chicagotribune--2020-10-29--Column: Can a squirrel predict the winner of the election? After one nutty campaign season, anything

Column: Can a squirrel predict the winner of the election? After one nutty campaign season, anything is possible.

There are reports that the political cookies at Lochel ’ s Bakery in Hatboro , Pennsylvania , are flying off @ @ @ @ @ every election year .
Sales of the sugar cookies with Biden 2020 written in blue @ @ @ @ @ red sprinkles are currently being tallied .
The bakery has used the treats to correctly @ @ @ @ @ past three presidential elections .

Mike England, his hand raised to signal four more years of President Donald Trump, walks between supporters of the president and the Democratic ticket during a stop by the Biden-Harris campaign bus at Vera Minter Park in Abilene, Texas, on Oct. 28, 2020. (Ronald W. Erdrich/The Abilene Reporter-News)
After Donald Trump’s surprising victory over Hillary Clinton four years ago, some people are wary of what the polls are saying about the 2020 election.
Nearly every national poll shows Joe Biden with a hefty lead over Trump. But national presidential polls are equivalent to asking people all over the country to weigh in on who should be mayor of Chicago.
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Seventeen battleground states will determine who lands in the White House. It doesn’t matter who the majority of Americans want. The Electoral College decides, so a handful of voters in a few states could once again end up picking the winner.
There are several predictors floating around that might give us a sneak peek into what will happen next week. Everything from Halloween masks, coffee cups, first lady cookie recipes and measuring the candidates' heights have been used previously to provide an early indication of who’s going to win on Election Day.
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Some have impressive records for choosing the winner for several presidential elections running. Trump, however, has thrown some of them off.
The unpredictability of Trump, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic that has thrown the entire country off track, have made some of these unusual methods less reliable than they were in the past. Take them with a grain of salt.
Some observers are even questioning whether historian Allan Lichtman’s “13 Keys to the White House" can accurately predict the outcome this year.
Lichtman has correctly predicted every presidential race since Ronald Reagan’s reelection in 1984. (There was that one time in 2000, however, when he predicted Al Gore would defeat George W. Bush. But Lichtman insists he was correct since Gore won the popular vote. You can judge for yourself.)
The American University professor says that debates, endorsements, rallies or even political platforms don’t determine the winner. Rather, things like scandals, social unrest, charisma and the economy are among the best predictors.
Obviously, Trump has seen an abundance of scandals and social unrest, and the economy is tanking right now — all things that point to defeat. So Lichtman says the next president is going to be Joe Biden.
Halloween masks have long been indicators of a candidate’s popularity. Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all outsold their opponents, according to Rubie’s Costume Company, the world’s largest costume manufacturer.
Four years ago, Trump latex masks outsold Clinton masks. This year, Trump masks are available, but the company didn’t stock Biden masks this time. Interpret that however you like.
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Then there’s ChrisChris the squirrel, of North Charleston, S.C. ChrisChris took over the duties of presidential predictions this year from his deceased father, Gnocchi, who correctly predicted the last three presidential races, according to WCSC-TV.
According to the station, ChrisChris ate seven nuts from a bowl with Trump’s name on it and three from Biden’s bowl, which made Trump the winner. Just so there would be no mistaking his loyalty in this solidly red state, ChrisChris ate the Biden sign and gnawed on the former vice president’s bowl.
Students at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in New York state have accurately predicted the president since choosing Richard Nixon in a mock election in 1968. Trump messed up their 38-year winning streak, when they chose Clinton over him, 52% to 43%.
The school currently is operating remotely. No word yet on whether absentee ballots will be allowed this year.
There are reports that the political cookies at Lochel’s Bakery in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, are flying off the shelves as they do every election year. Sales of the sugar cookies with Biden 2020 written in blue sprinkles and Trump 2020 in red sprinkles are currently being tallied. The bakery has used the treats to correctly determine the outcome of the past three presidential elections.
In Dallas, the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium has used its craft beer sales to accurately predict presidents since 2004. This year, beer drinkers can choose to have the brew served in a tall red glass with Trump’s maskless face on it or a blue one with Biden wearing a mask and his signature aviator sunglasses.
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The first lady’s cookie recipe contest is off this year since the sponsor, Family Circle magazine, ceased publication. The contest predicted five of the past seven elections correctly. The last one ended poorly. The Clinton family’s chocolate chip cookie recipe beat Melania Trump’s sour cream star cookies in the poll.
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Something as fickle as height could end up being the deciding factor. A study by political scientists at Texas Tech University found that Americans are more likely to vote for taller presidential candidates because we equate height with strength. That’s good news for Trump, who stands 6 feet 3, compared with Biden’s 6 feet.
Those thinking they might be able to look to the stars for answers are out of luck.
While some astrologists, numerologists and psychics have offered various predictions on social media, most are keeping their thoughts to themselves, saying that no one can be 100% correct.
A popular psychic at the Miraval Spa in Tucson predicted Trump’s victory in 2016. In her annual New Year’s Eve predictions in 2019, she said that Biden would win this year. She also said that Georgia politician Stacey Abrams would be vice president.
One thing they all agree on, though, is that it will take longer than usual to figure out who the winner is. We don’t need the stars to tell us that.
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dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-10-29--Mental health among Black Chicagoans a concern as suicide numbers rise

She ’ s an extrovert , and when Illinois shut down , she said , it was hard not to @ @ @ @ @ .
With an underlying health condition , she felt a lot of fear when COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ job isn ’ t one she can do remotely , but she needed to be @ @ @ @ @ ages 7 and 8 , and help with remote learning , creating extra stress .
@ @ @ @ @ , she felt more pain watching the George Floyd protests and seeing , she said @ @ @ @ @ her were treated .

Sleeping a lot. Binge eating. Feeling alone.
Casey, 32, knew these were signs in the spring that she was depressed. The Chicago resident didn’t want to be identified by her full name while speaking about mental health challenges.
She’s an extrovert, and when Illinois shut down, she said, it was hard not to be able to see friends. With an underlying health condition, she felt a lot of fear when COVID-19 arrived in Chicago. Her job isn’t one she can do remotely, but she needed to be home with her children, ages 7 and 8, and help with remote learning, creating extra stress. And after all of this, she felt more pain watching the George Floyd protests and seeing, she said, how Black people like her were treated.
“That created a lot of depression and a lot of anxiety,” she said. “I would definitely have those crying spells like, hey, I just need somebody to hug me. Because of COVID, there was nobody available.”
Casey is not alone. Many are feeling extra and unusual stressors during this time, and people of color shoulder additional burdens.
Randy Sadler, a mobile crisis responder with Ada S. McKinley Community Services, talks to a client as he responds to a call Oct. 22, 2020, on Chicago's South Side. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Mental health experts are concerned that the stress and isolation created by the COVID-19 pandemic is adding mental health challenges.
On Monday, the Illinois Senate Human Services and Public Health committees held a joint hearing on behavioral health and disparities in care for both addiction and mental health disorders. Recommendations included supporting telehealth, which improves accessibility, having more providers of color and having better community access to mental health services.
“Lack of access to treatment is harming Black communities, which often face more behavioral and mental health issues,” said state Sen. Mattie Hunter.
This year, many Americans have reported feeling anxious and depressed. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly half of Americans reported at least one mental or behavioral health condition, including a trauma- and stressor-related disorder or substance use.
In Illinois, health officials are monitoring the number of suicides. Overall, the number in Illinois actually fell slightly, from 678 suicides from January to June last year to 649 in the same time period this year.
But among Black Chicagoans, suicides have risen.
Last year, from January to June, Cook County saw 31 suicides among Black residents, which was actually down from 38 in the same time period the year before. But this year, from January to June, 51 Black residents in Cook County died by suicide, according to Illinois Department of Public Health statistics. Earlier this year, the Sun-Times reported that the majority of Black suicides in Cook County occurred in Chicago, often in the South and West side neighborhoods.
“Being in a situation where you don’t have a routine or you’re having to be quarantined and at home, that has impacted a lot of people,” said Brittney Owens, director of clinical therapy at Clarity Clinic in the Loop. “People have actually been more likely to use alcohol and different substances as a way of coping. People who didn’t previously feel like they had any type of substance abuse issues are now reporting feeling like they are depending on that.”
Owens considers the pandemic and concerns about police brutality as two public health crises.
For Casey, seeing the protests and people’s responses hurt.
“We have a lot of people that don’t really understand what we as Black people have experienced in life,” she said. “They just don’t know our struggles.”
Randy Sadler, a mobile crisis responder with Ada S. McKinley Community Services, knocks on the door as he responds to a call Oct. 22, 2020, on Chicago's South Side. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
In Chicago, mental health issues among people of color have been such a focus this year that in August, the Chicago Department of Public Health noted these needs and released a request for proposals that will award more than $6.5 million in grants to community-based mental health providers.
“We’ve definitely seen a rise in people who are reporting suicidal behaviors,” Owens said. People are experiencing anxiety about employment and the future, both about their own lives and the world. A client who lost a job, for example, felt concerned about how racial bias could contribute to her ability to land a new one, she said.
“When you add in the economic factors, you add in the health care disparities, everything that’s going on in the world, including with the social justice or injustice, there’s just a combination of unfortunate emotions and triggers and feelings of helplessness,” she said.
Many of her clients express angst about not being able to see their family, or worry about when a potential vaccine might arrive.
“There’s certain things in our life that we like to control and feel like we have control over,” Owens said. “2020 has taught us we don’t have control over tomorrow. I think that has been the biggest thing that I’ve heard day in and day out: ‘I don’t even know how to plan for tomorrow.’”
Some might be hesitant to reach out for help. A stigma exists among some in the Black community about discussing mental health challenges, said Jamal Malone, chief executive officer at Ada S. McKinley Community Services. The organization offers services to Chicagoans, including a mobile unit of crisis responders on the South Side for people who have called the state’s CARES mental health crisis line at 800-345-9049.
People also mistrust professionals after years of high-profile cases in which public officials, like police officers, faced little or no punishment for actions against Black people, he added. And many have experienced implicit and explicit bias in areas such as health care.
“There’s a buildup of ...” he said, pausing as he worked to find the right word. “trauma. That’s the word we want to use here.”
Randy Sadler, a mobile crisis responder with Ada S. McKinley Community Services, responds to a call Oct. 22, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Suicide is never about one single thing, said Jonathan Singer, president of the American Association of Suicidology and an associate professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago. Biological, psychological, social and cultural factors contribute.
“When you think about adult suicide, it’s overwhelmingly the final act of something that they have been thinking about for a long time,” he said.
Singer cautioned that it’s hard to extrapolate context or generalize from statistics, especially when data is hard to capture in real time. But one thing that is true is that this year has exacerbated challenges for many people of color.
“It makes it really, really hard for us to say why,” Singer said. “What I will say is I think it would be foolhardy to ignore the inequities that have been laid bare by the pandemic.”
Much help is available on a local and national level. In Chicago, the city launched a Windy City Wellness project with guided meditations and sleep support. The CDC offers many tips on taking care of mental health, and it has the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) and a crisis chat.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration also offers options, including a National Helpline that is free and available 24/7 at 800-662-HELP (4357).
Think of stress slowly adding to and filling up a balloon, Singer said.
“If you’re able to text the crisis line, a little bit of the air can get released,” he said. “It’s not the whole thing — it’s just a little bit of release, and any relief can be valuable.”
abowen@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-29--A vaccine may be ready by January, but a return to normal isn’t. Here’s what we learned from Dr. Ant

