chicagotribune--2020-04-29--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Officials report new single-day record in deaths with 144 more COVI

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Officials report new single-day record in deaths with 144 more COVID-19 fatalities as statewide death toll surpasses 2,000

“ When they reopened , they were only opening back up to make meals for patients , ” said Maya-Camille @ @ @ @ @ owner of the bakery Justice of the Pies .
“ A doctor who works at @ @ @ @ @ friend and she mentioned that she saw some of the doctors having to leave to @ @ @ @ @ just so dejected because they didn ’ t want to leave , but they couldn @ @ @ @ @ the cafeteria .
And you ’ re talking about 111th St. , so it ’ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a bevy of options .
”

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Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois’ coronavirus death toll surpassed 2,000 on Tuesday as state officials reported 144 more fatalities, the highest number in a single day since the outbreak began. The total number of deaths in state now stands at 2,125.
Officials also announced 2,219 new known cases of COVID-19 — the fifth time in the past seven days that the number of new cases has topped 2,000. There have been 48,102 known cases in 96 of Illinois’ 102 counties.
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Meanwhile, a day after a southern Illinois judge issued an order exempting a Republican state representative from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home directive, Pritzker called the lawsuit a “cheap political stunt” and decried the ruling as “absurd.” The Illinois attorney general’s office is expected to file its appeal of the ruling on Wednesday.
[ COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood ]
[ As the coronavirus spreads, the Tribune is tracking Illinois cases here ]
[ From closing schools to stay-at-home order, here's how Illinois' coronavirus response compares with other states ]
Here’s a recap of what happened on April 28 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
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9:09 p.m.: Mondelez International, maker of Triscuits and Oreos, says first-quarter sales jumped because consumers were hunkered in at home snacking
Oreo-maker Mondelez International reported a rise in first-quarter sales and “unprecedented” market share gains as consumers under lockdown reached for its cookies and crackers. But higher costs to keep operating during the COVID-19 pandemic weighed on the company’s profits.
The company’s brands, which include Triscuits, Cadbury and Philadelphia cream cheese, offer consumers comfort and a “sense of normalcy” they are craving during this stressful time, Dirk Van de Put, CEO of the Chicago-based food giant, said Tuesday during an earnings call with investors.
Revenues of $6.7 billion for the quarter ended March 31 represented a 2.6% increase from the same period last year, with big jumps in developed markets like Europe and North America offsetting declines in emerging markets including Asia, where some lockdowns prevented workers from getting to factories.
In North America, organic net sales rose 13.4%, driven by its biscuits category consisting of brands such as Oreos, Wheat Thins, Belvita and Triscuits. Chocolate sales also were up, though gum was flat.
While the initial sales spike from pantry-loading subsided as March wore on, sales remained elevated into April, Van de Put said.
“There is more grazing, more continuous eating and snacking takes up a much bigger role,” he said. “Sharing a snack with your kids as everyone is cooped up in their house brings back a feeling of normalcy and togetherness.” Read more here. — Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
7:56 p.m.: Rivian, Ford cancel plans to build Lincoln-branded electric vehicle
A joint project between Rivian and Ford to build a Lincoln-branded electric vehicle has been canceled as the auto industry struggles to navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
While there were never specific details about the product or timing for its launch, the automakers were planning to build the new vehicle using startup electric truck manufacturer Rivian’s platform.
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“Given the current environment, Lincoln and Rivian have decided not to pursue the development of a fully electric vehicle based on Rivian’s skateboard platform,” Lincoln said in a statement Tuesday. “Ford Motor Company’s strategic commitment to Lincoln, Rivian and electrification remains unchanged and Lincoln’s future plans will include an all-electric vehicle.”
Ford, which last year invested $500 million in Rivian, said Tuesday the partnership “remains strong,” and that the automakers continue to work together on an alternative vehicle based on Rivian’s platform.
The electric truck startup, which is building its own SUV and truck at a plant in Normal, has already pushed its production launch date back to 2021. Read more here. —Robert Channick
7:44 p.m.: NU turns down millions in federal stimulus money, following lead of other colleges with large endowments
Northwestern University says it will not apply for or accept the $8.5 million that has allocated to the school in the federal coronavirus relief package.
NU said it “determined we are unable to accept the requirements” attached to CARES Act money authorized by Congress.
The move follows that of other private universities with large endowments, like Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney
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7:20 p.m.: First UIC nurse dies after testing positive for coronavirus. ‘We were supposed to grow old together ... I just got robbed of it.’
It was a love story that began with her smile.
When Lawrence Le Blanc met his future wife, Joyce, on a beach in St. Thomas — he was visiting from nearby British Virgin Islands, she from Illinois — he fell in love with her without her saying a word.
“She smiled one time," he said. "Ever since then, I’ve been in love with that smile.”
It’s a smile anyone around her knew well, especially her colleagues at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.
Joyce Pacubas-Le Blanc, 53, died April 23, 13 days after testing for COVID-19. She was a nurse for more than 30 years, most recently in the neuroscience intensive care unit at UIC. Pacubas-Le Blanc is one of at least eight known health care workers in Illinois who have died after having the coronavirus. According to the Illinois Nurses Association, which created a fundraiser to support her family, she was the first nurse at the hospital to die after testing positive. Read more here. —Alison Bowen
6:54 p.m.: Female teen dies after contracting COVID-19, Will County health officials say
A female teenager has died after contracting COVID-19, Will County health officials said Tuesday.
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The person is the youngest of the 145 people in Will County who have died of the disease caused by the coronavirus so far, according to Steve Brandy, spokesman for the Will County Health Department. The county reported nine additional deaths on Tuesday.
Brandy did not have the young victim’s exact age available. Officials reported the death on Tuesday, but Brandy did not know what day she died.
In addition to that death, one man in his 20s and a man and a woman in their 30s have died in Will County, according to health department data. Most of the county’s deaths were among people in their 70s and 80s. Read more here. —Madeline Buckley
6:48 p.m.: JetBlue looks to suspend Chicago flights temporarily as demand plummets amid COVID-19
JetBlue asked the U.S. Transportation Department for permission to suspend flights to 16 airports, including O’Hare International Airport, amid “near-zero demand for air travel.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel meant to contain it have brought passenger travel to a near-standstill. Still, airlines that took financial assistance from the federal government need to maintain minimum levels of service to cities where they currently fly unless the Transportation Department grants an exemption.
Earlier this month, JetBlue said it expects to receive about $935.8 million in grants and loans through the federal coronavirus relief package.
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JetBlue has already gone from six flights a day to four per week in Chicago, the airline said in its request with the Transportation Department on Tuesday.
There still aren’t enough people on its flights connecting Chicago to Boston, New York and Fort Lauderdale to make them sustainable, JetBlue said. Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
6:30 p.m.: Cicero overtakes Des Plaines as Cook County suburb with highest number of COVID-19 cases
The town of Cicero surpassed Des Plaines this week in confirmed COVID-19 cases, but Des Plaines maintained the highest number of deaths related to the virus among suburban Cook County communities, according the county’s department of public health.
As of April 28, there were 899 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in west suburban Cicero — more than double the number reported a week earlier — and 21 deaths, data from the Cook County Department of Public Health showed. Read more here. —Jennifer Johnson
6:25 p.m.: Workers at United Scrap Metal in Cicero walk out, asking for more coronavirus safety measures after a colleague dies
Dozens of United Scrap Metal Inc. employees walked out Tuesday morning, asking the company to close the metal recycling plant for two weeks after one of their colleagues died from COVID-19.
Workers want the company to close the facility to deep clean and sanitize the building. They also want to be paid for the two weeks of the plant shutdown, and they want protective gear to be supplied.
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Over 60 workers took part in the walk-out that started at 9 a.m. and continued through the day, said Ramon Gonzalez, 19, an employee at the Cicero-based firm.
The number of workers standing outside varied as shifts changed and after supervisors asked some workers to talk about the issue inside the facility, Gonzales said.
United Scrap Metal said in a statement, “At this point, we cannot confirm the details, but our hearts go out to his family members. All of us at United Scrap Metal (USM) are grieving the loss of our colleague, friend, and valued member of our team.” Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez and Laura Rodríguez Presa
5:55 p.m.: CPS boosts spending for neediest schools amid uncertain financial impact of shutdown
Chicago Public Schools is providing an extra $125 million to individual schools, including $44 million in so-called equity grants to buildings with the greatest needs.
The district hasn’t identified where all the money is coming from, and the funds are being distributed during a time of great uncertainty about the impact of the coronavirus on school finances. Read more here. —Hannah Leone
5:20 p.m.: Fat Rice closes, reopening as Super Fat Rice Mart with meal kits
Fat Rice, the critically acclaimed restaurant in Logan Square inspired by the cuisine of Macau, has closed for the foreseeable future. Co-owners Abe Conlon and Adrienne Lo will re-open the space as Super Fat Rice Mart with meal kits and grocery goods on Wednesday.
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After Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed dining rooms statewide on March 16, Conlon and Lo created take home food kits before shutting down the restaurant, bar and bakery completely. The news was first reported by the New York Times. Read more here. —Louisa Chu
