Suddenly I turned around and she was standin’ there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
Come in, she said
I’ll give ya shelter from the storm
Friday, May 15, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
As financial first responders during the coronavirus health crisis, employees of credit unions continue to serve members. While the physical and mental toll can be great, working through a pandemic has given rise to opportunities of connection and kindness for many credit union personnel. In an effort to keep members and employees spirits high, many credit unions are decorating their windows, lobbies, sidewalks, and doors with uplifting artwork and positive messaging. Credit union leadership has generously cared for staff with lunches, treats, and fun incentives to help brighten these dark days.
Credit unions abide by the people helping people philosophy by supporting members, employees, and the community. To learn more about credit unions visit BetterforIllinois.org today.
* Gov. Pritzker began his briefing today by talking about testing. From a press release…
Expanding COVID-19 testing capabilities in the State of Illinois is a crucial part of the state’s plan to Restore Illinois. With increased testing we can make educated decisions that protect our state, our communities and our families. Today, the State is announcing new drive-thru COVID-19 testing facilities will be available in the coming days on Chicago’s southside (May 16), Champaign (May 19), Rolling Meadows (May 20), while drive-thru and walk-up services will be offered in Peoria (May 23). These free community services will be open seven days a week to test individuals with COVID-19 symptoms and those employees who support critical services.
“Not everyone with COVID-19 has symptoms. Without greater testing, it is difficult to know who is infected with this virus. This could mean a person who thinks they are healthy may unknowingly pass the virus to someone else, potentially with deadly consequences. I encourage residents in these areas to take advantage of this opportunity to get tested for free and to take action to help prevent further spread of the virus,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of Illinois Department of Public Health.
All individuals with symptoms are encouraged to seek testing at these Community Based Testing Sites. Additional accommodations have been made for the following individuals with or without COVID-like symptoms.
• Healthcare workers
• First Responders
• Employees of Correctional Facilities
• Individuals exposed to confirmed COVID-19 patients
• Employees that support Critical Infrastructure (grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, gas stations, public utilities, factories, childcare and sanitation)
• All local and state government employees
• Individuals with compromised immune systems, chronic medical conditions
Our current seven day average is 12%. The cumulative statewide positivity rate since way back in February is 16.8%.
Looking back, remember that our peak positivity rate was on April 4, when 23.6% of tests back positive on a rolling average. I would urge caution and reading too far into this decline as there is a strong inverse correlation between the number of tests taken per day, and the associated positive rate, meaning that part of the reason for the lower positivity rate can be attributed to our increased testing.
Remember, we surpassed 10,000 tests per day for the first time on April,24, and we’ve stayed above 11,000 every day since then. Over the last seven days we’ve nearly doubled that, with an average of 20,000 tests per day. The good news is that our current statewide positivity rate, under 14% on average for the last 14 days, that’s likely becoming a better indicator of the true infection rate from the general public than it was when testing was probably limited expanding testing.
Please remember to pardon all transcription errors.
* On to questions. The question was about Iowa and his concerns…
We’re not collecting the data about people who are crossing over from Iowa. But there is a lot of data about people who are gathering together in large groups. We know that there is a widespread positivity rate everywhere in the nation. There are COVID positive people that are walking around, and maybe not taking the proper social distancing or precautions. But either way, I am concerned, I am genuinely concerned that with no stay at home order in place in Iowa people who are traveling across the border and in gathering in large groups or going into restaurants or bars or getting in close contact with others will come back to Illinois and spread it. And there is lots of evidence of that sort of spread taking place not necessarily across that border because there isn’t data about that border in particular, but there’s lots of evidence of asymptomatic spread. And that’s the reason remember originally for a stay at home order. We still have a lot of people are walking around untested, who have COVID-19.
That’s why I’ve told you more testing leads to more positive results. Because we know people are out there but haven’t been tested. They are in fact symptomatic carriers. That’s my concern and I would just warn the people of the Quad Cities region, be extraordinarily careful I would suggest that if you’re looking for the opportunity to get together to do the things that you’ve been doing in the past to go into a retail store or something like that. We’re 14 days away according to the data from you being able to do that and we’ve done so well up to now I hope you’ll continue on the same course.
* In light of you saying you’re worried about neighboring states opening too early and people crossing the border into Indiana and Wisconsin and bringing the virus back to Illinois, have you joined your family at your Wisconsin home and if not, how are they ensuring they don’t bring the virus back to you?…
Well, I am as you know isolated at home. So, I have not joined anybody in another state.