A vaccine may be ready by January, but a return to normal isn’t. Here’s what we learned from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s virtual Chicago talk.

“ I have now , for the last 36 years , been the director of this institute and have dealt @ @ @ @ @ presidents , and when I get involved as I do frequently in the country ’ @ @ @ @ @ , I focus like a laser beam on what I have to do , what @ @ @ @ @ to safeguard the health , the safety and the welfare of the American public , @ @ @ @ @ because we are a leader in global health .
So those other things that you @ @ @ @ @ that , to me that ’ s just noise .
It really is .
I @ @ @ @ @ that .
It doesn ’ t bother me .
It doesn ’ t influence me @ @

With COVID-19 cases rising rapidly in Illinois, Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the latest surge, the president’s name-calling and a vaccine timeline during a virtual Chicago talk Wednesday evening.
Fauci’s remarks, during an online event hosted by Chicago Ideas, came the same day that Illinois reported 6,110 new cases of COVID-19, with a rolling positivity rate of 6.7%, up from 4.6% two weeks earlier.
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Here are five take-aways from the remarks by Fauci, who is the government’s top infectious disease expert, heading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:
1. A vaccine could be close
“By the time we get to the end of November, the beginning or middle of December, we should know whether we have a safe and effective vaccine, and at that point, you can think about the distribution of doses toward the end of December, the beginning of January,” Fauci said.
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He said he’s “cautiously optimistic ... that we will get a positive answer in at least one and maybe two or more of the vaccines." He noted there are five potential vaccines in advanced clinical trials in the U.S.
2. You can trust a vaccine
Questions have been raised about whether the administration has been trying to rush a vaccine to help President Donald Trump win reelection. Fauci, however, said raw data will guide any decisions about the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine.
“When you see mixed messages and what are apparent ... conflicts at the highest level, then it does erode confidence in the process, but the process is solid," Fauci said.
“What you sometimes hear coming from Washington makes it look like there is influence that’s not purely scientific, but when you’re talking about vaccines and therapeutics, it will be based purely on scientific and public health interests,” he said.
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3. Why cases are spiking
Nearly 40 states are seeing an increased number of cases, including Illinois, Fauci said.
“There are a number of complicated reasons why that’s the case. One, we never got down to a manageable baseline. So we had so much community spread that even the classic maneuvers, like contact tracing, don’t work very well,” he said.
Also, he said, practices including universal mask-wearing, social distancing, avoiding crowds, holding activities outdoors rather than indoors and frequent hand-washing have not “been uniformly done” across the country.
“So now as we’re entering the cooler months in the middle of the fall and soon the cold months of the winter, we’re in a very bad position,” Fauci said. “When you think about where we’re going, because the trajectory is going up, and then compound that with the holiday season coming, we have to do something different because we are clearly going in the wrong direction.”
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4. Life won’t be normal for a while
“I think it’s going to take at least a year to get back close enough to what you and I knew was normal before December of 2019,” Fauci said.
He said a gradual return to normal life will follow a vaccine. He expects mask-wearing will continue for a “considerable period of time,” but gradually, indoor restaurant eating will return, theaters will reopen, though they may not be at full capacity, and more sporting events will take place with spectators as people begin to feel protected by both a vaccine and public health measures.
5. He has thick skin
In recent weeks, Trump has referred to Fauci as a “disaster” and one of a number of “idiots.”
When WTTW’s Brandis Friedman, who interviewed Fauci, repeated those insults to Fauci, he laughed. He said it doesn’t weigh on him or the work he does.
“I have now, for the last 36 years, been the director of this institute and have dealt very closely with six separate presidents, and when I get involved as I do frequently in the country’s response to emerging infections, I focus like a laser beam on what I have to do, what my responsibility is, is to safeguard the health, the safety and the welfare of the American public, and indirectly for the world because we are a leader in global health. So those other things that you mentioned, the name-calling and that, to me that’s just noise. It really is. I don’t bother with that. It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t influence me."


chicagotribune--2020-10-29--Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter restrictions in Chicago; Lake and McHenry

Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter restrictions in Chicago; Lake and McHenry counties added to list of regions where indoor bar and dining banned

“ They ’ re different from what we ’ ve experienced across the state .
Commissioner Arwady talks about this @ @ @ @ @ The biggest challenge that we ’ re facing in Chicago right now is people in @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ We can ’ t stress enough , you are not safe in @ @ @ @ @ not let down your guard .
Dr. Arwady and I came out last week and @ @ @ @ @ long and hard about who you ’ re inviting into your home .
”