5:15 p.m.: Death toll at Cicero nursing home climbs to 9; more than 200 infected
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at a Cicero nursing home continued to climb Tuesday with officials now reporting eight residents and one worker have died from coronavirus-related conditions.
As of Tuesday, Cicero officials announced that at least 163 residents at City View Multicare Center, 5825 W. Cermak Road, had tested positive for COVID-19 following mandated testing at the facility by the Illinois Department of Public Health. In total, there are 320 residents living at City View, meaning the disease has spread to more than half of the population, said Ray Hanania, a spokesman for the town.
In addition, 41 workers have also tested positive, though that number could rise as more results come back. The facility was still waiting to get results back for 39 other workers. The facility has 250 workers, Hanania said. Read more here. —Elvia Malagón
4:30 p.m.: Restrictions will ease Friday for nonessential retailers and animal groomers, but it won’t be business as usual
Thousands of vegetables, herb and house plants died after Adams & Son Gardens closed more than five weeks ago to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
But since Gov J.B. Pritzker revised the state’s stay-at-home order, the Humboldt Park shop, which didn’t have to close but chose to, is again receiving truckloads of plants to sell to people who are staying close to home and eager to start gardening.
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The changes to the stay-at-home order, which take effect Friday, are expected to generate some sales at cash-crunched businesses while providing Illinois residents with more ways to help a battered economy.
But merchants and many service providers, most of which had been branded nonessential, will operate under conditions still considered far from business as usual, especially amid ongoing concerns about the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach and Ally Marotti
3:56 p.m.: Live donor transplants at virtual standstill due to COVID-19
Hoping to find a kidney donor, Cubs fan Bridgett Kolls of Lombard went very public with her quest when she took a handmade poster to a baseball game last May.
Her sign was caught on camera, and by the end of the game, the 23-year-old’s phone was blowing up with messages. Strangers who saw the poster on television and the team’s social media accounts reached out to volunteer their kidney to Kolls, who was in need of a transplant after lupus ravaged her own.
A Chicago man, who previously was a complete stranger, ended up being a match.
The surgery was set for March 26 at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
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But her storybook ending has proved elusive.
“It all happened so fast,” Kolls recalls. “Everything was going fine in February, in March the transplant was set up.”
Suddenly, “things are closing, the kidney transplant is canceled,” Kolls said. “That’s why we’re going day-by-day here.”
Kolls’ transplant was one of hundreds of organ transplants postponed across the country. The Chicago area in particular has seen an almost complete stoppage of certain types of transplants since mid-March when the COVID-19 crisis prompted state leaders to issue a stay-at-home order, transplant experts said.
Doctors say the move is an effort to protect patients — especially organ recipients, who will become immunocompromised — from possible infection. They also point to a need to preserve hospital resources like ventilators as the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations remains high. That has forced area residents to wait, and hope, that their anticipated surgeries will soon be rescheduled. Read more here. —Genevieve Bookwalter
3 p.m. (updated at 3:45 p.m.): Pritzker calls lawsuit over stay-at-home order a ‘cheap political stunt,’ decries ruling as ‘absurd’
A day after a southern Illinois judge issued a temporary order exempting a Republican state representative from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home directive, Pritzker reiterated that restrictions remain in place for the more than 12 million other residents of the state.
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Monday’s ruling by Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney came in a lawsuit filed by Rep. Darren Bailey that challenged Pritzker’s authority to extend his stay-at-home order beyond the initial 30 days under the state’s Emergency Management Act.
While the judge’s temporary restraining order was limited, Pritzker’s reaction was again outsized as he fired another broadside at Bailey, of Xenia, Ill.
"This ruling only applies to one person because it was only ever about one person,” Pritzker said, accusing Bailey of seeking to grab headlines while putting public health at risk.
“This was a cheap political stunt designed so that the representative can see his name in headlines, and unfortunately, he has briefly been successful in that,” Pritzker said.
Calling the court order “absurd,” Pritzker said that “the court set a dangerous precedent.”
“Because of this ruling, any resident can petition to be exempted from aspects of the orders that rely on collective action to keep us all safe,” he said.
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The Illinois attorney general’s office is expected to file its formal appeal of the ruling on Wednesday. Read more here. —Dan Petrella
2:40 p.m.: Officials report 144 more deaths and 2,219 new known COVID-19 cases
The state reported 144 more coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the highest number in a single day since the outbreak began. The statewide death toll now stands at 2,125.
Officials also reported 2,219 new known cases of COVID-19 — the fifth time in the past seven days that the number of new cases has topped 2,000. There have been 48,102 known cases in 96 of Illinois’ 102 counties. —Dan Petrella
2:05 p.m.: Smartphone location data can tell if people stay home during the pandemic. Experts worry users are sacrificing privacy for safety.
Smartphone location data can tell if people stay home during the pandemic. Experts worry users are sacrificing privacy for safety.
The coronavirus outbreak has sparked a new use for data smartphones collect about users’ locations.
Technology companies are using location data to track how much people are staying at home during the pandemic. Often, the findings are made available to government officials, including in Chicago, to help them determine how well containment efforts are working.
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The data, which is compiled using GPS coordinates on phones, is being used to track everything from how far people are straying from home to how those patterns stack up to pre-pandemic travel. Foot traffic at bus stops and parks can be tracked. Some of the data can be broken down to the state or county level, or by city block.
The City of Chicago is using location data to help inform its decision-making during the pandemic, said Peter Ruestow, senior epidemiologist at the Chicago Public Health Department’s Communicable Disease Program.
The city works with a tech company called BlueDot, which aggregates geolocation data to show how many devices stayed at home each week in each of the city’s 77 community areas.
By the time the city gets the data, it’s in the form of trends, and is anonymous, Ruestow said. If the data shows devices tended to move farther from home, that might indicate that people who live there are traveling farther for work or services. Read more here. —Ally Marotti
1:23 p.m.: Pritzker says White House has promised to help get Illinois COVID-19 testing swabs
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he spoke with White House officials Tuesday morning and was promised the federal government would provide 20,000 testing swabs per day in May, a boost that will help the governor determine when it’s safe to begin lifting his statewide stay-at-home order aimed at curbing the COVID-19 outbreak.
It comes after the White House announced a testing “blueprint” — released Monday night — with testing targets that would ensure states had enough COVID-19 tests available to sample at least 2.6% of their populations monthly.
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During a Tuesday morning appearance on the “Today” show, Pritzker said he was grateful for the help but couldn’t resist perpetuating his ongoing battle with President Donald Trump. Pritzker complained the federal government hasn’t done enough to address the crisis. Trump has maintained that it’s up to the states to meet testing goals.
“We’ve done a good job in Illinois of acquiring our own supplies, but now the White House is getting engaged and they’re promising to deliver to us for the month of May about 20,000 swabs per day, which is very important,” he said during the interview, noting that those will be on top of the 12,000 tests per day already being done statewide.
The governor was asked about the president’s aim to make sure roughly 2% of the population is tested, and Pritzker said “we’re aiming to do much more than that. We’re currently among the top 10 states in terms of how many tests we’re doing on a per-day basis and we want to vault ourselves near the top.”
Ramping up testing is “very important when you think in terms of reopening” the economy," Pritzker said, but added that a system of contact tracing — mapping out how a person contracted the virus to understand its spread — is needed. —Lisa Donovan; Associated Press contributed to this report
1:05 p.m.: Open the economy or save lives? It’s not that simple. From the experts, 7 ways to talk politics in the COVID-19 era.
You’re scrolling through Facebook when you stumble upon a post from a cousin. He’s touting a COVID-19 conspiracy theory as justification to reopen the economy. You normally ignore his politically charged posts but this one gives you pause. You wonder: Does he really believe COVID-19 is no worse than the flu? Is he social distancing? Is he infecting Grandma?
Partisan politics have divided us as a nation now for years, and if a friend or family member is on the other side of the cultural divide, chances are we’ve learned to shut out their political opinions. But this moment feels different. Coping with the pandemic can’t just be a question of politics. Experts have some tips on how to have a constructive conversation in an era when nearly everyone, regardless of ideology, has thrown their hands up and asked themselves, How do you talk to these people?
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No.1: Don’t be reductive. For starters, stop thinking of them as “these people.” Acknowledge that our current moment is complex. “We’ve made this very strange false dichotomy: You either support the economy or you support human life,” says Alexandra Solomon, a psychologist and professor at Northwestern University. “That’s false.” Read more here. —Jen Day
1 p.m.: Chicago to give $5,000 grants to small businesses with four or fewer employees in lower-income neighborhoods
The city of Chicago will give $5,000 grants to small businesses with four or fewer employees as part of a program to help businesses hurt by the coronavirus, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Tuesday.
The city will give up to 1,000 businesses $5,000 as part of its Microbusiness Recovery Grant Program, Lightfoot said. Interested businesses can apply through the city’s website until May 4, and the administration plans to make awards May 11.
Lightfoot said the money is meant for businesses in low and moderate-income neighborhoods hurt by COVID-19 who may not be able to get financing through the federal government or other means.
