options , the company should “ release permission so other researchers can pursue it , ” said Public Citizen health researcher Michael Abrams , who crafted the letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ralph Nader , has long advocated for greater corporate responsibility .
Officials from Public Citizen , joined by two drug researchers from Texas , suggested in the letter “ there are significant financial incentives ” for Gilead to stick with remdesivir over the lesser-known drug , known only as GS-441524 .
Specifically , the patent on GS-441524 dates to around 2009 , compared with remdesivir about five years later , meaning that Gilead has exclusive rights to produce remdesivir further into the future .
Remdesivir is an expensive drug , priced at $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 2,340 for each patient treated over the course of five days .
Gilead spokesman Chris Ridley said the decision to move forward with remdesivir was based on “ available evidence ” indicating that remdesivir generated more of a key virus-fighting molecule and was more effective against the new coronavirus than the other drug .
Here are five stories from Monday 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 Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike, sources said.
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization’s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn’t agree to start the school year with full remote learning, sources said Tuesday.
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Earlier in the day, Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to the city’s stay-at-home list for travelers, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive. Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady also announced that households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations.
Meanwhile, Illinois health officials on Tuesday reported 1,471 new known cases and 19 additional fatalities, including a teenager in Cook County. The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 184,712 and the statewide death toll is 7,545.
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Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:09 p.m. (update): Puerto Rico added to Chicago’s travel list as city health commissioner warns of coronavirus spread at households, social gatherings
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago.
Households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations, Arwady said.
To underscore the danger of contracting the disease at a party, Arwady recounted a story she said a contract tracer heard about a woman attending her mother’s birthday party, along with her son, daughter, sister and niece.
“Everyone tested positive after getting together at the event,” Arwady said.
Arwady said households are now “10 times the risk of any other exposures,” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing, then came down with the virus.
Read more here. —John Byrne
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6:58 p.m.: Wisconsin-based Epic Systems ordering its 9,000-plus workers back to the office, though some workers fear ‘untold deaths’
Epic Systems is requiring its 9,000-plus employees to return to work in person at its sprawling campus outside of Madison by Sept. 21.
The health software company is one of the first large employers in the state to no longer give employees the choice of working from home.
“We do our best work when together,” Ashley Gibson, a company spokeswoman, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “And we are working to bring everyone back safely so we can do that.”
Epic workers decried the order, saying company CEO Judy Faulkner was ignoring public health advice, according to a statement made in conjunction with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
6:24 p.m.: Naperville’s two superintendents explain why remote learning was their only option for the fall
Administrators from both Naperville-area school districts Monday defended their decisions to start the school year in September and to have all students do remote learning through at least October.
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The changes were made weeks after Naperville District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges and Indian Prairie District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley presented a different approach to the return to class: a choice between learning online on a full-time basis or going to school on some days and learning from home on others.
Bridges and Talley, speaking to their respective school boards at separate meetings, said information they’ve received in the past few weeks caused them to switch the plans.
Among the factors raising alarms was the growing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
District 204 said state figures show that from July 15 to July 28, the positivity rate for the region that includes DuPage County rose from 3.8% to 4.7%. In the region to the south that includes Will County, the rate rose from 4.6% to 6.3%. Both districts have schools in DuPage and Will.
“These numbers and this trend in a short amount of time gave us cause to rethink our plan,” Talley said.
Read more here. —Suzanne Baker
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5:55 p.m.: CPS expected to announce all-remote learning plan, sources say
Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike, sources said.
The switch to an all-remote learning plan could come as CTU leaders are planning to convene the organization’s House of Delegates next week and consider a process that eventually could lead to a strike if CPS doesn’t agree to start the school year with full remote learning, sources said Tuesday. The union’s governing body includes members representing schools from across the city.
A city source emphasized the decision had nothing to do with a potential teachers strike.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone, John Byrne and Gregory Pratt
5:42 p.m.: Public housing residents celebrate students heading off to college despite COVID-19
College freshmen are facing unprecedented adjustments this year due to COVID-19. But for 18-year-old Anicia Miller, who’s lived in public housing all her life, the overjoyed feeling she gets thinking about school still hasn’t subsided, despite plans to stay remote for the upcoming semester.