I’m safe at home and I’m not a carrier in any way if that’s your question.
I think that’s part of the question but also if they are out of state how will you then ensure they don’t bring the virus back to you?…
So, let me begin by saying that my wife and my daughter were in Florida before the stay at home, shelter in place orders were put in place. And they stayed there when the orders were put in place, they sheltered in place, as was the order and the suggestion.
And they have since returned home and isolated for a period of time. But they’re home now and they’re safe and no one is a carrier.
I shouldn’t say that definitively because the reality is that anytime you walk out the door, even if you’re wearing a mask I mean there is some possibility that people could become infected. So please don’t assume that someone can’t be a carrier that they think is possible, but we’re taking every precaution.
* Georgia which has a population similar to Illinois and a similar COVID-19 spread pattern is reopened basically and not demonstrating the potential transmission you’ve referenced possible in the past here. Can you say you’re reopening policy is working when it appears other states are outperforming Illinois, in terms of a restart and go back and redo anything to, what would it be?…
Well, I think that ignores a whole lot of different facts about Illinois than about Georgia, or another state. First of all, we have a major global city in Chicago, that has international passengers that were passing through coming to and staying in Chicago and even traveling throughout the state of Illinois, that’s you know that’s a, that’s one fact, to take note of. Another is that whatever the circumstances were or are in Georgia, we know what the pattern of the spread has been in Illinois. We know that the R Naughtthe essentially the rate at which it spreads come way down as a result of the stay at home rules that we put in place the order has really brought that R Naught down from 3.6 around 3.6 all the way down to near one. And that’s tremendous I mean that’s, I can’t speak to what other states R Naught sort of go into because I haven’t watched every state or the particular one you mentioned.
And lastly, I would say that when things open up here’s why it’s important that you have a period of time that you are gradually opening, because you are going to get a higher infection rate that’s just sort of a fact of life in a pandemic with no treatment with no nothing to stop the virus are going to get spread. We are testing, as much as anybody could at this point. Like I said, we’re among the top states for testing. So, we’re finding more people are positive here. But that doesn’t mean there are a lot of people that are positive and other state that aren’t being tested.
Lastly, I would just say that it takes weeks between the time that you open things up. That’s why you want this period of time, and a gradual opening it takes weeks and weeks, between the time that you open things up when people start interacting with one another and maybe you see in the cell phone data of people’s interactions and the time that they end up going to the hospital. The time that they end up on a ventilator and the time that unfortunately they may pass. So, these are all things that are perhaps unique from one place to another, other than the fact that the virus knows no boundaries and the virus only knows that it is sort of searching for the next person to infect.
* What do you say to small charter operators that are asking how a couple can fly to Chicago, take a train downtown, hop a bus to a harbor, and then be refused to board a small boat or a private sightseeing tour of Chicago’s lakefront miles offshore? Is this an entirely arbitrary policy and are you considering loosening those rules?…
The policies around air travel are not set by the state of Illinois. They are set by the federal government. So that’s the first thing when you say people are flying. That’s not under our control that is a decision by the federal government.
Secondly, we obviously a lot of work has been done to try to make sure that the trains, whether they’re, we’re talking CTA RTA or others are cleaned, you know are kept in condition, so that there’s a minimizing of any potential spread, not suggesting that one couldn’t contract it possible it’s possible really anywhere. But if people are taking the proper precautions, then it’s okay.
Now you’re saying, why wouldn’t we allow lots of people on a boat or why wouldn’t we open up Navy Pier, or something like that? The reality is that again when we see lots of people getting together in a single place, and one could easily bring a COVID-19 into that environment and spread it, we’ve seen the circumstances you read stories no doubt about someone who was infected infecting 100 other people in a location with a lot of people in a room in a boat and something else. So all I can say is that we’re doing the best that we can with the rules that we have in place. The orders, really are following the science, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job in Illinois, we have a ways to go, and certainly along the way to completely defeating the virus which isn’t under our control entirely, something that I think medical science and the researchers are going to have to ultimately come up with a vaccine for.