Most of the eligible areas are on the South and West Sides, according to a city map.
In addition to having four or fewer employees, the businesses must have less than $250,000 in annual revenue and have lost 25% of revenue due to COVID-19, the city said.
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Money for the grants is coming from the Chicago Community Trust and The One Chicago Fund, and will be distributed via lottery, Lightfoot said. —Gregory Pratt
12:15 p.m.: As domestic violence calls rise, free hotel rooms are being offered to victims
Victims of domestic violence will have free access to hotel rooms through a partnership between the city of Chicago and Airbnb.
The Network, a group of advocates against domestic violence, will coordinate placement for callers to the Illinois Domestic Violence hotline. The Network will pay for the rooms using state funds. Airbnb is making its HotelTonight app available to find rooms.
The number of Chicago calls to the state’s domestic violence hotline increased by 6% during March, according to Lisa Morrison Butler, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services. Morrison Butler discussed the changes during a Q&A session with Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
“On March 30, we had 104 Chicago calls into the DV hotline, and that was the single highest number of calls in a day in the history of the hotline,” Morrison Butler added.
City officials said the Chicago Police Department has seen a 12% increase in domestic violence-related calls from January to mid-April, compared to the same period in 2019.
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The Illinois Domestic Violence hotline is available 24/7 at 877-863-6338 (TTY 877-863-6339).
12:14 p.m.: As Illinois facial covering requirement nears, Lightfoot and opponents put forward dueling plans to distribute masks in Chicago
Mayor Lori Lightfoot laid out a plan to aldermen to distribute disposable masks around the city as businessman Willie Wilson on Tuesday held an event across the street from City Hall to donate masks himself to City Council members to give to residents.
The question of how to make sure Chicagoans have enough masks has become more urgent as Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order is set to take effect Friday requiring people over age 2 to wear a mask while inside stores and other places where they can’t maintain safe social distancing.
Wilson, a former mayoral candidate who had a falling out with Lightfoot after she took office, has been putting forward his own proposals to directly distribute disposable masks through his medical supply company.
Last week, Far South Side Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, a mayoral critic, asked the Lightfoot administration to let aldermen convert local ward funds usually reserved for infrastructure projects to instead use the money to buy masks from Wilson. The Lightfoot administration hasn’t yet responded to that idea, Beale said. Read more here. —John Byrne
11:20 a.m.: Nearly 200 residents, staff at Cicero nursing home test positive for COVID-19 as at least 5 deaths reported at facility
More than 160 residents at a Cicero nursing home have tested positive for COVID-19 while 31 staff members have also been diagnosed with coronavirus at the facility, which has seen at least five confirmed deaths, according to officials.
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On Monday, Cicero officials announced that at least 163 residents at City View Multicare Center, 5825 W. Cermak Road, had tested positive for COVID-19 following mandated testing at the facility by the Illinois Department of Public Health. In addition, 31 workers have also tested positive, though that number could rise as more results come back.
At least five residents have died from coronavirus at the facility as of April 24, according to data from the state health department. The Cook County medical examiner’s office is reporting a sixth death of a person who lived there. Those who have died have ranged in age from 59 to 80; the first confirmed death was April 4 and the latest confirmed death was April 19, according to the medical examiner’ and Tribune analysis of the office’s data. Read more here. –Elvia Malagón
10:30 a.m.: Humboldt Park hospital starts screening and testing for COVID-19
Testing and screening for COVID-19 for Humboldt Park residents will be available by appointment at Norwegian American Hospital starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The hospital, on the city’s West Side near California Avenue and Augusta Boulevard, is partnering with Rincon Famly Services and the Puerto Rican Cultural Center to launch the new testing capability, according to a news release.
The hospital also is working with Rincon and the Vida/SIDA program from the cultural center to provide screening for the novel coronavirus at the hospital for those over age 18, starting Tuesday afternoon, according to the release.
Humboldt Park is 92 percent black or Latino, where household income is $10,000 less than city average, according to a statement from the hospital. More than a third of the community’s residents live below the federal poverty level. –Chicago Tribune staff
10:10 a.m.: Hormel furloughs 150 employees at its Fontanini Foods’ Italian sausage plant in McCook
Fontanini Foods, which makes Italian meats and sausages for restaurants, sports arenas and other venues, is furloughing 150 employees at its southwest suburban McCook plant due to a “dramatic decline” in food service business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Roughly 30% of the plant’s 500 workers will be off as of Saturday, with affected employees receiving health benefits but not pay during the temporarily furlough.“
There is no timeline for return as that will depend on when restaurants, sports venues and other food service operations restart,” John Kempen, Fontanini’s plant manager, said in an email Tuesday.
Kempen said the decision will affect a “wide variety of positions” from across the company, but did not specify the salary range of the 150 employees on furlough.
About 1 in 6 American workers have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, with stay-at-home orders closing many businesses. More than 26 million people have filed for unemployment benefits across the U.S. since mid-March, including 737,472 in Illinois. Read more here. – Robert Channick
9:45 a.m.: Kerry Washington and ‘Scandal’ colleagues sponsor meals for workers at Roseland Community Hospital
When a kitchen employee at Roseland Community Hospital on Chicago’s South Side started experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, the food service operation had to be shut down.
“When they reopened, they were only opening back up to make meals for patients,” said Maya-Camille Broussard, the chef and owner of the bakery Justice of the Pies. “A doctor who works at the hospital is a family friend and she mentioned that she saw some of the doctors having to leave to get lunch and they were just so dejected because they didn’t want to leave, but they couldn’t get anything from the cafeteria. And you’re talking about 111th St., so it’s not as if there’s a bevy of options.”
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On Monday evening, Broussard cooked and delivered food for 100 medical personnel working at the hospital. The meals were paid for by actor Kerry Washington and some of her “Scandal” colleagues, including Bellamy Young and Highland Park native Jeff Perry, through a national grassroots organization called Frontline Foods. The group raises money that is funneled to restaurants and caterers, who then use those funds to prepare meals for people working on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here. –Nina Metz
6 a.m.: Expect changes if college campuses reopen in the fall: ‘All of this is in uncharted waters’
While some Illinois colleges say they hope to make a determination in June or July about whether to reopen in the fall, the outcome will largely hinge on how public health experts evaluate the threat of the coronavirus. The decision will also depend on when Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifts the state’s stay-at-home order. On Thursday, he extended the order for a second time, so it won’t expire until at least the end of May.
“All of this is in uncharted waters, and so we’re doing our best to try to plan for an uncertain fall semester,” said Larry Dietz, president of Illinois State University. “For fall, we’re looking at several scenarios. ... I think all of us know that (campus) is probably not going to be as open as it was in the fall of 2019, before we even knew the term coronavirus.”
Social distancing measures are also being floated for residence halls, where about 6,000 students typically live during the school year, Dietz said. To reduce potential crowding, the school is considering capping the number of students approved for the dorms, which make up the bulk of its housing stock, and trying to place more in apartments, some of which are university owned.
Colleges and universities nationwide are grappling with how to approach the fall semester, while also worrying that fewer students will want to attend and pay for tuition if classes need to remain online. Read more here. — Elyssa Cherney
6 a.m.: Donors come to rescue of Illinois school district struggling with digital divide
Since the March shutdown of schools across Illinois, teachers at one rural southwestern district have been stuffing 800 envelopes with learning packets and mailing them to students’ homes because many families in the area don’t have computers or high-speed internet.
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Trico District 176’s remote learning challenges were highlighted in a Tribune-ProPublica Illinois story last month that exposed a digital divide across Illinois as schools shifted to remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. State agencies later released a map touting publicly accessible Wi-Fi hot spots at about 250 locations; none are in the 250 square miles that make up the Trico district.
That’s about to change. A local internet provider is installing Wi-Fi service to connect families to the district network. An anonymous donor pledged to donate a dozen hot spots. And a school district in Chicago’s suburbs said it would ship about 250 used Chromebooks to Trico when the computers are replaced after this school year. Read more here. — Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune
6 a.m.: You can learn math and English online, but how about baking or pottery? Hands-on education challenged after COVID-19 closes schools.
As students and teachers across Illinois continue to adjust to the long-distance education prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the learning curve has been steepest for those in hands-on courses, like baking or drivers ed, where classroom conditions are impossible to simulate via email or video chats.
That has forced educators and learners alike to become more resourceful and innovative, though in some cases, there is no substitute for what was left behind when their schools closed.
“They can read about it, but to be in a kitchen with a professional chef showing them what can go wrong, other ways to make their pastry or desserts, that part of it is missing,” said College of Lake County baking and pastry instructor Teresa Novinska. “More of them are making more mistakes that I probably could have caught.” Read more here. — John Keilman
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April 27
Here are five things that happened Monday that you need to know:


chicagotribune--2020-04-29--First UIC nurse dies after testing positive for coronavirus. ‘We were supposed to grow old together

First UIC nurse dies after testing positive for coronavirus. ‘We were supposed to grow old together ... I just got robbed of it.’

The couple married in 1997 , with a courthouse celebration , then again the next year , in a church @ @ @ @ @ In the 23 years since tying the knot , they spent nearly every moment together @ @ @ @ @ long walks and ensuring their two sons , Lawrence , 21 , and Derrick , @ @ @ @ @ .
At the end of each business day , Le Blanc would close a store @ @ @ @ @ Side and open the door of their Darien home , eager to hear the sound @ @ @ @ @ wife .

Joyce Pacubas-Le Blanc, right, is shown with her son Lawrence, from left; husband, Lawrence; and son Derrick. Pacubas-Le Blanc, 53, died April 23 after testing positive for coronavirus. She was a nurse at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. (Family photo / HANDOUT)
It was a love story that began with her smile.
When Lawrence Le Blanc met his future wife, Joyce, on a beach in St. Thomas — he was visiting from nearby British Virgin Islands, she from Illinois — he fell in love with her without her saying a word.
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“She smiled one time," he said. "Ever since then, I’ve been in love with that smile.”
It’s a smile anyone around her knew well, especially her colleagues at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.
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Joyce Pacubas-Le Blanc, 53, died April 23, 13 days after testing positive for COVID-19. She was a nurse for more than 30 years, most recently in the neuroscience intensive care unit at UIC. Pacubas-Le Blanc is one of at least eight known health care workers in Illinois who have died after having the coronavirus. According to the Illinois Nurses Association, which created a fundraiser to support her family, she was the first nurse at the hospital to die after testing positive.
The couple married in 1997, with a courthouse celebration, then again the next year, in a church in front of family. In the 23 years since tying the knot, they spent nearly every moment together, traveling and going on long walks, and ensuring their two sons, Lawrence, 21, and Derrick, 19, saw the world. At the end of each business day, Le Blanc would close a store he owns on the West Side and open the door of their Darien home, eager to hear the sound of the boys and his wife.
“That was the best part of my day, every day,” he said.
He and his sons are struggling to absorb the loss. “It’s very hard on them,” he said. “They were very, very close with mom. They could not have been closer.”
She was, he said, “The best wife any man can ask for, the best friend any man could ask for, the best friend any human could ask for, the best mother my kids could ask for.”
When Pacubas-Le Blanc reported to work, she always brought two bags. Within them were not only what other nurses carried back and forth — her stethoscope, perhaps a change of scrubs — but also items for others. Tylenol in case someone had a headache. A small gift for a co-worker. Her locker was filled with things others might need.
Once, during a staff meeting, recounted her friend and fellow UIC nurse Eileen Fajardo-Furlin, someone was straining to read. “Joyce noticed that something was up, and out of her bag she pulls out reading glasses,” she said. “You didn’t even have to say anything to her.”
At the hospital, she was known as a nurse with a calm demeanor and encouraging attitude. When training new nurses, some staffers were stern, urging them to learn quickly. But Pacubas-Le Blanc was more likely to say something like, “It’s bad today, but tomorrow will be better.” She made sure to get each new nurse’s cellphone number.
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“Even with the ceiling caving in, she will get things done without breaking a sweat,” Fajardo-Furlin said.
She and Fajardo-Furlin met decades ago, when they worked at a different Chicago hospital. They bonded over their love for scrapbooking — both wanted to open a scrapbooking store and use it as an excuse to talk and craft all day. When Pacubas-Le Blanc visited family in California or the Philippines, where she was born, she would bring a scanner to scan old photographs.
By late February, staffers knew the coronavirus would hit Chicago.
“We weren’t really that afraid of it, because it’s a virus. We’ve dealt with viruses before,” Fajardo-Furlin said. But soon, she said they realized, “This is unique in that there’s so much about it that is unknown.”
Patients in their unit were there for surgery. Sometimes, she said, they would be tested for the coronavirus and results would come back positive.
“Nurses are at our best when we prevent things,” Fajardo-Furlin said. “We notice things are changing in a patient, and we prevent it as much we can. We prevent negative things from happening, and we prepare for every single scenario.”
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But she said she does not feel they were prepared for this pandemic.
Every patient was not initially tested for the virus, she said, or treated as though they had it. Since April 16, the hospital started testing every patient.
Michael Zenn, CEO of the University of Illinois Hospital and clinics, said in a statement, “We are deeply and profoundly saddened by the loss of a dedicated and talented member of our UI Health family due to COVID-19. Our thoughts are with her family and friends during this difficult time.”
Le Blanc said his wife quarantined in their bedroom to protect their boys and allowed only him to bring her food. He wore gloves and a mask.
On the morning of April 22, she seemed to feel better, he said. She asked for ice cream. After bringing her some, he left the house. When he returned, he found her upstairs, gasping for air.
After he brought her to the hospital, doctors called him and said they had revived her multiple times. They mentioned making her comfortable because there was nothing else they would be able to do.
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He was able, he said, to sit with her for a couple of hours, “pleading, begging, crying, trying to get her to fight.”
Finally, he went home to console their sons. She died the next day.
“When she was made, the mold got broken,” he said. “She was one and only.”
He appreciates how hard everyone at the hospital tried to save her. He is grateful for all the calls he has received from her friends and work community. “That girl,” he said, “she was loved by everyone.”
With an eye toward retirement, they were in the process of buying a sailboat. She had already invited hospital colleagues on board. “We were supposed to grow old together,” he said. “I was looking forward to that, and I just got robbed of it.”
Inside the hospital, Pacubas-Le Blanc’s gray locker now has two photos of her on the outside, with the familiar bangs and bright smile.
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The locker was always unlocked. Pacubas-Le Blanc wanted people to have whatever they needed. It will remain that way.
One thing has been added.
A sign on it reads, “This has always been and will continue to be a place to find some comfort you didn’t know you needed.”
abowen@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Female teen dies after contracting COVID-19, Will County health officials say

The person is the youngest of the 145 people in Will County who have died of the disease caused by @ @ @ @ @ according to Steve Brandy , spokesman for the Will County Health Department .
The county @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday .

A female teenager has died after contracting COVID-19, Will County health officials said Tuesday.
The person is the youngest of the 145 people in Will County who have died of the disease caused by the coronavirus so far, according to Steve Brandy, spokesman for the Will County Health Department. The county reported nine additional deaths on Tuesday.
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Brandy did not have the young victim’s exact age available. Officials reported the death on Tuesday, but Brandy did not know what day she died.
In addition to that death, one man in his 20s and a man and a woman in their 30s have died in Will County, according to health department data. Most of the county’s deaths were among people in their 70s and 80s.
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Illinois’ coronavirus death toll surpassed 2,000 on Tuesday with 144 more fatalities across the state, officials said.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--JetBlue looks to suspend Chicago flights temporarily as demand plummets amid COVID-19

There still aren ’ t enough people on its flights connecting Chicago to Boston , New York and Fort Lauderdale @ @ @ @ @ JetBlue said .
Load factors , or the percentage of seats sold , have averaged @ @ @ @ @ in April .
Last Wednesday , a flight from Boston to Chicago had five passengers @ @ @ @ @ , it had eight , the airline said .