“I still can’t believe it sometimes,” said Miller, a St. Ignatius College Prep School graduate who plans to enroll at Harvard this fall. “To be able to say that I was able to just go throughout schooling and be involved in so many extracurriculars and, really, just be able to be accepted into Harvard is just amazing because of the prestige and all of the opportunities I’ll have as a student.”
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Miller was one of 150 soon-to-be college students celebrated Tuesday morning in a send-off for Chicago public housing residents. The event marked the 10th rendition of the Chicago Housing Authority and its nonprofit Springboard to Success’ annual celebration, which underwent major adjustments this year because of COVID-19.
Students were given dorm room supplies meant to assist them in school, such as Chromebook laptops, and laundry and toiletry supplies. Families picked up their packages from a distance in a drive-thru celebration.
The event “means a lot to me,” said Miller, who plans to major in biomedical engineering in hopes of creating prosthetic devices for children one day. “That still is great that this organization was able to adapt and ... congratulate the students and give them all the necessary things they need in college despite the circumstances.”
Read more here. —Kelli Smith
5:13 p.m.: Setting up possible teachers strike, CTU plans to convene House of Delegates next week, sources say
The Chicago Teachers Union is planning to convene its House of Delegates early next week to consider a process that could lead to a strike if Chicago Public Schools doesn’t agree to start the school year with full remote learning, sources said Tuesday.
It’s not clear if the process would differ from the steps taken before the 11-day teachers strike last fall, but the union’s bylaws require a full membership vote to authorize a strike after the matter comes before the House of Delegates.
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Educator unions nationwide, including the Illinois Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers, have said they’d support local unions if insufficient COVID-19 precautions on the part of school districts lead to “health and safety strikes.”
With CPS’ final fall instruction plan due this week, it remains to be seen if the threat of a strike will affect the outcome.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone and John Byrne
4:30 p.m.: State House GOP leader says Pritzker overextending his executive authority in dealing with pandemic
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin said Tuesday that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has dealt with the pandemic as “well as anybody” but has “overextended himself” as he continues to use emergency powers without review or action by the General Assembly.
Durkin, speaking at a virtual event for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, also said GOP legislative candidates this fall will need to acknowledge President Donald Trump’s varying degrees of support in the state and focus on the ongoing federal corruption scandal and its ties to House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Durkin, a 22-year House veteran from Western Springs, said he backed Pritzker’s early emergency orders, including the March stay-at-home order for workers deemed nonessential.
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“I agreed with him on it because I knew that the virus is for real and we had to see if we could stop the spread of it quickly,” he said.
But, he said, as restrictions began to be lessened in subsequent executive orders, there were things he disagreed with.
“I just had a very difficult time understanding the logic of keeping a Target or Walmart open” while “small mom-and-pops couldn’t open their stores. They were determined to be nonessential,” Durkin said.
“To me, that’s where the governor made a mistake, that we allowed these big-boxes to never stop operations at all,” he said. “He could have found a common ground with the hospitality industry. That’s where most of our jobs have been lost, in the restaurants, where people live ... week by week.”
Read more here. —Rick Pearson
3:37 p.m.: Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren — as he ponders canceling the 2020 football season — is getting input from conference athletes via video calls
Pac-12 football players penned an essay in The Players’ Tribune under the headline “#WeAreUnited” to get the attention of Commissioner Larry Scott. They are threatening a boycott if their demands — including revenue sharing — are not met.
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Big Ten athletes, meanwhile, recently have been getting a more direct line to the top of the conference.
Sources say Commissioner Kevin Warren has attempted to meet with two student-athletes from each Big Ten school by video conference — one football player, one from a different sport. He completed some calls Monday and others Tuesday.
Warren clearly wants to get the pulse of players before deciding whether to move forward or pull the plug on the 2020 season.
That also explains why the Big Ten, which initially planned to release its football schedule Tuesday, will wait at least another day before making an announcement.
And that’s not all.
Sources say that after Warren learned Monday of the COVID-19 outbreak at Rutgers — NJ.com reported that 28 football players plus “multiple team staffers” have been infected, forcing the team into isolation until Saturday — he reconsidered the conference’s next step.
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Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
2:40 p.m.: Is the coronavirus issuing last call for Chicago’s old school neighborhood bars?