* It sounds to me like what you’re saying regarding like a boat or charter operators, and even if they were able to present a plan that they could do reservation only thoroughly clean boats in between tours allow let’s say only two or four people. It doesn’t sound like you’re at a point where you’re saying you’re willing or able to loosen those rules…
Well, again, we have rules in place now around two people in a boat as a limitation. It’s really for the purposes of advancing, people just as a leisure time want to go fishing and want to have somebody with them and you know the theory is that a typical boat might allow distance between two people in a boat that was at least a recommendation that we received around boating. When you talk about reopening a business, again, I want to reopen everything as fast as everybody else does. But I just want to be clear that when you get a group of people, jammed together in a space. There is potential for spread and we’re trying to avoid that. But in phase three and phase four you can read it yourself, there are opportunities for people to get together in an increasing amount.
* Response to the five Republican congressman who have sent you a letter raising concerns that you threatened to withhold federal funding in the state?…
My response is that they understand, I’m sure that the laws of the state need to be followed, that the executive orders of the state need to be followed and we will pursue enforcement actions wherever necessary, where people are flaunting the health and safety, they’re ignoring the rules that would keep people safe in their communities. So I know those five congressmen and I have spoken with them over the course of my term in office. I know they have the best interests of their constituents at heart but in this case I think they’re missing the point.
* Governor in late April you said the state was monitoring study about antibody tests but you were hesitant to recommend any because of the inconsistency in results. Has anything changed since then?…
There is a lot of work that’s been done, I’d like to turn it over to Dr Ezike because she understands these antibody tests better than I do, but I’ll just say that there is a lot of work that’s been done around these antibody tests and to my knowledge anyway there are quite a number of them that are ineffectual or not really the kinds of tests that will be useful for us. We want to be able to parse between those kinds of tests, which ones are effective which ones not but I’ll turn it over to Dr Ezike for a more informed view.
Dr. Ezike: So we are trying to learn as much as we can, along with the rest of the country and the rest of the world to see how these antibody tests can be a part of our reopening of the state. And so we do, we have just convened a group of experts of hospital epidemiologist, immunologist, biologists, academicians from across the state who will be convening to try to gather some of the information that’s around there and give you official guidance. You’ve probably heard reports from the feds that even if, and I think the WHO has said this publicly as well. But even if we do know that people develop antibodies, it’s not clear how long that protection would last, it’s not clear the level of antibodies that would be protective. So there’s a, I think there’s more questions than answers at this point. But we have some people in the state that have been doing a lot of antibody testing and so I’d like to see what we can garner maybe if there is some useful information, maybe it’s not specific as to okay you’re good to go and you’ll be immune for the next 10 years but maybe there’s some helpful information that can be garnered so we have a very esteemed group that’s convening to gather some information and see what our official guidance will be.
* Under your reopening plan to get to phase four testing must be widely available in each region regardless of symptoms or underlying risk factors. How close is the state to getting to reaching that sort of testing capacity that would allow for that?…
More testing is better and so, what’s the definition of adequate testing. The answer is that we want it widely available and so we, in my view, as we open up more testing sites and as we make available more materials for testing, I think we’re in a much better place. So we’re making a lot of progress I feel like we’re on a path to being in that spot as needed for every region of the state.
* What are your thoughts about the Naperville park district’s plans to pursue legal action seeking authority to reopen summer programming and facilities, independent of the timeline and Restore Illinois?…
Again, all I can say is that they should be following the data and the science here and not their guts. I too would like to allow all children my own included to participate in summer sports and group [garbled]. I hope we’ll be able to do that soon enough as we move through the phases of the plan and the Restore Illinois plan but I recommend against it. And of course you know people have every right to go to the courts. Too many people choose that. I think, in this circumstance and and so you know I realized that the the local officials there are going to do whatever it is that they want to do but I wish they would show some leadership.
* New questions about the whereabouts of your family, do you want to address that?…
Let me first say that I’ve been private and reserved when it comes to my children. And it’s because there are threats to my safety and to their safety. And so you’ve seen that there are people that stand outside the Thompson Center and stand outside the Capitol in Springfield, the whole thing I mean hateful signs that reference me personally, and that suggests, if not say, but suggests potential for violence.
And so, I told you earlier that my wife and daughter were down in Florida in early March, and in fact even a little before that, and you know they sheltered in place when the stay at home order came up and they stayed there until very recently.
So, we have a working farm there [Wisconsin]. There are animals on that farm, that is the central function to take care of animals at a farm and so you know that’s what they’re doing and I would hope that the GOP the Republican super PAC that’s pushing stories like this about my family would stop doing it because they are putting my children and my family in danger.
…Adding… The governor’s office clarified that his family is in Chicago, but they have visited the farm in Wisconsin.