JetBlue has asked the U.S. Transportation Department for permission to suspend flights to 16 airports, including O’Hare International Airport, amid “near-zero demand for air travel.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel meant to contain it have brought passenger travel to a near-standstill. Still, airlines that took financial assistance from the federal government need to maintain minimum levels of service to cities where they currently fly unless the Transportation Department grants an exemption.
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Earlier this month, JetBlue said it expects to receive about $935.8 million in grants and loans through the federal coronavirus relief package.
JetBlue has already gone from six flights a day to four per week in Chicago, the airline said in its request with the Transportation Department on Tuesday.
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There still aren’t enough people on its flights connecting Chicago to Boston, New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to make them sustainable, JetBlue said. Load factors, or the percentage of seats sold, have averaged below 10% so far in April. Last Wednesday, a flight from Boston to Chicago had five passengers. On the way back, it had eight, the airline said.
JetBlue asked for permission to suspend flights at all 16 airports through Sept. 30. The airline said it intends to gradually resume service “as soon as it is both safe to do so and when even the slightest customer demand re-emerges.”
The airline has not received a response to its request. Earlier this month, the Transportation Department granted JetBlue’s request to suspend service to two airports in Puerto Rico but said it needed to continue serving nine other U.S. airports where the airline asked to halt flights.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Cicero overtakes Des Plaines as Cook County suburb with highest number of COVID-19 cases

In greater Des Plaines , which has a number of COVID-19 cases far exceeding its neighboring communities , the city @ @ @ @ @ manager last week suggested the high number was due to COVID-19 cases in unincorporated areas @ @ @ @ @ zip codes .
Neither provided data that unincorporated residents are testing positive for COVID-19 at @ @ @ @ @ living within the city of Des Plaines municipal borders .

The town of Cicero surpassed Des Plaines this week in confirmed COVID-19 cases, but Des Plaines maintained the highest number of deaths related to the virus among suburban Cook County communities, according the county’s department of public health.
As of April 28, there were 899 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in west suburban Cicero — more than double the number reported a week earlier — and 21 deaths, data from the Cook County Department of Public Health showed.
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In greater Des Plaines, there were 666 confirmed COVID-19 cases among residents and 30 deaths as of April 28, according to the health department.
This week, Cicero town officials announced that at least 163 residents and 31 staff members of a nursing home had tested positive for COVID-19, further boosting the town’s cases.
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In greater Des Plaines, which has a number of COVID-19 cases far exceeding its neighboring communities, the city’s mayor and city manager last week suggested the high number was due to COVID-19 cases in unincorporated areas having Des Plaines addresses and zip codes. Neither provided data that unincorporated residents are testing positive for COVID-19 at greater rates than their counterparts living within the city of Des Plaines municipal borders.
The county does not break down numbers for unincorporated areas. The population of unincorporated Maine Township and Northfield Township, which includes Des Plaines and Glenview zip codes, is about 36,000, according to Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The city of Des Plaines had a population of nearly 58,900 as of 2018, according to census data.
Park Ridge, located next to Des Plaines, had 149 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 15 deaths as of April 28, according to the Cook County Health Department. Mount Prospect, which also shares a border with Des Plaines, reported 221 cases and one death.
The following shows the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases within several North and West suburban Cook County communities as of April 28, with a comparison to the cases reported a week earlier on April 21:
• Des Plaines: 666, up from 458; 30 deaths
• Skokie: 419, up from 335; 16 deaths (as of April 27)
• Evanston: 324, up from 253; 10 deaths
• Niles: 277, up from 162; 27 deaths
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• Glenview: 257, up from 215; 21 deaths
• Elmwood Park: 160, up from 119; 9 deaths.
• Oak Park: 156, up from 136; 8 deaths (as of April 27)
• Park Ridge: 149, up from 108; 15 deaths
• Morton Grove: 127, up from 97; 4 deaths
• Franklin Park, 111, up from 78; 4 deaths
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• Lincolnwood: 95, up from 78; 15 deaths
• Norridge: 86, up from 57; 3 deaths
• Northlake: 84, up from 47; 0 deaths
• Harwood Heights: 49, up from 39; 3 deaths
• River Grove: 46, up from 38; 2 deaths
• Rosemont: 30, up from 24; 0 deaths
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• River Forest: 25, up from 18; 0 deaths
Updated Cook County health department data can be found at ccdphcd.shinyapps.io/covid19.
The Cook County Department of Public Health reports data for all municipalities in the county with the exception of Chicago, Skokie, Evanston, Oak Park and Stickney Township, which have their own local health departments.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Metropolitan Brewing, a Chicago canned beer holdout, finally pivots to cans — in part because of cor

Metropolitan Brewing, a Chicago canned beer holdout, finally pivots to cans — in part because of coronavirus

In 2015 , bottles were used about six times as often as cans to package craft beer , according to @ @ @ @ @ year since , the use of bottles has shrunk and use of cans has grown @ @ @ @ @ maintained only a narrow lead on cans .
In 2020 , can packaging is likely @ @ @ @ @ the trade group has said .

Metropolitan Brewing, which long delighted in holding out against canning its faithful recreations of German-style beers, realized months ago that consumer tastes meant it would finally need to embrace cans.
Coronavirus is accelerating the plan.
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With business down about 90% since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chicago brewery announced Monday it would begin selling five brands in 12-ounce cans, including its two biggest sellers.
Metropolitan Brewing announced April 27, 2020, that it would begin selling five brands in 12-ounce cans. (Metropolitan Brewing )
Metropolitan, which opened with a focus on lagers in 2009, already planned to can three smaller brands in six-packs of 12-ounce cans — Jet Stream Wheat, Stromhaus Helles and Humbucker Dortmunder.
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Coronavirus, and the way beer sales have dramatically shifted toward home consumption, led the brewery to add two brands that comprise more than half its sales: Krankshaft Kolsch and Flywheel Pilsner. Both will be sold in 12-packs of 12-ounce cans in addition to the previous packaging of six-packs of 12-ounce bottles.
When it decided to experiment with canning late last year, Metropolitan did not envision canning its core beers anytime soon, brewery co-founder Tracy Hurst said. However, what began as a niche project has taken on new urgency.
“We need to adapt ourselves in order to survive and this is definitely adapting,” Hurst said. "What was originally going to be a fun thing to boost profits and talk about now will change the face of our packaging.”
As the pandemic has shuttered bars and restaurants, breweries have spent recent weeks pivoting to stay afloat, including curbside sales, beer delivery and virtual tastings. Metropolitan is making one of the most dramatic pivots, by shifting two core brands to a package it has publicly sneered at for years.
Packaging craft beer in cans was almost unheard of 10 years ago, according to the Brewers Association. (Chicago’s Half Acre Beer Co. was among the early adopters by canning its Daisy Cutter Pale Ale in 2010).
However, consumers gravitated to the novelty and convenience of craft beer in cans while brewers touted the benefits, including no light exposure for the beer itself and better preservation due to reduced oxygenation when packaged properly.
In 2015, bottles were used about six times as often as cans to package craft beer, according to the Brewers Association. Every year since, the use of bottles has shrunk and use of cans has grown. In 2019, bottles maintained only a narrow lead on cans. In 2020, can packaging is likely to exceed bottle packaging, the trade group has said.
As Metropolitan remained one of the rare Chicago breweries not to can its beer, Hurst’s go-to quip became, “Lagers have languished long enough in cans.” Avoiding cans was also a counterpoint to the lagers made by the world’s largest beer companies, she said.
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But in November, Metropolitan decided that releasing select beers in cans, especially those being packaged for the first time, could be a smart next step for growth. Hurst cited improved canning technology via mobile canning units — which Metropolitan will use to fill its cans — as well as improved logistics, such as being able to buy and stock fewer cans at a time, as making the time right.
But with bars and restaurants closed and brewery sales down dramatically, cans offered the opportunity for a major and necessary pivot, Hurst said.
“In business we like to think ahead and predict the future, but all that is out the window now,” she said. "You can’t predict a damn thing. You just have to watch what people are doing.”
Jet Stream Wheat will be a seasonal offering and Stromhaus Helles will become a year-round brand. Both will be available in early May. Humbucker Dortmunder, a collaboration with the restaurant Kuma’s Corner, will come out during summer.
Krankshaft Kolsch 12-packs will be released “around Memorial Day,” Hurst said. Flywheel Pilsner 12-packs will debut during summer. Canned six-packs of both beers will also be available at the brewery.
Metropolitan plans to employ mobile canning for the foreseeable future, Hurst said; it is contracting with the nation’s largest mobile canning operator, Iron Heart Canning.
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The brewery would like to buy a canning line of its own, but the sales downturn caused by the pandemic makes that questionable, Hurst said.
“Doing business is different now," she said. “You can only look a few stones across the stream — you can’t look to the other bank right now."
jbnoel@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls state representative’s lawsuit over stay-at-home order a ‘cheap political s

Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls state representative’s lawsuit over stay-at-home order a ‘cheap political stunt’ and decries judge’s ruling as ‘absurd’

“ We ’ ve done a good job in Illinois of acquiring our own supplies , but now the White @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re promising to deliver to us for the month of May about 20,000 @ @ @ @ @ is very important , ” he said during the interview , noting that those will @ @ @ @ @ 12,000 tests per day already being done statewide .