The closing two weeks ago of 34-year-old Guthrie’s Tavern, announced hours after the city said it would roll back bars’ abilities to operate, may have just been the first sign that the simple business model of offering a pint, a pool table and late night camaraderie has become particularly tenuous in the era of coronavirus.
Before restaurant groups, before cell phones and before Chicago transitioned from blue collar to white, neighborhood bars were core pieces of Chicago’s fabric, and they remain key to understanding the city. They’re often far older than a neighborhood’s current character. They are vehicles to the past.
But the COVID-19 pandemic — and the city’s response to it, whether flawed, justified or somewhere in between — threatens their futures.
“Before the pandemic not having a food license and not having to deal with a patio was a blessing,” said Gman Tavern manager Tom Cathcart said. “Now it’s a curse.”
Read more here. —Josh Noel
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2:32 p.m.: Private schools in Naperville being deluged by parents wanting in-person classes for their children
Parochial schools in Naperville are being inundated by parents searching for alternatives to public schools for the upcoming school year.
Since Naperville District 203 and Indian Prairie District 204 announced back-to-school plans that included remote learning, there’s been a significant spike in emails and calls from parents wanting what private schools can provide this fall: daily in-person instruction in a classroom, officials said.
Patricia Bajek, director of student services for All Saints Catholic Academy, said admission inquiries at the K-8 school on Aurora Avenue were quiet from the middle of March to the end of May.
In June, when All Saints began resuming in-person tours, 17 new students enrolled, Bajek said.
By July, when public school districts announced they would be offering a mix of in-person and remote learning, requests for information “took off like lightning,” she said. The two districts have since decided all classes will be done remotely through October.
Read more here. —Suzanne Baker
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2:30 p.m.: District 230 teachers demonstrate in favor of online learning when school year begins
Michelle Etchason is starting her 29th year as a teacher in High School District 230, and said she’s never been fearful about returning to the classroom, until now.
The president of the union that represents more than 540 teachers in the district, which operates high schools in Orland Park, Palos Hills and Tinley Park, said that for the safety of teachers and students the district should drop plans for a reopening that has students alternating between classroom and online learning.
“Right now, a lot of us fear coming back to school,” Etchason said.
She and about 50 other teachers took part in a car caravan Tuesday, starting at the district’s administration center then passing by the high schools with signs reading “stay online until cases decline” and “go virtual no viral.”
Read more here. —Mike Nolan
2:24 p.m.: Coalition works to expand payments for Illinois residents with disabilities, who have been hit hard by COVID-19
Monia Taylor, 64, must decide whether her monthly Supplemental Security Income will pay for food or rent, but not both. COVID-19 worsened the problem.
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“The poverty Black people and disabled people face on a daily basis didn’t start with COVID,” Taylor said during an online news conference Tuesday. “The virus just exacerbated the problem.”
Taylor, a member of the Chicago Disability Activism Collective, works with the organization to expand rights for people in the disability community. She has lupus, an autoimmune disease.
The group on Tuesday kicked off a campaign to push for an increase in Supplemental Security Income for Cook County residents with disabilities that group members hope will eventually be extended to all Illinois residents with disabilities. There are more than 150,000 Cook County residents who receive SSI, according to the proposal.
Read more here. —Sydney Czyzon
2:10 p.m.: Pritzker says U. of I.‘s COVID-19 saliva test could be made more widely available
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday his administration is in talks with University of Illinois officials about making a saliva test researchers there have developed for use on campus more widely available in Illinois.
The saliva test developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be used for faculty and students before in- person classes on campus this fall, and differs from the invasive nasal swab that’s been much more widely used as the method for testing for COVID-19.
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“We’re going to continue to ramp up testing across the state, make sure that that’s available. You may have heard that the University of Illinois now has a saliva test,” Pritzker said Tuesday at a news conference at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. “We’re talking to the University of Illinois about how we might provide that across the state to other locations.”
The University of Illinois announced Monday that students and faculty participating in in-person classes this fall are required to undergo the saliva-based testing twice weekly, beginning later this month.
A day after announcing the launch of a mask awareness campaign that seeks to target areas of the state with rising coronavirus metrics that indicate a resurgence there, Pritzker aimed his message in Carbondale directly at universities and colleges.