* Has Illinois seen any confirmed cases of reinfection among people who have recovered? Are you following reports of reinfection and do you have any concerns about that?…
Dr. Ezike: Yes, I mean I get as much as I’m able to watch the news, I follow what everyone else has seen and I remember there was initially some cases, I believe it was out of Korea where they cited dozens if not hundreds of individuals who supposedly had been reinfected after an earlier infection. And I think I saw a follow up story regarding that saying that in fact, the test had been positive but it wasn’t active infection so it wasn’t a clear case of reinfection So, again, I don’t have the answers in terms of how long immunity lasts and if people can get reinfected. We know that there are diseases for which people do have lifelong immunity. We know that there are diseases that people receive a vaccine and then that immunity wanes. So again, this is a new virus, I think time is going to have to tell us that as we look around the world and see cases and cases of infection that have happened earlier, we’ll follow those down the road to see if in fact people do have real infection later on down the road. I don’t have the answer but we will continue to follow the science which will give us the answer.
* How many Illinois testing sites are relying on ABS rapid tests? And do we have plans to make changes?…
I want to be clear that the state doesn’t own a whole bunch of Abbott machines. The federal government did send us 15 machines, but they didn’t send us any many cartridges to go with itt o use the machines but they sent the machines. And so we have used some of those cartridges that we received. There are places that are using their own cartridges and as I say, we can’t control what they do. What we can do is look at the data as it comes to us as it gets reported to us, and just make sure we’re aware where that data came from. But, of course, I want to repeat that I want to discourage those folks from using it until they know what the FDA guidance will be to make sure that the sensitivity is proper to get the results that I think we all hope and expect to get from the COVID-19 test.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,432 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 130 additional deaths.
Boone County: 1 male 70s
Champaign County: 1 female 40s
Cook County: 1 male youth, 2 males 30s, 2 females 40s, 4 males 40s, 5 males 50s, 4 females 60s, 8 males 60s, 10 females 70s, 8 males 70s, 18 females 80s, 9 males 80s, 3 unknown 80s, 6 females 90s, 5 males 90s, 1 male 100+
DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 3 females 80s, 1 male 90s
Kane County: 2 females 60s, 1 male 80s
Lake County: 1 male 40s, 2 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s
LaSalle County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s
Macon County: 1 male 80s
Madison County: 1 female 80s, 2 females 90s
McHenry County: 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
McLean County: 1 female 70s
Rock Island: 1 female 90s
Sangamon County: 1 female 60s
St. Clair County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s
Union County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
Will County: 1 female 70s, 4 females 80s, 1 female 90s
Winnebago County: 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 90,369 cases, including 4,058 deaths, in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 26,565 specimens for a total of 538,602. The statewide 7-day rolling positivity rate (positive tests) is 16%.
The Illinois Manteno Veterans’ Home (IVHM) is reporting the passing of a second resident with COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 53 individuals at IVHM have contracted COVID-19, including two cases who have passed away.
With routines disrupted, unemployment skyrocketing and families forced into close quarters for extended periods, domestic violence is tragically on the rise in Williamson County, State’s Attorney Brandon Zanotti said Thursday while announcing a new capital campaign to support victims.
Zanotti said his office compared charges for domestic violence, aggravated domestic violence and order of protection petitions between March 16 and May 13 of this year compared to the same time last year. Zanotti said these filings have “more than doubled” under the stay-at-home order intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Is Mayor Lori Lightfoot planning to close streets and sidewalks so restaurants can safely reopen and give residents a place to run, walk and play? Sure sounds like it.
“People are itching to get outside. Businesses are looking at creative ways to serve customers. The key is how we do it,” the mayor tweeted Friday.
“Stay tuned for some changes to our streets and sidewalks. Transportation is more than just cars. We’ll show how Chicago can be safer and easier to get around.” […]
“The mayor is trying to be very progressive with us. There’s communication going on about maybe closing some streets for outside dining with the tables on the street. That way, we could have social distancing,” [Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia] said.
Since toilet rooms have a lot of high-touch surfaces, door handles, faucets and stall doors, transfer risk in this environment can be high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in the feces of some patients diagnosed with COVID-19. However, it is unclear whether the virus found in feces may be capable of causing COVID-19.
There has not been any confirmed report of the virus spreading from feces to a person. Scientists also do not know how much risk there is that the virus could be spread from the feces of an infected person to another person.