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 a southern Illinois judge issued a temporary order exempting a Republican state representative from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home directive, Pritzker reiterated that restrictions remain in place for the more than 12 million other residents of the state.
"This ruling only applies to one person because it was only ever about one person,” Pritzker said during his daily news conference on the coronavirus, accusing Rep. Darren Bailey of seeking to grab headlines while putting public health at risk.
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Monday’s ruling by a Clay County judge resulted from a lawsuit filed by Bailey that challenged Pritzker’s authority to extend his stay-at-home order beyond the initial 30 days under the state’s Emergency Management Act.
While the judge’s temporary restraining order was limited, Pritzker again gave a full-throated denouncement of Bailey, of downstate Xenia.
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[ Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here's the latest on COVID-19 ]
Rep. Darren Bailey, of Xenia, on the House floor at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield on Feb. 20, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
“This was a cheap political stunt designed so that the representative can see his name in headlines, and unfortunately, he has briefly been successful in that,” Pritzker said.
Calling the court order “absurd,” Pritzker said that “the court set a dangerous precedent.”
“Because of this ruling, any resident can petition to be exempted from aspects of the orders that rely on collective action to keep us all safe,” he said.
The Illinois attorney general’s office is expected to file its formal appeal of the ruling on Wednesday, and Pritzker said he’s confident the judge’s order will be overturned.
[ Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order will remain in place through May 30. But changes are coming. Here’s what you need to know. ]
Pritzker’s comments came as the state reported another 144 deaths, the highest number in a single day since the outbreak began. The statewide death toll now stands at 2,125, officials said.
Officials also reported 2,219 new known cases of COVID-19 — the fifth time in the past seven days that the number of new cases has topped 2,000. There have been 48,102 known cases in 96 of Illinois’ 102 counties.
Nursing homes and long-term care facilities have been particularly hard-hit in Illinois, with a third of all virus deaths tied to facilities across the state.
While the majority of the deaths have been in the Chicago region, Pritzker again noted that Jasper County, which lies in Bailey’s 109th House District, is one of the two counties with the highest per capita death rates from the coronavirus.
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“For those unfamiliar, the 109th District happens to have among the lowest hospital bed availability and ventilators in the state, making it uniquely ill-equipped to respond to a surge in cases," Pritzker said.
Bailey fired back at Pritzker in an interview Tuesday evening, saying “he needs to get back to the business of being governor and quit grandstanding” and allow the Illinois Department of Public Health to manage the response.
“Nobody’s putting anybody at risk,” Bailey said. “Nobody’s changing anything. The reason why I was freed from ... these draconian, tyrannical measures that he’s doing, the reason that I was freed from that, was because his actions are unconstitutional.”
Among other arguments, Bailey pointed to a section of the state’s recently updated “Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan” that says, “IDPH has explicitly delegated its authority to order isolation, quarantine and closure to certified local health departments."
Asked about that line of reasoning, Pritzker pushed back, saying: “There is no quarantine authority that’s being exercised here. There’s a stay-at-home order. There are executive orders that are in place to effectuate the protection of all of our citizens."
Pritzker contends that state law allows him to continue his disaster declaration in 30-day increments as long as the disaster continues.
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“Pandemics, which we have not had in Illinois for a hundred years, pandemics don’t live by a 30-day time frame” he said. “And so all we’re trying to do is to end our … executive orders as soon as possible, but with the thought in mind that we need to keep people safe until we’re able to do that.”
Pritzker plans to sign an extension to the current stay-at-home order, which expires after Thursday, with some modifications that will run through May 30. The order has been in place since March 21 and originally was to be lifted after April 7.
Earlier Tuesday, the governor said he spoke with White House officials and was promised the federal government would provide 20,000 testing swabs per day in May, a boost that will help determine when it’s safe to begin lifting the order.
The White House released a testing “blueprint” Monday night, with testing targets that would ensure states had enough COVID-19 tests available to sample at least 2.6% of their populations monthly.
During a Tuesday morning appearance on the “Today” show, Pritzker said he was grateful for the help but couldn’t resist perpetuating his ongoing battle with President Donald Trump. Pritzker complained the federal government hasn’t done enough to address the crisis. Trump has maintained that it’s up to the states to meet testing goals.
“We’ve done a good job in Illinois of acquiring our own supplies, but now the White House is getting engaged and they’re promising to deliver to us for the month of May about 20,000 swabs per day, which is very important,” he said during the interview, noting that those will be on top of the 12,000 tests per day already being done statewide.
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Asked about the president’s aim to make sure roughly 2% of the population is tested, Pritzker said, “we’re aiming to do much more than that."
"We’re currently among the top 10 states in terms of how many tests we’re doing on a per-day basis and we want to vault ourselves near the top,” he said.
Ramping up testing is “very important when you think in terms of reopening” the economy," Pritzker said, but added that a system of contact tracing — mapping out how a person contracted the virus to understand its spread — is needed.
The Associated Press contributed.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
ldonovan@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Workers at United Scrap Metal in Cicero walk out, asking for more coronavirus safety measures after

Workers at United Scrap Metal in Cicero walk out, asking for more coronavirus safety measures after a colleague dies

United Scrap Metal said in a statement , “ At this point , we can not confirm the details , @ @ @ @ @ to his family members .
All of us at United Scrap Metal ( USM ) @ @ @ @ @ our colleague , friend , and valued member of our team .
”

Worker Alejandro Castillo, center, argues with a supervisor after dozens of United Scrap Metal Inc. employees in Cicero walked out, April 28, 2020, over COVID-19 safety concerns. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Dozens of United Scrap Metal Inc. employees walked out Tuesday morning, asking the company to close the metal recycling plant for two weeks after one of their colleagues died from COVID-19.
Workers want the company to close the facility to deep clean and sanitize the building. They also want to be paid for the two weeks of the plant shutdown, and they want protective gear to be supplied.
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Over 60 workers took part in the walk-out that started at 9 a.m. and continued through the day, said Ramon Gonzalez, 19, an employee at the Cicero-based firm.
The number of workers standing outside varied as shifts changed and after supervisors asked some workers to talk about the issue inside the facility, Gonzalez said.
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United Scrap Metal said in a statement, “At this point, we cannot confirm the details, but our hearts go out to his family members. All of us at United Scrap Metal (USM) are grieving the loss of our colleague, friend, and valued member of our team.”
Several dozen United Scrap Metal Inc. employees in Cicero walk out of their plant on April 28, 2020, over COVID-19 safety concerns. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Dozens of United Scrap Metal Inc. employees in Cicero walk out, April 28, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Raymundo Rodriguez, 56 and a father of six, worked at United Scrap Metal for more than three years and died Monday morning after being hospitalized for COVID-19 over a week ago, his son Leonel Rodriguez, 23, said.
Leonel Rodriguez, his mother, and his siblings stopped by the walkout to support his dad’s colleagues.
When Raymundo Rodriguez found out he had the coronavirus last week after being hospitalized at Stroger Hospital, he immediately called his supervisors to let them know, his son said.
But neither the managers nor supervisors "told anyone until my father, from his hospital bed, called some of his coworkers to tell them,” he added.
Alejandro Castillo, 63, who organized the walkout, has been working at the metal plant for nearly 5 years along with his two sons, Jorge and Jesus Castillo, who are both 41 years old and waiting for their COVID-19 test results.
“He was loved. We are broken and terrified of who could die next,” Castillo said of Raymundo Rodriguez.
United Scrap Metal said the company implemented several safety measures. The firm, which supplies raw material to pharmaceutical, medical, infrastructure, and telecommunications industries, is considered an essential business that can continue to operate under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
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“In addition to enforcing guidance on distancing in the workplace, we invested significant resources in personal protection equipment and workplace sanitation efforts. We also became stronger advocates for our team members to be vigilant about their personal health, safety, and well-being,” United Scrap Metal said in a statement.
The company said it is compensating employees who need to take time off for a physician’s visit, to be treated, or to self-quarantine.
But workers say their supervisors have not provided the proper protective gear, or face masks.
Some workers who couldn’t find or afford face masks were using bandanas, old T-shirts, or rags to cover their faces, Gonzalez said. And many employees who often work close to each other to separate metals and other raw materials are unable to stand 6 feet apart, he said.
A spokesman for the town of Cicero did not respond to request for comment.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @abdel1019
larodriguez@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Orland Park man returning from Germany arrested at O’Hare, charged in 2015 home invasion