“There’s not a single one of these institutions that should be opening without making sure that you’re enforcing a mask mandate,” Pritzker said. “We have a statewide mask mandate, we’ve had one since May 1. There’s some people who don’t follow it, but on university campuses, it’s vitally important that everybody follow it, keep their social distance and then we make sure we don’t have overcapacity in this environment so that there’s a viral load that builds up in any given space.”
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
1:41 p.m.: Pandemic forces Open House Chicago to shift to exterior and online tours
For years, the Open House Chicago architecture festival has lured thousands of visitors with the promise of peeking behind facades and getting a look at splendid interiors, like the soaring Art Deco lobby of the Chicago Board of Trade Building.
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This year will be different, a concession to the public health risks posed by COVID-19.
The Chicago Architecture Center, which runs the festival, announced Tuesday that this year’s event will offer exterior and online tours due to “the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Unless plans change, there will be no interior tours.
‘”We are not planing to coordinate or offer entry to any building,” Lynn Osmond, the center’s CEO, confirmed in an email.
As if to compensate for the loss of the event’s signature feature, the center will expand Open House Chicago to 10 days, Oct. 16-25, marking the event’s 10th anniversary. In the past, the festival was on a single weekend.
With access to interiors restricted, the event also will emphasize entire neighborhoods rather than individual buildings.
Read more here. —Blair Kamin
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12:58 p.m.: Reputed mob boss Michael ‘the Large Guy’ Sarno wants out of prison 12 years early because of the pandemic
Reputed mob boss Michael “the Large Guy” Sarno says 10 years behind bars has reduced him to “a senior citizen with severe medical issues,” and he wants out of federal prison early because of the “deadly risk” of the pandemic.
A petition filed Monday seeks compassionate release for the 62-year-old Sarno, who was sentenced to 25 years in 2012 for ordering the bombing of a rival business in Berwyn to protect his illegal and lucrative video poker operation.
Read more here. —Sophie Sherry
12:32 p.m.: As Americans resist COVID-19 restrictions, US nears 5 million infections
Big house parties and weddings, summer camps, concerts, crowded bars and restaurants, shopping trips without masks — Americans' resistance to curbs on everyday life is seen as a key reason the U.S. has racked up more confirmed coronavirus deaths and infections by far than any other country.
The nation has recorded more than 155,000 dead in a little more than six months and is fast approaching an almost off-the-charts 5 million COVID-19 infections.
Some Americans have resisted wearing masks and social distancing, calling such precautions an over-the-top response or an infringement on their liberty. Public health experts say such behavior has been compounded by confusing and inconsistent guidance from politicians and a patchwork quilt of approaches to containing the scourge by county, state and federal governments.
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“The thing that’s maddening is country after country and state after state have shown us how we can contain the virus,” said Dr. Jonathan Quick, who is leading a pandemic initiative for the Rockefeller Foundation. “It’s not like we don’t know what works. We do.”
The number of confirmed infections in the U.S. has topped 4.7 million, with new cases running at over 60,000 a day. While that's down from a peak of well over 70,000 in the second half of July, cases are on the rise in 26 states, many of them in the South and West, and deaths are climbing in 35 states.
On average, the number of COVID-19 deaths per day in the U.S. over the past two weeks has gone from about 780 to 1,056, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Read more here. —The Associated Press
12:20 p.m. (updated): 1,471 new known COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 1,471 new known cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional fatalities, including a teenager in Cook County. The total number of known infections in Illinois now stands at 184,712 and the statewide death toll is 7,545. Officials also reported 42,598 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.9%.
12:09 p.m.: NBC Sports Chicago scales back programming amid staff layoffs due to pandemic
NBC Sports Chicago is scaling back its programming and laying off employees as part of cuts across parent company NBCUniversal, encompassing all of NBC Sports Group’s regional sports networks.
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Among those let go by the channel, sources said, are host Leila Rahimi and TV part-timer Laurence Holmes as NBCSCH is reducing its original programming, focusing on White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls games and the studio shows that complement them.
Dropped programming includes “Sports Talk Live,” the channel’s roundtable show, which remained in production through the COVID-19 pandemic with panelists appearing from their respective homes.