However, they think this risk is low based on data from previous outbreaks of diseases caused by related coronaviruses, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos funnels millions in coronavirus relief funds intended primarily for public schools to private, religious schools
DePaul says it will offer in-person classes in the fall as new committee takes up question for other Illinois universities
Lightfoot urges Chicago faith leaders to observe stay-at-home order
Naperville Park Board votes to take legal action to make its own decisions on reopening
‘It’s like a hurricane came and leveled the entire economy’: Retail sales fall 16.4%, a record
‘Everything we did was to predict the next outbreak.’ Yet scientists at Northwestern and elsewhere weren’t prepared for COVID-19. Why?
COVID-19 hitting hardest in Chicago ZIP codes already struggling with deadly threat of gun violence
StreetWise vendors face empty streets and empty pockets amid COVID-19: ‘Things are hard for everybody. Think how hard it is for those in the streets to survive.’
Woman and her 89-year-old mother both survive COVID-19: ‘I didn’t know if she was gonna live or die’
The Food and Drug Administration is cautioning the public about the reliability of a widely used rapid test for the coronavirus. The test, made by Abbott Laboratories, has been linked with inaccurate results that could falsely reassure patients that they are not infected with the virus.
The Trump administration has promoted the test as a key factor in controlling the epidemic in the U.S., and it’s used for daily testing at the White House.
As first reported on NPR, as many as 15 to 20 out of every 100 tests may produce falsely negative results. A study released this week indicated that the test could be missing as many as 48% of infections.
A rapid coronavirus test made by Abbott Laboratories could be missing infections because of “user error,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday. […]
A recent study from New York University, which has not been peer-reviewed, found the test missed a third of samples collected with nasopharyngeal swabs that tested positive with a test from rival Cepheid.
When using samples collected with “dry nasal swabs,” the Abbott test missed more than 48% of positive cases, the study said. Both nasopharyngeal swabs and dry nasal swabs are collected from the nostril, but the former is inserted much deeper into the nose.
Azar said Friday that users are not supposed to collect the swabs and then “spend time transporting it” to get to the test. He added the company is currently conducting a post-market study as companies do for any emergency use authorization product.
We’re seeing studies being conducted to understand the role of ID NOW in ways that it was not designed to be used. In particular, the NYU study results are not consistent with other studies. While we’ve seen a few studies with sensitivity performance percentages in the 80s, we’ve also seen other studies with sensitivity at or above 90%, and one as high as 94%.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response. Here’s Jordan Abudayyeh…
Illinois uses a wide variety of tests to make up our capacity. We are not overly reliant one specific testing method. IDPH would urge those who are presenting with COVID-19 symptoms who get a negative test result from an ID NOW machine, to obtain a second test to ensure their results are accurate. On a recent call with the White House, Dr. Birx said that Abbott’s rapid test accuracy increases when the swabs go directly from patient to machine with no other delays in the transport and IDPH would urge medical professionals to follow that advice.
The whole thing is designed to be immediate point of use. You get swabbed and then it’s put right into the machine, which is about the size of a toaster.
I was also told that out of more than 538,000 Illinois tests, just over 51,000 were ID NOW tests.
First, it was masks. The federal government sent the surgical variety, instead of the N95 respiratory-grade masks Illinois asked for and needed.
Now, swabs are the issue.
It’s the latest trouble with supplies sent to Illinois by the federal government to deal with the coronavirus. […]
Packages marked “Comforts for Baby: Cotton Swabs” arrived in a cardboard shipping box; 180-count packs that look the same as what Illinois received are selling for $1.50 on Instacart.
“What are we supposed to do with these?” a spokeswoman with the Pritzker administration said. “Not helpful.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday that despite the label, the swabs are in fact made of the polyester variety used for COVID-19 tests. […]
Upon inspection, a spokeswoman for Pritzker’s office said state public health workers found the swabs are, in fact, made of polyester rather than cotton.
But these swabs are short – the same as a Q-tip, or about the length of a finger.
Swabs used to test for COVID-19 are typically longer, roughly double in length, in order for a person to hold onto the stick end while pushing the tipped portion unsettlingly high into a nostril.