Faisal Radi , 35 , of the 14000 block of Trenton Drive , is charged with home invasion for the @ @ @ @ @ incident on the 9100 block of Fairmont Court , in which he is alleged to @ @ @ @ @ the home via a patio door and hit the homeowner in the face with a @ @ @ @ @

An Orland Park man who fled the country a day after a September 2015 home invasion in that village was arrested Friday at O’Hare International Airport after returning from Germany, police said Tuesday.
Faisal Radi, 35, of the 14000 block of Trenton Drive, is charged with home invasion for the Sept. 18, 2015, incident on the 9100 block of Fairmont Court, in which he is alleged to have forced his way into the home via a patio door and hit the homeowner in the face with a handgun, police said.
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Faisal Radi (Orland Park Police)
The homeowner required hospitalization, said Orland Park Police Cmdr. Eric Rossi. He said a cellphone and cash were taken from the home.
Rossi said Radi and the victim had some type of relationship and detectives had identified Radi as the assailant in the case early on, but attempts to locate him were not successful.
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Police obtained a warrant for Radi a few days later, carrying a bail amount of $150,000, with Radi required to post $15,000 to be released. Cook County sheriff records showed he was being held at the county jail Tuesday.
Orland Park police were notified Friday by U.S. Customs officials that Radi was traveling to Chicago from Frankfurt, Germany, and arrested Radi without incident at O’Hare with assistance from Chicago police. Paperwork regarding the outstanding warrant had been filed with Customs after police learned Radi had left the country, Rossi said.
mnolan@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--With financial impact of COVID-19 uncertain, Chicago Public Schools tries to boost its neediest scho

With financial impact of COVID-19 uncertain, Chicago Public Schools tries to boost its neediest schools with ‘equity grants’

“ I ’ m struck by the lack of detail on how the extra burden of the global COVID-19 pandemic @ @ @ @ @ mayor ’ s CPS budget , ” Sharkey said in a statement .
“ … @ @ @ @ @ providing $ 13 million in additional funding to increase nurse , social worker and case @ @ @ @ @ ‘ all-time high.
’ To be clear , that ‘ high ’ remains incredibly deficient @ @ @ @ @ social worker in every school the minute our schools reopen .
”

CPS says it's providing an extra $125 million to individual schools to help improve equity across the district. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Budgets announced Tuesday for individual Chicago public schools include $125 million in additional resources, a small fraction of a typical annual budget for the whole 642-school district.
While Chicago Public Schools officials didn’t say where all that money is coming from and have yet to determine the coronavirus’ impact on the district’s overall finances, they said they don’t anticipate changes to the school budgets released Tuesday.
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“We will continue to monitor the impact that COVID-19 has on our school system, and if there are any impacts to our operational or capital spending for the district, we will release that information with our full operating budget this summer,” said CPS CEO Janice Jackson during a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday.
The “lion’s share” of the new money — $97 million — is set aside for special education services, she said. The budgets also include $18 million to expand free full-day pre-kindergarten and $5 million to help students at neighborhood high schools access college and career “readiness” programs.
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On top of the regular funding, 255 schools identified as those that need the most support will get equity grants totaling $44 million, Jackson said.
District officials said the budgets would be made publicly available after principals review them, and did not immediately provide the total amount allocated to schools, though they say it’s a $125 million increase. The $7 billion CPS budget announced last August included $3.8 million for individual schools.
The district already passed an amended budget for the current school year to reflect provisions of the Chicago Teachers Union contract signed after an 11-day strike in the fall. Those include pay raises for educators and a nurse in every school by the 2023-24 school year, along with more social workers and case managers.
For next school year, CPS budgeted $13 million to hire 55 more nurses, 44 social workers and 40 special education case managers, bringing the total to a “record high” for the district, officials said.
But CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the hiring needs to speed up starting this fall, “not years from now."
“I’m struck by the lack of detail on how the extra burden of the global COVID-19 pandemic will be addressed in the mayor’s CPS budget,” Sharkey said in a statement. “… CPS says it’s providing $13 million in additional funding to increase nurse, social worker and case manager staffing levels to an ‘all-time high.’ To be clear, that ‘high’ remains incredibly deficient without a nurse and a social worker in every school the minute our schools reopen.”
CPS leaders crafted the school budgets considering recommendations from a working group including Board of Education members, current and retired CPS educators and administrators, and teachers union officials. The district also held six public forums on the school budgeting process.
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Along with public feedback, the group’s recommendations “played an important role” in expanding the equity grant program, according to CPS.
The working group’s report, also released Tuesday, notes that the district, which gets most of its local funding from property taxes, does not have enough revenue to adequately fund schools, and “current state funding levels bring CPS to just 66% of the funding it needs to fully fund schools and reach its own definition of equity."
Though local funding has historically been a more reliable revenue source, the report acknowledges that “we cannot forecast future changes to local funding due to the COVID-19 public health crisis.”
While the district expects to get $205 million through the CARES Act, it’s not yet clear if the federal money will lead to reduced state revenues “due to the economic impact of COVID-19,” according to the report.
In light of the stay-at-home order and shift to remote learning, and considering that the CPS budget process is ongoing, the working group made recommendations in three phases.
Immediate and ongoing recommendations include giving more support and resources to principals and local school councils and identifying minimum funding levels for each school.
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“While all budgeting decisions involve trade-offs, the state of underfunding at virtually all CPS schools discourages a strategy in which funds are reallocated from one school to another," states the report.
The second set of recommendations, according to the working group, “should be implemented as soon as is practicable based on the prioritization of the city’s and district’s COVID-19 response." This includes more consistent and meaningful opportunities for community members and underrepresented groups to be part of the school funding conversation.
They also asked for CPS to give more budget information to local school councils and school communities in a way that’s transparent and easy to interpret.
Finally, they recommended measures that could have a “significant structural impact” and would be implemented starting in the 2022 budget year: the creation of adequacy targets for each school, determination of needed staffing levels and resources, and aggressive advocacy for more local, state and federal funding.
“We need to better understand the picture of what adequate funding looks like at different schools across the district," the working group wrote.
Meanwhile, as the report notes, the district has to borrow more than $800 million each year for short-term obligations “and carries long-term debt rated as ‘junk’ by the major rating agencies."
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hleone@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Video shows new details of controversial police shooting at Red Line station — and the scramble by o

Video shows new details of controversial police shooting at Red Line station — and the scramble by officers to tend to the wounded man

In one of the clips , the two officers are shown struggling for several minutes to handcuff Ariel Roman , @ @ @ @ @ in the 500 block of North State Street the end of February after he was @ @ @ @ @ cars of a moving train .
The partners press on top of Roman while repeatedly @ @ @ @ @ .