“Due to the ongoing economic challenges caused by the pandemic and with the need to better position NBCUniversal for the future, we have made a number of difficult decisions to achieve cost savings, including eliminating some roles across the portfolio,” NBCUniversal said in a statement.
Read more here. —Phil Rosenthal
10:55 a.m.: Allstate, Geico, Progressive among auto insurers hit with lawsuits over coronavirus relief
Allstate and other large auto insurers are facing lawsuits alleging they failed to sufficiently reduce premiums to Illinois policyholders as more drivers stay off the road during the coronavirus pandemic.
In six separate lawsuits filed in Cook County Circuit Court last week, Illinois policyholders allege insurers failed to provide “fair and appropriate” rebates and unfairly profited from high rates.
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After Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order, many drivers stayed inside, and the rush hour traffic on highways diminished.
In Illinois, miles driven by motorists dropped by nearly two-thirds in the spring, according to the suits.
Each insurer offered some form of premium relief, but the suits allege it wasn’t enough to account for the drop in claims.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
10:30 a.m.: One of the biggest hurdles for COVID-19 patients is breathing. Respiratory therapists help make it happen, but the field is dwindling.
They are the people who help patients awaken from sedation and take their first breath.
Often unsung in the COVID-19 crisis, respiratory therapists focus on helping people breathe — job duties include managing ventilation and artificial airways and assessing breathing challenges — and that means they play a large role in the treatment of coronavirus patients.
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During normal times, their work ranges from setting up ventilators in a neonatal intensive care unit to helping someone who recently had lung surgery. These days, many are paged to help patients struggling with COVID-19, which impacts the lungs and causes issues ranging from shortness of breath to a need for a ventilator.
“This is a very respiratory virus, and causing the (respiratory therapists) right now to be the tip of the spear here,” said Rush University Medical Center respiratory therapist and associate professor Brady Scott. “We are constantly in these patients’ rooms.”
Even as they are needed to help COVID-19 patients, many respiratory therapists say people don’t understand their role. Meanwhile, the workforce is dwindling. According to the National Board for Respiratory Care, more than 125 million patient visits each year are for respiratory-related illnesses, with an aging population increasing the need. Respiratory therapist jobs are projected to grow, but the number of people entering the field is shrinking, said board CEO Lori Tinkler. COVID-19 has even brought people out of retirement, she said.
Read more here. —Alison Bowen
10:15 a.m.: Chicago health commissioner supports students attending class in schools if virus under control
Chicago’s health commissioner on Tuesday said she wants children learning in schools this fall “if the outbreak is broadly in control.”
Dr. Allison Arwady warned that lots of COVID-19 spread in Chicago is taking place right now within households, but said if the city’s pandemic numbers look good, she feels Chicago Public Schools can handle in-person learning safely.
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”Where the child is at school wearing a mask with the social distancing, with the appropriate procedures in place, I honestly do not think the risk of spread is significant,” Arwady said at her weekly news conference about the city’s travel list. “I wouldn’t be promoting this if I thought it was.”
The advantages to children who are around each other in school are significant, Arwady said.
”I’m a pediatrician, and I feel pretty strongly that there are benefits for in-person education, especially for younger children who don’t learn well from screens, and all of the social and emotional benefits, and all of the other things we’ve talked about,” Arwady said. “But it all comes back to what that local data looks like.”
Chicago Public Schools has told parents to choose by this Friday whether they want their children to learn in school as part of a hybrid model this fall, or stay at home.
As Chicago’s positivity rate for coronavirus cases continues to rise, Arwady said “I can’t say the risk is zero, of course.”
”And again, the more our numbers are going up in Chicago, the more concern I have about this. Because as our cases increase, the risk of people having COVID, especially asymptomatic COVID, does go up,” she said.
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—John Byrne
9:30 a.m.: Puerto Rico added to city’s emergency travel order
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago, with households and social gatherings overtaking congregate settings like nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations.
[ Traveling outside Illinois? Chicago residents must quarantine after visiting some places. Here’s what you need to know to avoid a large fine. ]
Arwady said households are now “10 times the risk of any other exposures,” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing, then came down with the virus.