* This has been bubbling for a while. Sen. Duckworth is a solid person. Biden has said he will choose a woman running mate, but Illinois is already in the bag for the Democrats and I’m not sure that she helps drive African-Americans to the polls, so we’ll see…
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is going to interview soon for the post of former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate, her fellow Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Friday.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has said he will select a woman as his running mate and announced a vice presidential search committee late last month. In recent days, speculation about Duckworth as a possibility has steadily increased as the senator has been more visible on television in recent weeks and participated in virtual events for the Biden campaign.
Asked Friday morning in Chicago about whether he thought Duckworth was a realistic possibility as Biden’s VP pick, Durbin indicated she was under consideration.
“I support Tammy Duckworth. She’s spectacular, a great colleague and I hope that she fares well in this interview, which I think is going to take place soon,” Durbin said outside the Cook County Hospital after he visited a COVID-19 testing facility. “And I’m totally in support of her.”
This is Illinois-related, but it’s also presidential politics. So take a very deep breath or three before commenting, please. Thanks.
U.S. factory production plummeted in April by the most in records back to 1919 as coronavirus-related shutdowns exacted a bigger toll on the economy.
Output slumped 13.7% from the prior month after a revised 5.5% decrease in March, Federal Reserve data showed Friday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 14.6% decline. Overall industrial production — which also includes output at mines and utilities — dropped 11.2% in April. […]
The Fed’s report also showed capacity utilization, which measures the amount of a plant in use, slid to 64.9%, the lowest in records back to 1967. At manufacturers alone, utilization dropped to 61.1%, an all-time low in data to 1948.
Motor vehicle production slumped to a 70,000-unit annualized rate, compared with 11 million two months earlier, the Fed said.
Retail sales plunged 16.4 percent in April, a record drop and another reflection of how severely the coronavirus pandemic continues to stifle the U.S. economy.
Data released Friday from the Census Bureau blew past analyst expectations, smashing March’s revised decline of 8.3 percent. Shoppers may continue to hunt for cleaning supplies and other basic pantry items, but consumer spending, which typically drives 70 percent of the nation’s economy, remains largely hollowed out. U.S. stock futures fell off the retail news Friday morning.
The April figure reflects the weeks in which most states were still shut down. Last month, 20.5 million people abruptly lost their jobs and the national unemployment rate jumped to 14.7 percent, the highest level since the Great Depression.
Across the country, worries about having enough to eat are adding to the anxiety of millions of people, according to a survey that found 37% of unemployed Americans ran out of food in the past month and 46% said they worried about running out.
Even those who are working often struggle. Two in 10 working adults said that in the past 30 days, they ran out of food before they could earn enough money to buy more. One-quarter worried that would happen.
Those results come from the second wave of the COVID Impact Survey, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Data Foundation. The survey aims to provide an ongoing assessment of the nation’s mental, physical and financial health during the pandemic. […]
Overall, those who are still working are highly confident they will have a job in one month and in three months, with more than 8 in 10 saying it’s very likely. But among those who aren’t working because they are temporarily laid off, providing care during the pandemic or looking for work, just 28% say it is highly likely that they will be employed in 30 days and 46% say it’s highly likely they’ll be working in three months. Roughly another quarter say it’s somewhat likely in 30 days and 90 days.
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll of more than 8,000 adults in late April and early May found that nearly 6 in 10 Americans who are working outside their homes were concerned that they could be exposed to the virus at work and infect other members of their household. Those concerns were even higher for some: Roughly 7 in 10 black and Hispanic workers said they were worried about getting a household member sick if they are exposed at work.
GOP lawmakers said they will wear face coverings, submit to COVID-19 tests and temperature checks and follow other safety measures when they return to Springfield
Um, the paper didn’t talk to the “right” Republicans.
* A spokesperson for Reps. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) and Chris Miller (R-Oakland) told me this morning that the three Eastern Bloc members will refuse to wear face coverings during session next week.
But, if they don’t wear a mask then they won’t be allowed inside the Springfield convention center, where the House will meet. From the House’s special session plan…
All persons admitted into the building must wear a face covering at all times. Cloth masks will be provided to members and staff.
No person is entitled to the floor unless appropriately attired.
That’s never really been enforced, but I suppose it could be used next week.
The Senate has long had the same language in its own rules and it’s been strictly enforced over the years. Jackets and ties are required for men. Gov. Jim Thompson showed up on the Senate floor in a golfing shirt many moons ago and was asked to leave. Before the chamber was remodeled, a sign greeted reporters entering each press box entrance: “Gentlemen must be appropriately attired.” I tried getting one of those signs during the remodeling, but somebody else beat me to them.