Dan Petrella, Gregory Pratt, John Byrne, Jamie Munks

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)
A day after indicating she would try to talk Gov. J.B. Pritzker out of tightening coronavirus-related restrictions in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won’t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city.
“We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well. We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together," Lightfoot said.
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"Obviously we’ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be affected.”
Earlier Wednesday, Pritzker had defended his decision to tighten restrictions in Chicago and most other regions of the state as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise once again.
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“It’s happening everywhere, and it’s happening across the state of Illinois. Chicago hasn’t been immune from that,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Chicago.
As a result, the governor said, the city will be subject to the same set of rules as other regions that have hit the state’s bench marks for coronavirus test positivity rates and hospitalizations that trigger a partial rollback of economic reopenings.
By midday, the state announced Lake and McHenry counties will become the eighth of 11 regions in Pritzker’s reopening plan to be under tighter restrictions. Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8% for three consecutive days, the governor’s office said.
State health officials also announced 6,110 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide, the second-highest daily cases count since the pandemic began after a count of 6,161 last Saturday. In all, there have been 389,095 known cases in Illinois.
With 51 additional fatalities also reported, the statewide death toll stands at 9,619. The statewide rolling seven-day positivity rate hit 6.7% as of Tuesday, up a full percentage point from a week earlier. It was 3.4% at the beginning of the month.
At his daily COVID-19 briefing Wednesday afternoon, Pritzker said he and Lightfoot “had a great meeting.”
“The mayor and I talk frequently, and we’re always very frank with one another,” he said.
While saying she would not fight Pritzker’s order, Lightfoot did not outright endorse the move, and she encouraged residents to go out and dine in at restaurants while they still can.
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“I can’t stress enough to folks, please support your local restaurants in every form. Takeout. You’ve got today and part of tomorrow for dining in,” Lightfoot said. “But they need our help now more than ever, and we want to do everything we can to be supportive of them.”
Lightfoot’s recent public stances on the role restaurants and bars play in the spread of the virus have been whiplash-inducing.
Last week, the mayor and public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady held a news conference to sound the alarm on rising case rates, and put the blame squarely on private get-togethers among family and friends in Chicago homes where Lightfoot said people were letting their guards down and taking off their masks.
Interactions among people in bars, restaurants and gyms didn’t really seem to be driving the spike in cases, the mayor said then.
But later last week, the mayor and her health commissioner made an about-face while announcing tougher restrictions on bar and restaurant hours of operation and liquor sales times. “Nothing against the bars, but it is a source of spread,” Arwady said.
On Wednesday, Lightfoot was asked about her views on the virus’s spread and said, “Things are nuanced here in Chicago.”
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“They’re different from what we’ve experienced across the state. Commissioner Arwady talks about this on a daily basis. The biggest challenge that we’re facing in Chicago right now is people in their homes,” Lightfoot said. “We can’t stress enough, you are not safe in your home, you cannot let down your guard. Dr. Arwady and I came out last week and really encouraged people to think long and hard about who you’re inviting into your home.”
Although Lightfoot was quick to criticize Pritzker’s moves, she’s also facing pressure from bars and restaurants to ease some of her own restrictions, which in some ways are tougher than the governor’s. While the state rules dictate bar and restaurant service must end at 11 p.m., the mayor has ordered liquor sales to end at 9 p.m. and for the establishments to close at 10 p.m.
Lightfoot encouraged Chicago businesses to apply for Pritzker’s $220 million in business interruption grants and repeated the boilerplate instructions on how to safeguard against the virus.
“You must wear a mask. You must social distance. You must take all the precautions that are necessary to limit the amount of people that you’re around because those are the only things that are going to get us through this until we have a vaccine,” she said. “The governor and I are 100% aligned on those issues.”
As Pritzker’s administration has reimposed tougher restrictions in regions from suburban Cook County to southern Illinois, he’s faced renewed criticism over his handling of the pandemic and his use of executive power.
Pritzker on Wednesday defended the measures he has taken as “effective," citing two regions where the state tightened rules and the COVID-19 test positivity rate then dropped to a level where indoor dining and bar service could resume.
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However, both of those regions — Will and Kankakee counties and the Metro East area near St. Louis — are back under tighter restrictions as of Wednesday. And the northwest corner of the state has seen its positivity rate continue to rise, triggering the next level of restrictions, including a 10-person cap on gatherings.
Among sources of opposition were the state’s Republican legislative leaders.
House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, whose southwest suburban district is now entirely subject to the restaurant and bar restrictions, said during an online news conference Wednesday morning that he had spoken with Lightfoot earlier in the day.
“This is her economy as much as it is the governor’s,” said Durkin, who has known Lightfoot socially for years. "The restaurant owners and business owners are barely hanging on by a thread throughout the state, but especially in Chicago and the surrounding communities because they’ve lost office workers on their lunch breaks, tourists enjoying a nice evening out.
“People who have built their businesses for decades are watching them disintegrate right before their eyes, forced into a government-mandated bankruptcy.”
In a separate news conference Wednesday, Illinois Senate GOP leader Bill Brady criticized Pritzker for “an absolute lack of transparency” around his orders during the pandemic. Brady, of Bloomington, proposed that the Senate convene a committee hearing “where the governor would present his findings, and exactly why they believe that the closure of restaurants is necessary.”
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“One of the questions that we’ve asked, given literally minutes of notice that he’s going to mitigate an area, is where’s the data, where’s the transparency?” Brady said during a Zoom news conference. “How do we tell our constituents that you’re making decisions that are right when we really don’t know, because we haven’t seen a robust contact tracing program put in place in a timely fashion? And we need that information.”
Pritzker has shown a willingness to adjust his plans in the past. His original statewide stay-at-home order, issued in March, gave way in May to a four-region reopening plan. In July, he adjusted to the current 11-region plan, a move long advocated by Republican lawmakers.
But one roadblock to negotiations may be the reluctance of critics to accept the evidence cited by Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health to support their assertion that restaurants and bars are a significant source of coronavirus transmission.
Republican state Rep. Brad Stephens, who also is mayor of Rosemont, a suburb known for its dining and entertainment district, said contact tracing data cited by the state doesn’t definitively show where people contracted the virus. It could just as easily happen at a big-box store as at a restaurant, Stephens said.
Under state rules, masks are required at retailers but not while customers are eating or drinking in restaurants or bars.
Stephens said the Rosemont health department doesn’t have the capacity to enforce the prohibition on indoor dining and bar service.
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“This is an order from the governor, and that’s something that the governor is going to have to enforce,” said Stephens, who was appointed to a vacant House seat last year and faces a tough challenge on Nov. 3 from well-funded Democratic opponent Michelle Darbro, a Chicago firefighter and paramedic.
During his briefing Wednesday, Pritzker said one of the problems that’s helping perpetuate the recent rise in cases is local leaders who aren’t doing their part to ensure compliance with his executive orders. The Illinois State Police have stepped up enforcement efforts, issuing misdemeanor citations to four businesses in central and southern Illinois.
Like Stephens, Durkin questioned the data and science behind Pritzker’s restrictions. He pointed to contact tracing data from the DuPage County Health Department, previously cited by the Illinois Restaurant Association, that shows a small share of outbreaks in the west suburban county have been tied to restaurants and bars.
Chris Hoff, director of community health resources at the DuPage County Health Department, said last week that the department’s data has been widely misconstrued in arguing against restrictions on restaurants and bars.
While it’s true only a small percentage of outbreaks have been connected to specific eating and drinking establishments, only about 15% of the county’s more than 22,000 cases at the time had been tied to any specific location through contact tracing.
“All of this information is based on those interviews with people, which means that information is only as good as the information we can get,” Hoff said.
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Even when people do participate, it’s often difficult to pinpoint where they contracted the virus, he said.
“We know that the environments that promote transmission are indoor settings where there are large numbers of people who spend extended periods of time together without masks,” Hoff said. “And so bars and restaurants definitely fit the bill, along with a lot of other indoor venues."
In arguing for his restrictions, Pritzker has pointed to statewide contact tracing data that show restaurants and bars as the second most common place people report as having been during the key period before and after testing positive for the virus. But the only information his office has released only goes through late September, before the current surge took off.
On Wednesday, he said the Department of Public Health would make more contact tracing data available online by early next week.
The only regions where the state has not yet introduced firmer rules are three in central Illinois, though those areas have all had climbing positivity rates too. The west-central Illinois region that includes Springfield could be the next to see the state close indoor dining and bar service.
That region reached a positivity rate at or above 8% for a second consecutive day. If its rate holds at that level for one more day or rises, it would trigger the stricter measures in Pritzker’s reopening plan, and the governor could announce new restrictions for that region as early as Thursday.
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The east-central region that includes Champaign-Urbana also reached the 8% threshold on Wednesday, when the saliva tests from the University of Illinois flagship are removed from the regional data.
jmunks@chicagotribune.com
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-29--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter Chicago

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter Chicago restrictions as state reports 6,110 new confirmed cases and 51 more deaths