People who live with high-risk relatives should consider social distancing and wearing masks within their homes after they have potentially high-risk exposures outside the home, Arwady said.
While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents, Arwady said Iowa, Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold. If they stay under 15-per-100,00 for another week, they would get removed from the list, she said.
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—John Byrne
6 a.m.: Parents who want schools to reopen this fall say it’s a matter of choice, not politics. ‘Students’ mental health ... has got to be weighed.'
When Mairin Gradek’s local schools superintendent posted a cheerful YouTube video in early July describing tentative plans to welcome students back into the classroom, the Arlington Heights mother of three was excited that more remote learning was merely an option for parents, not the whole plan.
Gradek’s optimism that her neighborhood schools would reopen this fall was also buoyed by the results of a recent School District 25 survey, which found that around 75% of parents supported either an in-person or hybrid plan, with remote learning trailing as the least popular option in third place.
But in recent days, District 25 joined a rapidly growing list of suburban school systems that have abandoned hopes of bringing kids back into the classroom at the start of the new school year.
“In my naivete, I had assumed that I didn’t have to provide public comment on this issue, because it looked like my wishes for schools to reopen were being served, and that e-learning would only be one of the options,” Gradek said. “Parents like me are seeking at least some bit of in-person learning for our kids, so I’m still praying that the district’s decision will change.”
Now, with the start of school just weeks away, many parents say they feel like they’re part of a silent majority, whose desire to have their children back in school has been pushed aside by school officials who are buckling to pressure from teachers unions.
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Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
6 a.m.: In search for COVID-19 treatments, consumer group pushes drugmaker Gilead to test alternative to remdesivir
The pharmaceutical company that makes remdesivir — the only medication that has emergency authorization to fight COVID-19 — should also be conducting human trials on a related drug with strong potential, according to a citizen advocacy group that believes the alternative could be more effective, less expensive and easier to produce.
Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen sent a letter dated Tuesday to the CEO of Gilead Sciences and top federal regulators, urging the company and the government to work together to move forward with clinical trials of the drug “or publicly provide evidence why it is not scientifically or medically feasible to develop this drug in parallel with its close analogue, remdesivir.”
Failing either of those options, the company should “release permission so other researchers can pursue it,” said Public Citizen health researcher Michael Abrams, who crafted the letter. The nonprofit group, founded by Ralph Nader, has long advocated for greater corporate responsibility.
Officials from Public Citizen, joined by two drug researchers from Texas, suggested in the letter “there are significant financial incentives” for Gilead to stick with remdesivir over the lesser-known drug, known only as GS-441524.
Specifically, the patent on GS-441524 dates to around 2009, compared with remdesivir about five years later, meaning that Gilead has exclusive rights to produce remdesivir further into the future. Remdesivir is an expensive drug, priced at $390 per dose, which comes to $2,340 for each patient treated over the course of five days.
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Gilead spokesman Chris Ridley said the decision to move forward with remdesivir was based on “available evidence” indicating that remdesivir generated more of a key virus-fighting molecule and was more effective against the new coronavirus than the other drug.
Read more here. —Hal Dardick
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are five stories from Monday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Puerto Rico added to Chicago’s travel list as city health commissioner warns of coronavirus spread a

Puerto Rico added to Chicago’s travel list as city health commissioner warns of coronavirus spread at households, social gatherings

While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents @ @ @ @ @ Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold .
If they stay under 15-per-100,000 for @ @ @ @ @ be removed from the list , she said .

People with masks walk in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 20, 2020. Chicago added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers. (Ricardo Arduenggo/Getty-AFP)
Chicago officials added Puerto Rico to its stay-at-home list for travelers Tuesday, meaning people coming into the city from there should remain quarantined indoors for two weeks when they arrive.
Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced Puerto Rico will join 22 states on the travel list this Friday as she also warned of a shift in the way COVID-19 is being transmitted in Chicago.
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Households and social gatherings are overtaking congregate settings such as nursing homes and the Cook County Jail as the most dangerous situations, Arwady said.
To underscore the danger of contracting the disease at a party, Arwady recounted a story she said a contract tracer heard about a woman attending her mother’s birthday party, along with her son, daughter, sister and niece.
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“Everyone tested positive after getting together at the event,” Arwady said.