* The Senate is meeting at the Statehouse next week and Senate President Harmon’s spokesman John Patterson said the chamber will use the rule to enforce the face-covering policy. Also, you’ll need to be wearing a mask to enter the Statehouse.
I asked Speaker Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown today what would happen if a member took off his or her mask after passing through security. Would the attire rule be enforced? Brown downplayed that possibility and said Madigan was hoping all leaders would encourage their members to abide by the policy. House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s spokesperson Eleni Demertzis said her boss had already done that and was planning to remind them again today.
* Anyone can sue anyone for anything, but the likely success of a lawsuit challenging a floor access policy appears dim. This is from the Seventh Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals in Reeder vs. Madigan…
The defendants’ decisions to deny press credentials to Reeder were inseparable from their core legislative activities. They were intimately related to the shared goal of the Illinois Senate and House to regulate access to the floors of the state House and Senate. The defendants are thus entitled to absolute legislative immunity from suit in this case, and we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court to this effect.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced today that beginning Tuesday, May 19, seven facilities will be offering drive-through services for vehicle registration sticker transactions ONLY. This is the first step in a comprehensive reopening plan that will be announced shortly and will include the proper protections for customers and employees, such as PPE and social distancing.
The seven drive-through facilities are Chicago North, Chicago South, Chicago West, Rockford-Central, Macomb, Springfield-Dirksen and Tilton. These facilities were selected due to the configuration of the buildings which allowed for drive-through transactions. All employees will wear face masks and customers are encouraged to do the same.
“My commitment is to do everything we can to help protect the health and safety of our residents, while providing services to the people of Illinois,” said White. “This first step in a reopening plan adheres to this commitment.”
• Hours of operation at Chicago North, Chicago South and Chicago West will be Monday 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cash will not be accepted.
• Hours of operation at Rockford-Central, Macomb and Tilton will be Tuesday 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to noon.
• Hours of operation at Springfield-Dirksen are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
White continues to urge the public to renew their vehicle registration stickers online at www.cyberdriveillinois.com for those customers that can do so. Since mid-March, more than 600,000 people have renewed their stickers online, an increase of approximately 65 percent. Many customers may also renew their driver’s license online through the Safe Driver Renewal program, as well as obtain duplicate driver’s licenses and ID cards.
White is reminding the public that all expiration dates for driver’s licenses, ID cards and vehicle registrations have been extended at least 90 days after Driver Services facilities reopen.
White also reminded the public that the federal government extended the REAL ID deadline by one year. White had petitioned the federal government for this extension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The deadline is now October 1, 2021.
Whenever a crisis hits, it is the most vulnerable among us that are hit the hardest. This is happening now to poor families involved with the Department of Children and Family Services.
Since March, when the COVID-19 pandemic intensified, children who were taken from their parents by DCFS have not been allowed to have supervised visits with each other or their siblings. In a blanket order, DCFS banned all supervised visits between children, parents, and siblings.
Banning supervised visits significantly harms the bond between parent and child and sets vulnerable families up for failure. […]
Many parents have very young children who cannot communicate via phone or video conferencing, and because of this ban they are deprived of the opportunity to see, touch and hold their young children. Even mothers who breastfeed their infant children are prevented from doing so. […]
Supervised visits can be done in a safe way, like all the other acceptable activities permitted during the shelter-in-place order. If we can safely prepare and distribute food, we can safely allow parents and their children to visit one another.
On March 25, DCFS suspended in-person supervised visits between parents and children in foster care because of COVID-19. The policy says phone and video conferencing can be replacements while the state is under a stay-at-home order.
Wednesday’s complaint takes a different view, including that of a clinical psychologist who warns that video and audio calls fail for children under three years old, because children that age depend on physical proximity. Mothers in the legal complaint say the lack of contact with their children is creating emotional harm.
Aaron Goldstein is chief of the civil division of the Cook County Public Defender’s office, which represents parents trying to reunite with children removed from their custody. He said even when the governor lifts the stay-at-home-order, problems remain in a system overwhelmingly poor and black.
“That means we will have had close to two months of no visits for a lot of families, and then how does that play into their case going forward?” Goldstein said. “So even if [the stay-at-home order] ends on May 31, it doesn’t end for our clients, as their case continues and potentially has some serious, serious negative impacts on reunification of bringing these families back together, which in theory is the goal of this system.”