A day after indicating she would try to talk Illinois Gov .
J.B. Pritzker out of tightening COVID-19 restrictions in Chicago , Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won ’ t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city .
“ We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well .
We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together , ” Lightfoot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be affected.
” Meanwhile , the state also said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker ’ s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds , leading to tighter restrictions .
Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8 % for three consecutive days , the governor ’ s office said .
Earlier on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6,110 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide , the second-highest daily cases count since the pandemic began after a count of 6,161 last Saturday .
In all , there have been 389,095 known cases in Illinois .
With 51 additional fatalities also reported , the statewide death toll stands at 9,619 .
8:05 p.m. : CPS parents appeal to Board of Ed for more details on reopening plans What happens if a student takes off their mask in a pod ?
What if someone in their pod has a medical mask exemption ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for students who need help eating or using the restroom ?
What if a sibling has to quarantine ?
On the deadline for students in preschool and special education cluster programs to decide whether they will return to in-person learning next quarter , parents and educators sought details and advocated for their children at the Chicago Board of Education meeting Wednesday .
Many also tweeted their concerns at Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a campaign this week organized by Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education .
The parents ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communicating its plans , even as the district revealed more details at the meeting .
Northwestern University in Evanston and Loyola University Chicago both shared plans Wednesday for expanded campus re-openings next term despite the ongoing surge of COVID-19 prompting greater restrictions in Chicago and its suburbs .
The announcements from the schools , which have predominantly residential campuses , come as the state reported 6,110 newly confirmed cases of the virus ― the second highest daily tally since the pandemic began .
While acknowledging the lingering challenges of the virus , officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more students on campus and in dorms and expand in-person offerings .
6:55 p.m. : Pritzker tied COVID-19 cases to restaurants and bars in Kane , DuPage counties .
But health departments paint a vague picture of the data .
The day after he announced increased restrictions on bars and restaurants to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Kane and DuPage counties , Gov .
J.B. Pritzker doubled down on his heightened mitigation measures .
“ In region 8 ( Kane and DuPage counties ) , for example , the number one place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people said when they were contact-traced , that they had been to either just before they got tested or after they got tested but before they got their result , was a bar or a restaurant , ” he said last week at a daily COVID-19 news conference .
“ And that ’ s true across the state.
” But information made public by health departments in Kane and DuPage counties presents a more vague picture about the exposure locations identified in COVID-19 contact tracing .
Local health departments have not made public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who tested positive for COVID-19 , and business owners and some officials continue to question whether restrictions on restaurants and bars are targeting the right places .
Officials with both health departments say eating and drinking indoors can pose a virus risk , and they encourage residents to follow state rules and take precautions .
But a Kane County Health Department spokeswoman said the agency had limited data from county contact tracing about locations , and it would be difficult to make any assumptions .
The DuPage County health department did not definitively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contact tracing .
4:40 p.m. : As state halts indoor dining in Chicago , a Pilsen restaurant tests out sidewalk enclosure .
Its designer wants to build more , but needs financial backing .
Finding creative ways for restaurants and bars to serve guests outside might be a vital means for establishments to survive the winter , especially after Illinois moves to shut down indoor dining in Chicago and suburban Cook County this week .
Eric Cup and his McKinley Park custom manufacturing company Bridgewater Studio were not one of winners , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rapidly deployed across the city .
So last week , they got together with Azul 18 in Pilsen and constructed the first version of their design .
Now , Cup is looking for corporate sponsors to financially support the project and restaurant partners interested in having the design executed at their business .
“ I thought ( the Winter Design Challenge ) was a good idea , but I really feel that something has to happen now , ” Cup said .
“ A sense of urgency to mobilize on this is just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next few months .
... We don ’ t need a perfect solution , we need a good solution now.
” 4:35 p.m. : Families remember loved ones lost to COVID-19 with ofrendas , homemade altars for Day of the Dead When she was growing up , as the Day of the Dead approached Sophia Irizarry would help her grandmother set up an altar in their living room to remember and honor their loved ones .
Putting up the ofrenda was a celebration in itself , she recalls .
Her grandmother would look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had died , telling her tales of the old times and decorating the altar with their favorite dishes , cempasuchil flowers and lots of catrinas — skeletal figures associated with the holiday .
Dia de los Muertos , celebrated in the United States Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 , and coinciding with All Saints ' Day and All Souls ' Day on the Roman Catholic calendar , was her grandmother ’ s favorite holiday , she said .
Her grandmother , Ramona Fuentes , taught her that “ It ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same time , gratefulness for everything that each person left in the world , ” she said .
This year , Irizarry had to set up the ofrenda on her own .
Her grandmother unexpectedly died from COVID-19 complications June 10 at age 82 .
Now her photo adorns the top of the ofrenda , just as photos of many other people who have died from the virus are a part of ofrendas for other Mexican American families this year .
4 p.m. : Antibody drug tested in Cook County may be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show A new antibody-based drug shows promise in treating outpatients who have mild to severe COVID-19 , according to initial results of research conducted in part at Cook County Health and Northwestern University .
Patients given the drug were hospitalized or visited the emergency room less often than those given a placebo , Cook County Health officials said .
The patients receiving the drug also showed improvement within two to six days , a shorter disease course that is not only good for patients but also may reduce the amount of time a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
The drug , manufactured by Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics Inc. , was tested on 452 outpatients at 24 medical institutions across the country , including Cook County ’ s vast public health system and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine .
Most of the 14 patients who took part at Cook County Health were Latino or Black , populations that have been hit especially hard by the disease .
The results of the continuing study , which is being run by Eli Lilly , were published Wednesday by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drug , administered through a one-time infusion , includes the replicated antibodies of one of the first patients in the United States to survive COVID-19 .
It ’ s classified as a monoclonal antibody treatment , the same type of medication given to President Donald Trump after he was diagnosed with the disease and which he described as “ a cure.
” The drug in the Eli Lilly trial was formulated using a single antibody .
The drug Trump received was made by Regeneron and involves two antibodies .
Dr. Gregory Huhn , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arm of the Eli Lilly research conducted at Cook County Health , made it clear that the drug is a treatment , not a cure .
“ Our hope has been that the antibody drug will reduce COVID symptoms quickly after diagnosis and help to eradicate the virus more quickly , ” Huhn said .
“ While a vaccine is still necessary , this drug therapy has the potential to prevent bad clinical outcomes and complications of COVID-19.
” 3:25 p.m. : IHSA board goes against Pritzker , will start boys and girls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a stand at a special board meeting , deciding to go against the guidelines announced Tuesday by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health .
“ We ’ ve been on an emotional roller coaster , ” Hillcrest boys basketball coach Don Houston said .
“ Is the season starting or isn ’ t it ?
Now we know and it feels great.
” Craig Anderson , the executive director of the IHSA , had a Zoom meeting with athletic directors statewide at 3 p.m. to announce moving forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basketball from medium risk to high risk .
A day after indicating she would try to talk Gov .
J.B. Pritzker out of tightening restrictions in Chicago , Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won ’ t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city .
`` We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well .
We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work hard together .
“ Obviously we ’ ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be effective.
” The day stricter state-imposed coronavirus restrictions took hold in suburban Cook County , officials announced a jobs program funded by $ 4 million in federal stimulus money to train and employ residents who are out of work due to the pandemic .
Run with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership , the program made possible by Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funnel grants toward seven workforce agencies in the suburbs , Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Wednesday .
Participants can take part in job placement , career coaching and skills training on job hunting and interview preparation .
“ This assistance is coming at a critical time in the U.S. employment market , ” Preckwinkle said at a North Riverside news conference .
“ COVID-19 has forced many local businesses to adapt to unprecedented circumstances .
As restrictions go into effect , and we know that more restrictions are going into effect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers and hospitality industry professionals experience a decline in service , reduction of hours for employees , and in some cases closures.
” 11:50 a.m. : Pritzker defends tighter restrictions in Chicago in face of pushback from Lightfoot , adds Lake and McHenry counties to list of regions where indoor bar and dining banned A day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot indicated she would try to change Gov .
J.B. Pritzker ’ s mind about shutting down indoor dining and bar service in Chicago later this week , the governor reiterated that the restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as planned .
“ We have now a COVID storm that ’ s hit the entire country , frankly , I think there ’ s nobody that could turn on a television set , watch news , without seeing that it ’ s happening everywhere , and it ’ s happening across the state of Illinois .
Chicago hasn ’ t been immune from that , ” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Chicago .
“ So as I announced yesterday , the same mitigations that went in place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have tripped those metrics , where we ’ ve got people getting sick and going into the hospital … we ’ ve imposed the same sets of mitigations and we ’ ll be doing that for the city of Chicago , ” he said .
Also Tuesday , the state said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker ’ s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds , leading to tighter restrictions .
Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 8 % for three consecutive days , the governor ’ s office said .
In the face of growing criticism , he defended those measures on Wednesday as being “ effective , ” citing two regions where the state tightened rules and the COVID-19 test positivity rate then dropped to a level where indoor dining and bar service could resume .
10:50 a.m. : COVID-19 outbreak on Wisconsin — 12 people , including 6 players and head coach Paul Chryst — forces cancellation of Saturday ’ s Big Ten game vs. Nebraska The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days , the university announced Wednesday .
The Big Ten ’ s schedule does not allow room for makeup games , meaning Saturday ’ s game will not be rescheduled .
As of Wednesday morning , 12 people within the football program had tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous five days , according to a news release .
Six players and six staff members tested positive with additional results pending .
At an Oct. 23 news conference , Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike became emotional while talking about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ People who started with us in 2020 and who won ’ t be with us at the Thanksgiving table.
” Ezike paused and turned away from the camera as she wiped her tears and took some time to compose herself .
She said she understands the emotional toll and knows how hard it is for everyone .
“ I don ’ t get to live in some COVID-free bubble , exempt from all the pain and tragedy of this pandemic , ” she said .
“ If you ’ re talking about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mask , think about the COVID fatigue for health care workers , respiratory therapists , who are going to have to go through this whole episode again of trying to fight for people ’ s lives , ” she added .
This has been an extreme year for health care workers .
They are not removed , Ezike said , from stressors others face in a challenging moment where “ you can ’ t actually see the end.
” Along with the stressors of parenting children who are remote learning and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the past seven months have been a cycle of hypervigilance and fear for health care workers .
Data released Monday from the American College of Emergency Physicians revealed that many are feeling stress and burnout .
Among the 862 emergency room physicians surveyed , 87 % were more stressed now than since the start of the pandemic .
Burnout causes included concerns about family , friends and personal health .