Arwady said households are now “10 times the risk of any other exposures,” and recounted a series of anecdotes about Chicagoans attending social gatherings where they and others were lax about wearing masks and social distancing, then came down with the virus.
People who live with high-risk relatives should consider social distancing and wearing masks within their homes after they have potentially high-risk exposures outside the home, Arwady said.
While adding Puerto Rico to the stay-at-home list because the island now has more than 15 cases per 100,000 residents, Arwady said Iowa, Kansas and Utah are now below that threshold. If they stay under 15-per-100,000 for another week, they would be removed from the list, she said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s order requires people who have traveled into from Chicago any of the identified high-risk states to self-quarantine for 14 days. Other states on the list are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Appellate court affirms conviction of Naperville woman who stabbed and killed her 7-year-old son and

Appellate court affirms conviction of Naperville woman who stabbed and killed her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old girl she babysat

After discarding her cellphone , she showed up later at a family friend ’ s home where her elder son @ @ @ @ @ police , who recovered one of the kitchen knives used in the attack in Plackowska @ @ @ @ @ other knife was found in the garbage disposal in the Dworakowski kitchen .

An appellate court affirmed the murder conviction of a 48-year-old former Naperville woman who was found guilty of stabbing her 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting.
Elzbieta Plackowska was found guilty of first-degree murder in September 2017 at the conclusion of a two-week bench trial for the stabbing of her son, Justin, and a child she babysat, Olivia Dworakowski, also of Naperville, in October 2012.
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Even though Plackowska may have been mentally ill when she stabbed the children to death, her actions were the result of conscious decisions, DuPage County Judge Robert Miller ruled in 2017 and affirmed Monday by the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin in a press release said the appellate decision confirms that there “never was, nor should there ever be, any doubt whatsoever that Plackowska knew exactly what she was doing when she brutally murdered Justin and Olivia.
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“The murder of these two innocent children shook the entire community to its core, the reverberations of which can still be felt today.”
Miller sentenced Plackowska to natural life in prison. She also was found guilty of aggravated animal cruelty for killing two family dogs.
The killings took place in October 2012 at the Quin Court condo where Olivia lived with her mother, a nurse who worked nights at a dialysis lab. Earlier that night, Plackowska brought Justin and Olivia to St. Elizabeth Seton church for a reconciliation service, and a parishioner said she appeared agitated.
Plackowska then brought the children back to her apartment, picking up her dog, before going to the Dworakowski home.
Plackowska told the children to get ready for bed, but instead the children began jumping on the bed in the master bedroom.
Plackowska grabbed kitchen knives before entering the master bedroom where she stabbed her son repeatedly. She then stabbed Olivia repeatedly and killed the two family dogs.
After discarding her cellphone, she showed up later at a family friend’s home where her elder son was staying. He called police, who recovered one of the kitchen knives used in the attack in Plackowska’s vehicle. The other knife was found in the garbage disposal in the Dworakowski kitchen.
At trial, Plackowska did not dispute that she killed the children, rather she asserted the affirmative defense of insanity.
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In her appeal, Plackowska’s defense said the trial court’s determination she possessed the capacity to appreciate the criminality of her conduct at the time of the murders was incorrect.
The appellate court rejected her claims, noting that after the murders Plackowska made substantial efforts to avoid detection including putting the knife down the garbage disposal, discarding her cell phone, making up a story about an intruder as well as changing her story several times.
subaker@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-05--Chicago police officer shot in leg Lawndale; suspect in custody, police say

An Ogden District officer was shot in the thigh about 3:40 a.m. Wednesday in the 1300 block of South Lawndale @ @ @ @ @ , police said .
The officer , who has been with the department for two @ @ @ @ @ taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition .

A Chicago police officer was shot in the leg on the West Side early Wednesday after responding to a domestic call and a suspect was in custody, according to Chicago police.
An Ogden District officer was shot in the thigh about 3:40 a.m. Wednesday in the 1300 block of South Lawndale Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood, police said. The officer, who has been with the department for two to three years, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition.
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“This is the fourth officer struck by gunfire from suspects in the last week. It just speaks to the courage, bravery and dedication of the Chicago Police Department,” police Superintendent David Brown told reporters outside Mount Sinai early Wednesday.