Warning: graphic content. New video from a police-involved shooting that wounded a man at a Red Line subway station earlier this year was released on Tuesday. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
The independent agency that investigates Chicago police on Tuesday released more than a dozen video and audio clips from a controversial shooting by an officer that wounded a man who had been struggling with her and her partner at a Red Line subway station earlier this year.
While cellphone video was released shortly after the shooting at the Grand Avenue station — with Mayor Lori Lightfoot calling it “extremely disturbing — the new footage provides closer views of the struggle as well as the scramble afterward as officers tended to the man and passengers squeezed by his body on the floor.
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In one of the clips, the two officers are shown struggling for several minutes to handcuff Ariel Roman, 33, on the platform in the 500 block of North State Street the end of February after he was stopped for passing between two cars of a moving train. The partners press on top of Roman while repeatedly demanding that he stop resisting.
A Chicago police officer tells Ariel Roman to leave a Red Line train minutes before a struggle ensued and he was shot. (COPA)
“Please let me go,” Roman says. “I didn’t do nothing to you. I didn’t do nothing to you.”
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“Stop resisting,” one of the officers says, repeating it nearly a dozen times.
He then yells, “Shoot him.”
Roman appears to say, “No, no, no.”
The officer says again, “Shoot him.”
The struggle continues, and the female officer draws her weapon and shouts, “Put your (expletive) hands down."
By this time, Roman is standing up and bends to pick up his coat. He appears to stagger toward a railing in the officer’s direction, and a shot rings out. Roman rushes past her partner and runs up the escalator.
Both officers chase him, and a second shot rings out. “Get down,” the officer who fired yells. “Get (expletive) down.”
A station camera shows Roman falling face down at the top of the escalator. The partner appears to use his radio as the one who fired bends over Roman. Their yellow Tasers can be seen bobbing up the escalator behind them.
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The clips also show a quick, heavy response of officers who tend to Roman while paramedics are on the way.
“Where’s all the blood coming from,” one officer asks as they search for the wound.
“Keep breathing, guy,” an officer says. “Hey, man, breathe, breathe, breathe.”
As the officers work on Roman, the partner tells them that Roman kept fighting them. “He started fighting with us. He wouldn’t stop.”
Roman survived his wound and is suing the city and the Police Department.
Reaction to the shooting by city officials was unusually swift and direct, perhaps driven by the availability of cellphone video taken by a CTA customer.
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Charlie Beck, the interim police superintendent at the time, stripped Officers Melvina Bogard and Bernard Butler, the two officers involved in the incident, of their police powers. The shooting is under criminal investigation by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office with assistance from the FBI.
The officers’ conduct is also under the investigation of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which released the 18 videos, mostly of the aftermath of the shooting, along with six police audio transmissions and four police documents, including the official police reports.
“While critical steps remain, COPA’s investigation into the actions of the two officers are ongoing,” the agency said in a statement. “COPA is committed to conducting a full, thorough and objective investigation before reaching a determination of the appropriateness of the officers’ use of force and is also working in coordination with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 9 Police officers put up crime scene tape at the corner of Grand Avenue and State Street above the CTA Red Line Grand station on Feb. 28, 2020, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The shooting on Feb. 28 was arguably among the most explosive videos the CPD has grappled with since the 2014 killing of teenager Laquan McDonald — an incident that resulted in criminal charges and a second-degree murder conviction for Officer Jason Van Dyke.
In Roman’s federal lawsuit, he said he was suffering from an anxiety attack when he was “harassed, chased, tackled, pepper-sprayed, tasered and shot twice” without justification by Bogard and Butler. His lawyers say Roman was expected to make a long recovery from being shot in the abdomen and buttocks.
Greg Kulis, one of Roman's lawyers, said some of the new videos from COPA were helpful in understanding what happened to Roman.
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“He is not causing an issue. He’s not pushing people. Not aggressive. Not doing anything,” Kulis said. “There was really no reason that I could see to actually grab him and take him into custody in that form or fashion. It’s true to form as to what we’ve alleged in the (lawsuit), there was no reason to use deadly force.”
Kulis said Roman has since been released from the hospital but may need at least one more surgery.
The shooting happened at a time when the Chicago Police Department had added patrols to the CTA’s train system due to a rise in crime there. The following week, a new unit with about 50 officers was activated to specifically address that crime spike.
While police-involved shootings among Chicago cops have dropped over the years, Kulis said the Feb. 28 incident serves as an example of how officers need to be more aware of what's going on around them before choosing to use their guns.
“I think just traditionally there’s a lot of police officers that just skip past some of their training or don’t get the appropriate training. And they think, ‘OK, so he’s resisted me … or pulled away from me, therefore, I can jump to this level and use deadly force,’” Kulis said.
“God forbid (those bullets) went astray and hit another person,” he said. “That would have been even more of a tragedy than what occurred on that afternoon.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--More than 200 residents, staff at Cicero nursing home test positive for COVID-19 as at least 9 death

More than 200 residents, staff at Cicero nursing home test positive for COVID-19 as at least 9 deaths associated with facility

While the state has started distributing weekly reports about cases tied to facilities like the one in Cicero , the @ @ @ @ @ For example , data from the state indicated only five residents had died at City @ @ @ @ @ The Cook County medical examiner ’ s office is reporting a sixth death of a @ @ @ @ @ Those who have died have ranged in age from 59 to 80 ; the first @ @ @ @ @ and the latest confirmed death was April 19 , according to the medical examiner and @ @ @ @ @ ’ s data .

City View Multicare Center is shown March 12, 2021, in Cicero. Workers and residents haven't received COVID-19 vaccinations and the nursing home is dealing with an outbreak. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at a Cicero nursing home continued to climb Tuesday, with officials now reporting eight residents and one worker have died from coronavirus-related conditions.
As of Tuesday, Cicero officials announced that at least 163 residents at City View Multi-Care Center, 5825 W. Cermak Road, had tested positive for COVID-19 following mandated testing at the facility by the Illinois Department of Public Health. In total, there are 320 residents living at City View, meaning the disease has spread to more than half of the population, said Ray Hanania, a spokesman for the town.
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In addition, 41 workers have tested positive, though that number could rise as more test results come back. The facility was still waiting to get results back for 39 other workers. The facility has 250 workers, Hanania said.
Of those who have tested positive, eight residents have died from coronavirus-related conditions, Hanania said. In addition, one employee from the facility who contracted the disease died.
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The number of cases and fatalities at the facility is the latest example of how long-term care facilities across the state are struggling with COVID-19 outbreaks. As of Friday , at least 4,298 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been tied to the facilities, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Cases have been reported in at least 278 long-term care facilities spread across 24 counties in Illinois.
While the state has started distributing weekly reports about cases tied to facilities like the one in Cicero, the data has sometimes varied. For example, data from the state indicated only five residents had died at City View as of Friday. The Cook County medical examiner’s office is reporting a sixth death of a person who lived there. Those who have died have ranged in age from 59 to 80; the first confirmed death was April 4 and the latest confirmed death was April 19, according to the medical examiner and Tribune analysis of the office’s data.
Officials have also cited the nursing home facility with 10 violations, most having to do with workers not wearing proper personal protective equipment, ranging from masks to gowns, Hanania said.
“The goal isn’t to shut it down unless it really becomes a serious problem,” Hanania said Tuesday morning. “Our main concern is their safety. We want to make sure that they are given the proper care.”
City View officials did not respond to request for comment Tuesday.
City View told town officials that it was using three floors to quarantine residents who have tested positive, according to a news release. Hanania said the town had not filed any additional citations as of Tuesday.
“We continue to monitor them,” he said.
COVID-19 has also exacerbated conditions for workers at these type of long-care facilities. Workers at 40 nursing homes in the Chicago area, not including City View in Cicero, plan to walk off the job May 8 amid contract negotiations.
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Chicago Tribune’s Cecilia Reyes contributed.
emalagon@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-28--Fat Rice closes, reopening as Super Fat Rice Mart with meal kits on Wednesday

The Super Fat Rice Mart ( fatrice.kitchen ) touts cook-at-home meal kits , organic produce , Portuguese imports , beer @ @ @ @ @ and prepared take-away items .
Prices range from $ 99 meal kits ( said to @ @ @ @ @ days ) to $ 8.99 - $ 16.99 for imported sauces , conservas , vinegars @ @ @ @ @ site also lists some pantry basics , like peanut butter , guava paste and canned @ @

Fat Rice, the critically acclaimed restaurant in Logan Square inspired by the cuisine of Macau, has closed for the foreseeable future. Co-owners Abe Conlon and Adrienne Lo will re-open the space as Super Fat Rice Mart with meal kits and grocery goods on Wednesday.
After Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed dining rooms statewide on March 16, Conlon and Lo created take home food kits before shutting down the restaurant, bar and bakery completely.
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The Super Fat Rice Mart (fatrice.kitchen) touts cook-at-home meal kits, organic produce, Portuguese imports, beer, wine, Asian imports and prepared take-away items. Prices range from $99 meal kits (said to feed two adults for two days) to $8.99 - $16.99 for imported sauces, conservas, vinegars and pepper paste. The site also lists some pantry basics, like peanut butter, guava paste and canned beans.
The news was first reported by the New York Times.
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