Boeing will cut more jobs as it continues to bleed money and lose revenue during a pandemic that has smothered demand for new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday that it expects to cut its workforce to about 130,000 employees by the end of next year , down 30,000 from the start of this year .
That is far deeper than the 19,000 reduction that the company announced three months ago .
Boeing Co. updated its jobs plan on the same day it reported a $ 449 million loss for the third quarter , a swing from the $ 1.17 billion it earned in the same period last year .
The loss was narrower than analysts expected , however .
7:55 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 at East Moline Correctional Center , out of 29 in state prisons Four inmates at the East Moline Correctional Center have died from COVID-19 , all of them in October , according to authorities.The fourth death , a man in his 50s , was Monday , according to Lindsey Hess , public information officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections .
As of Tuesday , 343 inmates and 33 staff have tested positive for coronavirus at the minimum-security prison , 100 Hillcrest Road , East Moline .
Deaths are not being reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IDOC .
There have been 29 inmate deaths from COVID-19 at Illinois prisons , according to Hess .
Stateville Correctional Center , near Chicago , has had 13 inmates die ; a man in his 50s was the first death on March 29 .
The next highest number of COVID-19 deaths has been at Robinson Correctional Center , where three of the five deaths were men in their 70s .
By Wednesday , more than half of Illinois residents will be under stricter measures meant to slow a surge of the coronavirus as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ region outside St. Louis join four other regions where the state has shut down indoor dining and bar service and lowered the cap on crowds to 25 .
6 a.m. : For special education families , an agonizing choice on returning to school : Risk COVID-19 exposure or accept ‘ heartbreaking ’ limits of remote learning When Katherine Buitron ’ s son froze mid-sentence and collapsed on his Chromebook during a virtual class , some of his classmates were scared .
Others seemed to think he just fell asleep , she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ headaches and double vision .
Subsequent doctor ’ s appointments took even more time away from classes .
In addition to epilepsy , the fifth grader has autism and dyslexia , and is immunocompromised , Buitron said .
His two siblings also are in special education programs , but none is in the first groups of students tapped by Chicago Public Schools to return to in-person learning .
The family has already decided they ’ d continue remote learning anyway , because of health concerns , but would have a hard time making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plans the district has presented .
Even with the limited details , Deidra Kenar , another CPS parent whose children have individualized education programs , would love for them to return to school .
“ We feel like the longer and longer they are away , ” she said , “ the more and more challenges that are coming up for them.
” Although their families don ’ t yet have the option to send their children back to school before the end of the calendar year , for thousands of other CPS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day is Wednesday .
Along with prekindergartners , about 5,000 students in moderate and intensive cluster programs have been identified as the first who could resume in-person learning .
That includes those who attend specialty schools where most or all students are what CPS classifies as diverse learners .
Based on families ' responses to opt-in forms due Wednesday , district officials will decide whether they can support in-person learning five days a week or use a hybrid model for specialty schools , CPS spokesman James Gherardi said .
6 a.m. : After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kids give a final toast with a beloved , hard-to-find token of her youth : Tab diet pop Kathleen Berger died in May from coronavirus-related causes , leaving behind eight kids and a legacy encapsulated by a bright pink soda pop can .
Berger , who was 73 , was a voracious consumer of Tab , the saccharin-infused cola known for its distinctive packaging , vaguely metallic taste and aerobic studio vibe .
Introduced in 1963 by the Coca-Cola Co. , it was once the nation ’ s dominant diet soda , producing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called themselves Tabaholics .
But Tab lost its mojo over the decades , surpassed by Diet Coke and other carbonated descendants , and Coke finally dispatched the brand earlier this month with a eulogy of buzzwords ( “ We ’ re prioritizing bets that have scale potential across beverage categories , consumer need states and drinking occasions ” ) .
The retirement led to hoarding that soon made Tab , which was already hard to find , as rare as a white truffle .
As of Tuesday , the asking price on eBay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as $ 25 .
Berger , whose Tabaholism was second to none , would have recoiled at such a markup .
That left her children , who are spread from Seattle to Elmhurst to suburban Boston , with a challenge : locate enough Tab in the wild so they could give a final , video chat-enabled salute to their mother .
“ We were all like , ‘ All right , let ’ s go out and try to find some , and then we ’ ll do this toast to Mom , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Berger .
“ And then none of us could find it anywhere.
” Here are five stories from Tuesday related to 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)
A day after indicating she would try to talk Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker out of tightening COVID-19 restrictions in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won’t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city.
“We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well. We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together,” Lightfoot said. “Obviously we’ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be affected.”
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Meanwhile, the state also said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker’s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds, leading to tighter restrictions. Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8% for three consecutive days, the governor’s office said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Illinois health officials also announced 6,110 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide, the second-highest daily cases count since the pandemic began after a count of 6,161 last Saturday. In all, there have been 389,095 known cases in Illinois. With 51 additional fatalities also reported, the statewide death toll stands at 9,619.
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Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
8:05 p.m.: CPS parents appeal to Board of Ed for more details on reopening plans
What happens if a student takes off their mask in a pod? What if someone in their pod has a medical mask exemption? What are the health and safety protocols for students who need help eating or using the restroom? What if a sibling has to quarantine?
On the deadline for students in preschool and special education cluster programs to decide whether they will return to in-person learning next quarter, parents and educators sought details and advocated for their children at the Chicago Board of Education meeting Wednesday.
Many also tweeted their concerns at Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a campaign this week organized by Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education.
The parents' advocacy group said CPS has failed at communicating its plans, even as the district revealed more details at the meeting.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
7:50 p.m.: Loyola, Northwestern unveil plans to open campuses further, even as COVID-19 surges
Northwestern University in Evanston and Loyola University Chicago both shared plans Wednesday for expanded campus re-openings next term despite the ongoing surge of COVID-19 prompting greater restrictions in Chicago and its suburbs.
The announcements from the schools, which have predominantly residential campuses, come as the state reported 6,110 newly confirmed cases of the virus ― the second highest daily tally since the pandemic began.
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While acknowledging the lingering challenges of the virus, officials at both campuses said they will allow more students on campus and in dorms and expand in-person offerings.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
6:55 p.m.: Pritzker tied COVID-19 cases to restaurants and bars in Kane, DuPage counties. But health departments paint a vague picture of the data.
The day after he announced increased restrictions on bars and restaurants to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Kane and DuPage counties, Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled down on his heightened mitigation measures.
“In region 8 (Kane and DuPage counties), for example, the number one place — the number one identifiable place that people said when they were contact-traced, that they had been to either just before they got tested or after they got tested but before they got their result, was a bar or a restaurant,” he said last week at a daily COVID-19 news conference. “And that’s true across the state.”
But information made public by health departments in Kane and DuPage counties presents a more vague picture about the exposure locations identified in COVID-19 contact tracing. Local health departments have not made public information about the locations visited by those who tested positive for COVID-19, and business owners and some officials continue to question whether restrictions on restaurants and bars are targeting the right places.
Officials with both health departments say eating and drinking indoors can pose a virus risk, and they encourage residents to follow state rules and take precautions. But a Kane County Health Department spokeswoman said the agency had limited data from county contact tracing about locations, and it would be difficult to make any assumptions. The DuPage County health department did not definitively identify the top locations turning up in contact tracing.
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Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat
4:40 p.m.: As state halts indoor dining in Chicago, a Pilsen restaurant tests out sidewalk enclosure. Its designer wants to build more, but needs financial backing.
Finding creative ways for restaurants and bars to serve guests outside might be a vital means for establishments to survive the winter, especially after Illinois moves to shut down indoor dining in Chicago and suburban Cook County this week.
The city’s outdoor dining design contest netted 600 entries, with officials selecting three winners to receive $5,000 for proposals vetted for their feasibility and practical application.
Eric Cup and his McKinley Park custom manufacturing company Bridgewater Studio were not one of winners, but they were sure their ideas could be rapidly deployed across the city. So last week, they got together with Azul 18 in Pilsen and constructed the first version of their design.
Now, Cup is looking for corporate sponsors to financially support the project and restaurant partners interested in having the design executed at their business.
“I thought (the Winter Design Challenge) was a good idea, but I really feel that something has to happen now,” Cup said. “A sense of urgency to mobilize on this is just vital for these people to survive the next few months. ... We don’t need a perfect solution, we need a good solution now.”
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Read more here. —Grace Wong
4:35 p.m.: Families remember loved ones lost to COVID-19 with ofrendas, homemade altars for Day of the Dead
When she was growing up, as the Day of the Dead approached Sophia Irizarry would help her grandmother set up an altar in their living room to remember and honor their loved ones.
Putting up the ofrenda was a celebration in itself, she recalls. Her grandmother would look at old photos and reminisce about those who had died, telling her tales of the old times and decorating the altar with their favorite dishes, cempasuchil flowers and lots of catrinas — skeletal figures associated with the holiday.
Dia de los Muertos, celebrated in the United States Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, and coinciding with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day on the Roman Catholic calendar, was her grandmother’s favorite holiday, she said.
Her grandmother, Ramona Fuentes, taught her that “It’s a time full of nostalgia, but at the same time, gratefulness for everything that each person left in the world,” she said.
This year, Irizarry had to set up the ofrenda on her own. Her grandmother unexpectedly died from COVID-19 complications June 10 at age 82. Now her photo adorns the top of the ofrenda, just as photos of many other people who have died from the virus are a part of ofrendas for other Mexican American families this year.
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Read more here. —Laura Rodríguez Presa
4 p.m.: Antibody drug tested in Cook County may be helpful to some COVID-19 patients, results show
A new antibody-based drug shows promise in treating outpatients who have mild to severe COVID-19, according to initial results of research conducted in part at Cook County Health and Northwestern University.
Patients given the drug were hospitalized or visited the emergency room less often than those given a placebo, Cook County Health officials said. The patients receiving the drug also showed improvement within two to six days, a shorter disease course that is not only good for patients but also may reduce the amount of time a person is infectious, helping protect other people.
The drug, manufactured by Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics Inc., was tested on 452 outpatients at 24 medical institutions across the country, including Cook County’s vast public health system and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Most of the 14 patients who took part at Cook County Health were Latino or Black, populations that have been hit especially hard by the disease.
The results of the continuing study, which is being run by Eli Lilly, were published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.
The drug, administered through a one-time infusion, includes the replicated antibodies of one of the first patients in the United States to survive COVID-19. It’s classified as a monoclonal antibody treatment, the same type of medication given to President Donald Trump after he was diagnosed with the disease and which he described as “a cure.”
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The drug in the Eli Lilly trial was formulated using a single antibody. The drug Trump received was made by Regeneron and involves two antibodies.
Dr. Gregory Huhn, an infectious disease expert who led the arm of the Eli Lilly research conducted at Cook County Health, made it clear that the drug is a treatment, not a cure.