Before the shooting, the officer and his partner responded to a domestic-related call involving the man, Brown said.
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The man was on the third floor of a three-flat style greystone apartment building and was speaking to officers from a window of the building, police said. Officers spoke with the man and “deployed de-escalation tactics,” but the man took out a handgun and fired “several” rounds at the officers, who were standing at ground level, Brown said.
CPD Superintendent addresses the media about the officer shot at 13/Lawndale this morning.
- Officer and partner responded to a domestic call that included the male suspect.
- They were talking to the man at one point and tried to deescalate the situation. pic.twitter.com/GHf4nPPImb — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 5, 2020
It’s not yet clear why the man started firing at officers, Brown said. Officers did not return fire during the shooting.
After the man stopped firing, officers entered the residence and took the man into custody.
The suspect has been convicted in the past of a felony gun offense, Brown said.
A woman, who was the man’s partner, and a child, whose age was not specified, were inside the residence and “are doing OK,” Brown said.
This shooting comes less than a week after three officers were struck by gunfire outside a Northwest Side police station. One officer, a 16-year veteran, was shot under his chin and seriously injured. The other two officers suffered minor injures during the gunfire.
[ Morning exchange of gunfire at Chicago police station leaves 3 officers and a suspect injured ]
The 25-year-old suspect in the shooting outside the Grand Central Police District had a concealed gun and had just been arrested and was handcuffed. He opened fire on an officer who opened the rear door of his police vehicle when they arrived at the station to transfer him to a lockup.
Three officers returned fire during that shooting. As many as 60 rounds were fired in total. The suspect was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he remained in custody.
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“There are officers doing this in unprecedented time and challenging time with not only the pandemic and civil unrest but also the push against police,” Brown said. “And yet officers are continuing to risk everything to protect this city.”
The block where the shooting happened was the scene of an attack last month that left five people injured in a shooting. The shooting July 20 left people ages 31 to 63 with gunshot wounds.
Check back for updates.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-08-06--Central Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis says he’s tested positive for COVID-19

“ During these challenging times , protecting the public health is my highest priority , ” Davis said in a @ @ @ @ @ ’ re out in public , use social distancing , and when you can ’ @ @ @ @ @ wear a mask .
All of us must do our part .
That ’ s @ @ @ @ @ get through this pandemic .
”

In this image from video, Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 23, 2020. (AP)
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a central Illinois Republican locked in a tough battle for reelection, said he tested positive Wednesday for COVID-19 after holding recent in-district constituent events.
Davis, 50, a four-term congressman from Taylorville, said he had been having his temperature checked twice daily. After his temperature was recorded at 99 degrees, he said he and his wife, Shannon, took coronavirus tests. He tested positive and his wife did not, he said.
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“Other than a higher-than-normal temperature, I am showing no symptoms at this time and feel fine,” Davis said. He said that staff members he worked with this week received negative tests and that his office is contacting people with whom he met during the previous 48 hours, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19. I will continue to serve my constituents and #IL13 virtually from home while I quarantine and until I receive a negative test.
Read my full statement here: https://t.co/0uUTXgWUlu — US Rep Rodney Davis (@RodneyDavis) August 5, 2020
“My wife is a nurse and a cancer survivor, which puts her in an at-risk category like so many Americans,” he said in a statement. “My office and I have always followed and will continue to follow CDC guidelines, use social distancing, and wear masks or face coverings when social distancing cannot be maintained.”
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Davis said he would quarantine at home and canceled public events until he receives a negative test. District offices, he said, would remain open to serve constituents.
Davis is in one of the most competitive congressional races in the country as he faces a rematch against Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan of Springfield. Davis narrowly won reelection in 2018 over Londrigan by 2,058 votes.
In the 13th District campaign, which includes central and southwestern Illinois, Londrigan outraised Davis from April through June and had nearly $2.25 million in cash on hand to start July compared with more than $1.85 million for Davis.
“During these challenging times, protecting the public health is my highest priority,” Davis said in a statement. “If you’re out in public, use social distancing, and when you can’t social distance, please wear a mask. All of us must do our part. That’s what it will take to get through this pandemic.”
rap30@aol.com
Twitter @rap30