“Our hope has been that the antibody drug will reduce COVID symptoms quickly after diagnosis and help to eradicate the virus more quickly,” Huhn said. “While a vaccine is still necessary, this drug therapy has the potential to prevent bad clinical outcomes and complications of COVID-19.”
Read more here. —Hal Dardick
3:25 p.m.: IHSA board goes against Pritzker, will start boys and girls basketball seasons on time
The Illinois High School Association decided Wednesday the boys and girls basketball seasons are on after all.
The IHSA took a stand at a special board meeting, deciding to go against the guidelines announced Tuesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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Practice for boys and girls basketball was scheduled to begin Nov. 16, with games being played by Nov. 30.
“We’ve been on an emotional roller coaster,” Hillcrest boys basketball coach Don Houston said. “Is the season starting or isn’t it? Now we know and it feels great.”
Craig Anderson, the executive director of the IHSA, had a Zoom meeting with athletic directors statewide at 3 p.m. to announce moving forward with winter sports despite the IDPH changing basketball from medium risk to high risk.
Read more here. —Pat Disabato
3:10 p.m. (update): Lightfoot drops opposition to Pritzker’s order for tighter restrictions in Chicago
A day after indicating she would try to talk Gov. J.B. Pritzker out of tightening restrictions in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she had met with the governor and won’t try to block his order to ban indoor bar and dining service in the city.
"We had a very frank and productive conversation with the governor and his team and my team as well. We explored a lot of issues and we came out of that discussion really committed to making sure that we work hard together.
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“Obviously we’ve got to work and make sure that we communicate effectively to the businesses across Chicago that are going to be effective.”
Earlier Wednesday, Pritzker had defended his decision to tighten restrictions in Chicago and most other regions of the state.
Read more here. — Jamie Munks, Dan Petrella and Gregory Pratt
2:10 p.m.: Cook County launches jobs training, placement program for suburbs as stricter COVID-19 measures go into effect
The day stricter state-imposed coronavirus restrictions took hold in suburban Cook County, officials announced a jobs program funded by $4 million in federal stimulus money to train and employ residents who are out of work due to the pandemic.
Run with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, the program made possible by Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money will funnel grants toward seven workforce agencies in the suburbs, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Wednesday. Participants can take part in job placement, career coaching and skills training on job hunting and interview preparation.
“This assistance is coming at a critical time in the U.S. employment market,” Preckwinkle said at a North Riverside news conference. “COVID-19 has forced many local businesses to adapt to unprecedented circumstances. As restrictions go into effect, and we know that more restrictions are going into effect ..., we will see more restaurant workers and hospitality industry professionals experience a decline in service, reduction of hours for employees, and in some cases closures.”
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Suburban residents can apply for the jobs program here.
Read more here. —Alice Yin
11:50 a.m.: Pritzker defends tighter restrictions in Chicago in face of pushback from Lightfoot, adds Lake and McHenry counties to list of regions where indoor bar and dining banned
A day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot indicated she would try to change Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mind about shutting down indoor dining and bar service in Chicago later this week, the governor reiterated that the restrictions will take effect in the city Friday, as planned.
“We have now a COVID storm that’s hit the entire country, frankly, I think there’s nobody that could turn on a television set, watch news, without seeing that it’s happening everywhere, and it’s happening across the state of Illinois. Chicago hasn’t been immune from that,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated news conference in Chicago.
“So as I announced yesterday, the same mitigations that went in place for other areas of the state that have tripped those metrics, where we’ve got people getting sick and going into the hospital … we’ve imposed the same sets of mitigations and we’ll be doing that for the city of Chicago,” he said.
Also Tuesday, the state said Lake and McHenry counties will become the 8th of 11 regions in Pritzker’s reopening plan where coronavirus metrics have exceeded state thresholds, leading to tighter restrictions. Indoor bar and dining service will be banned in those counties beginning Saturday after the average positivity rate exceeded 8% for three consecutive days, the governor’s office said.
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Pritzker’s administration has reimposed tougher restrictions in regions from suburban Cook County to southern Illinois when they’ve reached state-set thresholds indicating a resurgence of the coronavirus.
In the face of growing criticism, he defended those measures on Wednesday as being “effective,” citing two regions where the state tightened rules and the COVID-19 test positivity rate then dropped to a level where indoor dining and bar service could resume.
Read more here. — Jamie Munks and Dan Petrella
10:50 a.m.: COVID-19 outbreak on Wisconsin — 12 people, including 6 players and head coach Paul Chryst — forces cancellation of Saturday’s Big Ten game vs. Nebraska
Wisconsin has become the first Big Ten football team to have its just-started season impacted by COVID-19.
Because of a team outbreak — including a positive test for coach Paul Chryst — the Badgers' game Saturday against Nebraska will be canceled.
The team will suspend all activities for seven days, the university announced Wednesday. The Big Ten’s schedule does not allow room for makeup games, meaning Saturday’s game will not be rescheduled.
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As of Wednesday morning, 12 people within the football program had tested positive for COVID-19 in the previous five days, according to a news release. Six players and six staff members tested positive with additional results pending.
Read more here. — Shannon Ryan
9:45 a.m.: Dr. Ngozi Ezike’s emotional moment shows health care workers feel COVID-19 fatigue too
At an Oct. 23 news conference, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike became emotional while talking about the nearly 10,000 lives lost in Illinois — “People who started with us in 2020 and who won’t be with us at the Thanksgiving table.”
Ezike paused and turned away from the camera as she wiped her tears and took some time to compose herself. She said she understands the emotional toll and knows how hard it is for everyone.
“I don’t get to live in some COVID-free bubble, exempt from all the pain and tragedy of this pandemic,” she said. “If you’re talking about COVID fatigue from having to keep wearing a mask, think about the COVID fatigue for health care workers, respiratory therapists, who are going to have to go through this whole episode again of trying to fight for people’s lives,” she added.
This has been an extreme year for health care workers. They are not removed, Ezike said, from stressors others face in a challenging moment where “you can’t actually see the end.”
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Along with the stressors of parenting children who are remote learning and the near absence of friends and family, the past seven months have been a cycle of hypervigilance and fear for health care workers.
Data released Monday from the American College of Emergency Physicians revealed that many are feeling stress and burnout. Among the 862 emergency room physicians surveyed, 87% were more stressed now than since the start of the pandemic. Burnout causes included concerns about family, friends and personal health.
Read more here. — Alison Bowen
7:56 a.m.: Boeing will cut 11,000 more jobs as aircraft business slows
Boeing will cut more jobs as it continues to bleed money and lose revenue during a pandemic that has smothered demand for new airline planes.
The Chicago-based company said Wednesday that it expects to cut its workforce to about 130,000 employees by the end of next year, down 30,000 from the start of this year. That is far deeper than the 19,000 reduction that the company announced three months ago.
Boeing Co. updated its jobs plan on the same day it reported a $449 million loss for the third quarter, a swing from the $1.17 billion it earned in the same period last year. The loss was narrower than analysts expected, however.
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Revenue tumbled 29% to $14.14 billion.
Read more here. —Associated Press
7:55 a.m.: 4 inmates have died from COVID-19 at East Moline Correctional Center, out of 29 in state prisons
Four inmates at the East Moline Correctional Center have died from COVID-19, all of them in October, according to authorities.The fourth death, a man in his 50s, was Monday, according to Lindsey Hess, public information officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections.
As of Tuesday, 343 inmates and 33 staff have tested positive for coronavirus at the minimum-security prison, 100 Hillcrest Road, East Moline. Deaths are not being reported on the websites for the facility or IDOC.
Hess said no EMCC staff members had died.
There have been 29 inmate deaths from COVID-19 at Illinois prisons, according to Hess. Stateville Correctional Center, near Chicago, has had 13 inmates die; a man in his 50s was the first death on March 29. The next highest number of COVID-19 deaths has been at Robinson Correctional Center, where three of the five deaths were men in their 70s.
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Read more here. —Sarah Hayden, Quad City Times
6:45 a.m.: COVID-19 Restrictions go into effect in suburban Cook County, Metro East regions of state
By Wednesday, more than half of Illinois residents will be under stricter measures meant to slow a surge of the coronavirus as suburban Cook County and the Metro East region outside St. Louis join four other regions where the state has shut down indoor dining and bar service and lowered the cap on crowds to 25.
At the beginning of last week, only one of the 11 regions in the state’s reopening plan was subject to those rules.
By Friday of last week, suburban Cook County had had eight consecutive days of test positivity rate increases and seven days of increased hospital admissions. State figures Wednesday morning were only updated through Saturday.
It is the first region to surpass the state-set thresholds for those two metrics at the same time. The other region have triggered tougher rules by reaching an 8% positivity rate threshold for three consecutive days. As of Saturday, the rolling seven-day positivity rate for the Cook County suburbs was 8%.
Friday, Chicago will go under similar restrictions, as the city also has seen a recent surge. — Chicago Tribune staff
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6 a.m.: For special education families, an agonizing choice on returning to school: Risk COVID-19 exposure or accept ‘heartbreaking’ limits of remote learning
When Katherine Buitron’s son froze mid-sentence and collapsed on his Chromebook during a virtual class, some of his classmates were scared. Others seemed to think he just fell asleep, she said.
She moved her son and closed the Chromebook.
After the seizure, he had bad headaches and double vision. Subsequent doctor’s appointments took even more time away from classes. In addition to epilepsy, the fifth grader has autism and dyslexia, and is immunocompromised, Buitron said. His two siblings also are in special education programs, but none is in the first groups of students tapped by Chicago Public Schools to return to in-person learning.
The family has already decided they’d continue remote learning anyway, because of health concerns, but would have a hard time making an informed decision based on the sparse plans the district has presented.
“They expect parents to make choices without the full information,” Buitron said.
Even with the limited details, Deidra Kenar, another CPS parent whose children have individualized education programs, would love for them to return to school.
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“We feel like the longer and longer they are away,” she said, “the more and more challenges that are coming up for them.”
Although their families don’t yet have the option to send their children back to school before the end of the calendar year, for thousands of other CPS families with special education students, decision day is Wednesday.
Along with prekindergartners, about 5,000 students in moderate and intensive cluster programs have been identified as the first who could resume in-person learning. That includes those who attend specialty schools where most or all students are what CPS classifies as diverse learners.
Based on families' responses to opt-in forms due Wednesday, district officials will decide whether they can support in-person learning five days a week or use a hybrid model for specialty schools, CPS spokesman James Gherardi said.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone, Karen Ann Cullotta
6 a.m.: After their mom died from COVID-19, her kids give a final toast with a beloved, hard-to-find token of her youth: Tab diet pop
Kathleen Berger died in May from coronavirus-related causes, leaving behind eight kids and a legacy encapsulated by a bright pink soda pop can.
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Berger, who was 73, was a voracious consumer of Tab, the saccharin-infused cola known for its distinctive packaging, vaguely metallic taste and aerobic studio vibe. Introduced in 1963 by the Coca-Cola Co., it was once the nation’s dominant diet soda, producing a legion of fans so hard-core they called themselves Tabaholics.
But Tab lost its mojo over the decades, surpassed by Diet Coke and other carbonated descendants, and Coke finally dispatched the brand earlier this month with a eulogy of buzzwords (“We’re prioritizing bets that have scale potential across beverage categories, consumer need states and drinking occasions”).
The retirement led to hoarding that soon made Tab, which was already hard to find, as rare as a white truffle. As of Tuesday, the asking price on eBay for a single can went as high as $25.
Berger, whose Tabaholism was second to none, would have recoiled at such a markup. That left her children, who are spread from Seattle to Elmhurst to suburban Boston, with a challenge: locate enough Tab in the wild so they could give a final, video chat-enabled salute to their mother.
“We were all like, ‘All right, let’s go out and try to find some, and then we’ll do this toast to Mom,’” said her son, Matt Berger. “And then none of us could find it anywhere.”
Read more here. —John Keilman
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chicagotribune--2020-10-29--Parents seek answers about masks, distancing, pods as CPS looks to reopen schools and plans for simu

Parents seek answers about masks, distancing, pods as CPS looks to reopen schools and plans for simultaneous teaching of kids who remain home

A sample “ day in the life ” graphic shows how the typical school day could go : Students complete @ @ @ @ @ don a cloth face covering .
If they ride a bus to school , they @ @ @ @ @ sanitizer and sit alone or with a sibling .
At school , drop-off times could @ @ @ @ @ are supposed to wash or sanitize their hands when they arrive , then go straight @ @ @ @ @ be eaten in classrooms or on a staggered schedule in the cafeteria if there ’ @ @ @ @ @ pod will have an assigned bathroom .

What happens if a student takes off their mask in a pod? What if someone in their pod has a medical mask exemption? What are the health and safety protocols for students who need help eating or using the restroom?
On the deadline for students in preschool and special education cluster programs to decide whether they will return to in-person learning next quarter, parents and educators sought details and advocated for their children at the Chicago Board of Education meeting Wednesday.
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Many also tweeted their concerns at Chicago Public Schools and Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a campaign this week organized by Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, which compiled a 16-page document of questions from parents, caregivers and educators.
“What will the protocols be for siblings, i.e., if one sibling’s pod is exposed and they need to quarantine, will siblings in the same home also need to quarantine?” one parent asked.
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Others asked what’s being done to ensure students are assigned work that’s doable yet challenging, if schools will use outdoor spaces to minimize risk and how schools bringing students back will consider pods that some families have created themselves to meet child care needs.
Though CPS leaders say they value the voices of the school communities, Raise Your Hand’s Jennie Biggs said the hashtag #CPSTalkToUs was trending in Chicago this week because so many people still want answers and authentic engagement.
“You cannot center equity if you keep parents of color out of the decision-making,” Biggs, who has two children in CPS, said in a statement to the board. “It is especially egregious that we are hearing nothing from the district as both the city and state are surging in COVID positivity rates."
Along with other members of the Grassroots Education Movement, Raise Your Hand signed onto a letter to CPS and the mayor last week. Movement leaders are constantly hearing about parents' questions, experiences and suggestions for improving remote learning, but people have no clear place to go with their feedback, Biggs said.
“This is a big fail on the part of the district,” Biggs said. "This is also eroding trust in CPS even further.”
Board president Miguel del Valle acknowledged both the many questions and the ways CPS has tried to answer them.
“People are desperate for details. We have details,” del Valle said. “Do we have every detail that is necessary at this point? No, we don’t because ... this is evolving. That’s why a date, an exact date, has not been set for returning some of our students into the schools. Because that date, when it is set, is going to be set based on the science."
Del Valle said he keeps hearing about people who feel there isn’t really a plan or parental engagement, and teachers aren’t getting an opportunity to chime in, but those are all areas he sees CPS addressing.
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“There is a plan. We are dealing with the ventilation issue. There is transparency. And so it seems like we have this gulf between what we have some people saying and what we ... are doing, what steps are being taken," del Valle said.
He added that communication is “extremely, extremely important” and that CPS needs to keep looking for new ways to communicate with school communities.
Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade on Wednesday presented an outline of the plan for prekindergarten and cluster programs that provide moderate to intensive special education support. She went over health and safety measures and data that shows widespread enrollment loss, most profoundly among Black preschool children.
The district expects teachers and paraprofessionals who work with preschool and cluster students to start reporting in-person at schools a week before students return. For students who continue remote learning, the district plans to use a “simultaneous teaching model,” in which educators teach the students at school while providing live online instruction for the others. CPS will have additional guidance to help educators plan for that model of teaching, according to McDade’s presentation.
A sample “day in the life” graphic shows how the typical school day could go: Students complete symptom screening at home and don a cloth face covering. If they ride a bus to school, they’ll be offered hand sanitizer and sit alone or with a sibling. At school, drop-off times could be staggered, and students are supposed to wash or sanitize their hands when they arrive, then go straight to classrooms. Meals will be eaten in classrooms or on a staggered schedule in the cafeteria if there’s enough space. Each pod will have an assigned bathroom.
Social-emotional specialists, as well as special education and English language teachers and other service providers, will rotate among pods. If they need to see students who aren’t in one of their assigned pods, they will do so remotely or at a distance, according to CPS. The plan does not say the maximum number of pods to which a specialist may be assigned.
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If a student has symptoms of COVID-19, they will be moved into a designated “care room” until they’re picked up. One question posed through Raise Your Hand was whether a nurse or a different type of employee will staff the care rooms.
Eligible families who choose to continue learning at home will need to wait until third quarter to opt in to in-person learning.
As for community engagement, McDade said CPS put on 10 parent town halls and counted 480 meetings among 401 schools. District staff members made nearly 1,000 calls to early childhood families, and nearly 61% of respondents had not logged into remote learning, with 64% saying they’d send their children to school if they had the choice, McDade said.
The district has started publishing information on COVID-19 cases in its schools each week, adopted contact tracing procedures and community notification protocols developed by the Chicago Department of Public Health and hired its own contact tracers. Beyond the cloth face masks for each person, district officials said they will provide equipment as needed such as face shields, gowns, gloves and N95 masks.
An assessment of ventilation systems in school buildings was completed Sept. 23, and analysis and remediation efforts “are currently underway,” with an additional assessment by an outside expert expected to be completed by early November, according to CPS.
Questions posed to the district this week include requests to see the ventilation reports, which officials have said they’ll make public.
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hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-29--Northwestern and Loyola plan to allow more students on campus this winter despite COVID-19 surge gri

Northwestern and Loyola plan to allow more students on campus this winter despite COVID-19 surge gripping Chicago and suburban Cook County

But for now , NU intends to invite first- and second-year students to live on campus and take classes next @ @ @ @ @ permitted to do so this fall , and the school ’ s positivity rate has @ @ @ @ @ the email said .
In the last week , 49 new cases have been reported @ @ @ @ @ according to NU ’ s public dashboard .

Northwestern University in Evanston and Loyola University Chicago both shared plans Wednesday for expanded campus reopenings next term despite the ongoing surge of COVID-19 prompting greater restrictions in Chicago and its suburbs.
The announcements from the schools, which have predominantly residential campuses, come as the state reported 6,110 newly confirmed cases of the virus ― the second-highest daily tally since the pandemic began. The rising numbers and increasing hospitalizations have triggered bans on indoor dining and caps on gatherings in eight of the state’s 11 regions under the governor’s plan.
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Northwestern officials acknowledged the mounting cases in an email to students about the plans, noting an uptick in infections among graduate students, faculty and staff, and cautioned that any decisions could be amended due to public health conditions.
But for now, NU intends to invite first- and second-year students to live on campus and take classes next term. Only upperclassmen were permitted to do so this fall, and the school’s positivity rate has stayed below 1%, the email said. In the last week, 49 new cases have been reported among the campus community, according to NU’s public dashboard.
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“As long as the positivity rate stabilizes and does not continue increasing, we will be able to continue to support the COVID-related needs of our community,” the NU email said. “The vast majority of you have been wearing masks, socially distancing and following protocols for testing, contact tracing, and quarantine and isolation."
Students returning to campus will come back beginning Jan. 3 in a staged fashion, must follow a modified quarantine and undergo testing. In general, NU “experienced a better Fall than initially projected,” finding that many of the positive cases stem from small clusters of students at off-campus gatherings and not between employees and students in the classroom.
Earlier this month, though, the school’s renowned Kellogg School of Management suspended in-person classes for two weeks because dozens of MBA students socialized together in large groups and some contracted COVID-19.
Also on Wednesday afternoon, Loyola announced in an email to students, faculty and staff that it will increase the number of in-person classes ― up to 10% of all undergraduate courses ― and reopen dorms to students who want to live in single rooms. Loyola largely kept its residence halls closed this semester and shifted the bulk of its classes online.
Loyola officials also said in the email that spring break will be canceled, replaced with two long weekends, as some schools are doing to discourage the spread of COVID-19 through travel, and that the university’s efforts rely on increased asymptomatic surveillance testing.
“We eagerly prepare to come together in person and on campus in greater numbers this spring,” the email said. “Like other universities, we have learned much since the beginning of the pandemic and we trust our community to remain informed, vigilant, and caring so that we can best experience a spring semester in an expanded operational capacity.”
Loyola’s COVID-19 dashboard shows 26 new COVID-19 cases from the last seven days that it administered testing.
Loyola' spring semester begins Jan. 19 for undergraduates. For filling the dorms, Loyola will give preference to first-year students who previously held housing contracts, the school email said. Residence hall density will be reduced, and no more than two students will have to share a bathroom.
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echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-10-28--Gov. Pritzker tied COVID-19 cases to restaurants and bars in Kane, DuPage counties. Health departmen

Gov. Pritzker tied COVID-19 cases to restaurants and bars in Kane, DuPage counties. Health department data is unclear.

`` It is particularly difficult given the fact that the data which has been released by our local health departments @ @ @ @ @ restaurants as significant sources contributing to the spread , yet they are being singled out @ @ @ @ @ , their establishment resides in a county that is enforcing the measures , ” he @ @ @ @ @ “ Moreover , other businesses and settings that the data reflects are contributing to the @ @ @ @ @ the enhanced mitigation measures .
This has led to misinformation and opposition to the mitigation @ @ @ @

The day after he announced increased restrictions on bars and restaurants to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Kane and DuPage counties, Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled down on his heightened mitigation measures.
“In region 8 (Kane and DuPage counties), for example, the number one place — the number one identifiable place that people said when they were contact-traced, that they had been to either just before they got tested or after they got tested but before they got their result, was a bar or a restaurant,” he said last week at a daily COVID-19 news conference. “And that’s true across the state.”
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But information made public by health departments in Kane and DuPage counties presents a more vague picture about the exposure locations identified in COVID-19 contact tracing. Local health departments have not made public information about the locations visited by those who tested positive for COVID-19, and business owners and some officials continue to question whether restrictions on restaurants and bars are targeting the right places.
Officials with both health departments say eating and drinking indoors can pose a virus risk, and they encourage residents to follow state rules and take precautions. But a Kane County Health Department spokeswoman said the agency had limited data from county contact tracing about locations, and it would be difficult to make any assumptions. The DuPage County health department did not definitively identify the top locations turning up in contact tracing.
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At a news conference Wednesday, Pritzker said private gatherings are a significant source of spread across the country as are restaurants and bars, and he has previously highlighted studies that he said showed restaurants and bars are a “major spreading location for the virus.”
“We’re just trying to educate people as we always have, and then to the extent that we can limit interactions in places where we know there’s spread, that’s what we’re trying to do," he said. "Especially in the midst of a COVID storm.”
Though data specific to Region 8 was unavailable, statewide data from 69 of 97 Illinois counties shows in August and September, the locations people reported visiting most often within 14 days of testing positive for the virus fell into the “other” category, which includes places such as vacations, family gatherings, weddings, college parties and anything that isn’t covered by another listed location. Outside of the catchall category, the location most often reported was restaurants and bars.
The state-mandated mitigation measures include other restrictions, such as tighter caps on gathering sizes, but the provisions banning indoor service drew consternation from some businesses and public officials. The increased restrictions will remain in place until the region’s rate of tests that come back positive is at or below 6.5% for three consecutive days, and the region could be subject to further restrictions if the positivity rate does not fall below 8%. Sunday, the most recent day for which state data was available, the positivity rate for the region covering Kane and DuPage counties was 9.6%.
Some restaurant owners in Aurora questioned whether the provisions banning indoor service were targeting the right types of places. Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico has said he wanted information about how the virus was spreading in DuPage County, and if the data showed virus transmissions were occurring at places other than restaurants then the state’s heightened restrictions were “almost like window dressing.”
In a letter dated Wednesday, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin also questioned the mitigation measures, particularly what he deemed their uneven enforcement.
"It is particularly difficult given the fact that the data which has been released by our local health departments does not support bars and restaurants as significant sources contributing to the spread, yet they are being singled out if, and only if, their establishment resides in a county that is enforcing the measures,” he wrote in the letter. “Moreover, other businesses and settings that the data reflects are contributing to the spread are not subject to the enhanced mitigation measures. This has led to misinformation and opposition to the mitigation measures taken.”
In DuPage County, case investigators and contact tracers collect information about locations visited by people who have tested positive for the virus, but the health department doesn’t yet have the ability to run a report detailing the information, said Chris Hoff, the department’s director of community health resources.
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Hoff did not name the top place residents reported visiting before testing positive but said the department has found people reporting they were at restaurants, workplaces and other locations.
The county does identify places to which virus outbreaks have been linked, meaning at least two cases were definitively tied to that location within 14 days. But Hoff cautioned locations linked to outbreaks are not the same as places visited by residents who ultimately test positive.
The county’s public outbreak data includes only a small number of the county’s total cases, and only includes cases where multiple people could be linked to the same location. The outbreak data links 3,135 cases of COVID-19 to locations, while the county has had about 22,600 people contract the virus since the start of the pandemic.
Among those cases that can be linked to outbreaks, 22 cases, comprising five outbreaks, were linked to sit-down dining at a restaurant between the start of the pandemic and Oct. 20, preliminary county data shows. The data does not specify whether the cases were tied to indoor or outdoor dining, and an additional 27 cases comprising eight outbreaks are tied to fast-food restaurants and other or unknown types of restaurants.
The data shows since the start of the pandemic, outbreak-related cases tied to restaurants are fewer than cases tied to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, food production facilities and factories or manufacturers.
Between Oct. 6 and Oct. 20, no outbreaks were tied to any restaurants, preliminary county data shows.
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The county cannot always identify definitively where a person contracted the virus, but that doesn’t mean a resident did not contract the virus at that location, Hoff said.
He cautioned the nature of indoor restaurants and bars is risky. They are visited by many people, often not wearing masks as they eat and drink, and residents are likely to linger or visit with others outside their immediate household, he said.
[ Court allows FoxFire restaurant in Geneva to stay open for indoor dining despite Gov. Pritzker’s COVID-19 closure order ]
He urged residents to take precautions and follow restrictions, and avoid going out if they don’t have to. It is easier to act now than wait until the virus is out of control, he said.
“People are tired of COVID, tired of restrictions, tired of not seeing people," he said. “And every indicator we’re watching is going up. So now is not a good time to be ignoring those restrictions.”
In Kane County, where more than 16,500 residents have contracted COVID-19 so far, spokeswoman Susan Stack said it would be difficult to make assumptions about locations identified during contact tracing. An average of about 12% of respondents answered a question about locations during the contact tracing process, meaning the majority of people did not have an answer, she said.
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In a statement Friday, Kane County Health Department Executive Director Barbara Jeffers acknowledged the challenges the increased restrictions put on the food and beverage industry and encouraged Kane County residents to support restaurants and bars through takeout, drive-through, delivery and outdoor dining.
She said the department was seeing the virus spread at large and small personal gatherings and cautioned the upcoming holiday season could pose a particular problem if COVID-19 rates do not decrease.
“For the majority of our population, their risk increases based on the number of different people that they come in contact with,” she said. “These restrictions are in place to help reduce the spread of the virus. Social gatherings, including weddings, funerals, potlucks and even birthday parties, are limited to no more than 25 guests.”
sfreishtat@tribpub.com