DCFS spokesman Jassen Strokosch said the agency and its partner were finding “creative ways” for supervised visits with the aid of technology, and that judges in some counties were making allowances to facilitate in-person visits.
“We understand people’s frustration, but we want to do what’s in the best interest of children,” he said. “That includes taking into consideration parents’ needs and in maintaining a relationship and also keeping everyone safe.”
Cook County Judge Patricia Martin, who presides over Child Protective courts, said judges still are hearing “emergency” cases. While she has sympathy for parents and children in her court, Martin is trying to adhere to guidelines from DCFS and the Centers for Disease Control by limiting in-person contact, including the number of court hearings she allows. The court, she said, is looking to broaden the list of issues eligible for emergency hearings as soon as this week.
On Thursday, her office argued before Judge Caroline Kate Moreland for an emergency motion declaring the DCFS policy “unlawful.”
“Maintaining a parental relationship with one’s child is a fundamental human interest,” argued Assistant Public Defender Aaron Goldstein, adding these visits could be conducted safely with masks, social distancing and temperature screenings to protect against COVID-19. […]
But attorneys representing DCFS and the Cook County public guardian argued the case should be dismissed, claiming the suit has no merit and accusing the public defender of “forum shopping” as there’s already a prior pending case in juvenile court raising the same issues.
“The notion that DCFS is defying court orders is frankly fundamentally wrong,” Assistant Attorney General Barbara Greenspan said during Thursday’s hearing. The balance the DCFS had struck between safety and visitation ability is the “appropriate one,” she said.
…Adding… Believe it or not, the Cook County Public Guardian sided with DCFS. From his brief…
The world is in the midst of a global pandemic the likes of which has not occurred for over a century. The DCFS policy at issue requires that caseworkers identify alternative ways to allow parent/child contact during this crisis, and specifically mentions videoconferencing, telephones, etc, to continue meaningful contact during the public health crisis. The children agree with plaintiffs that the electronic visitation in the absence of in-person contact is not ideal. However, it cannot be said that the DCFS policy is patently unreasonable under the circumstances. The policy strikes a balance between the health and safety of the children, the plaintiffs, the involved caseworkers, the childrens’ caregivers and the public, and is consistent with the Governor’s emergency stay-at-home order.
U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood (IL-18), John Shimkus (IL-13), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Rodney Davis (IL-13), and Mike Bost (IL-12) sent a letter today to Congressional Leadership urging that Congress take action to prevent governors from withholding federal funds appropriated by Congress for local municipalities that allow their small businesses to reopen in accordance with federal health guidelines, but ahead of arbitrary timelines outlined by states.
Following last week’s announcement of the “Restore Illinois” plan by Governor Pritzker, the Illinois Republican delegation heard from mayors, sheriffs, county board officials, and constituents with deep concern that the current guidelines outlined by the state will cripple the livelihoods of communities downstate. Many municipalities have laid out thoughtful, safe, and reasonable plans to reopen their communities within the federal guidelines. However, Governor Pritzker this week threatened to withhold federally appropriated funding localities that safely try to reopen in accordance with those guidelines, but ahead of his arbitrary timeline. As Congress debates additional relief legislation, the Congressmen released the following joint statement:
“One of Illinois’ great strengths is our regional diversity, and Illinoisans of all backgrounds have stepped up to slow the spread of COVID—19 and flatten the curve. Small businesses, workers, and community leaders that we represent take this virus seriously and they are prepared to take unprecedented measures to safely reopen their local economies. That’s why it’s disappointing that Governor Pritzker threaten to withhold federal funding that Congress appropriated to provide relief to those in need.
“The federal government and Congress have done a great deal to support Illinois during this challenging time. We don’t believe our governor, or any governor, should have the authority to prevent federal funding they receive that Congress appropriates from flowing to communities fighting for their livelihoods and abiding by the federal health guidelines. We urge Congress to take action and stand ready to work with our colleagues to continue providing the federal relief Illinois needs.”
While Congress should consider prohibiting Illinois from raising income taxes on small businesses as a condition of state aid, we urge you to act immediately to ensure no governor can withhold federal funds appropriated by Congress for local municipalities that allow their small businesses to reopen in accordance with federal health guidelines
* Related…
* Fact-check: Downstate congressman’s claim about Chicago’s share of Illinois COVID-19 cases is 100% wrong
After granting the troubled nursing home industry legal immunity through an executive order last month, Gov. JB Pritzker backtracked slightly and ordered that the industry can only be protected from civil liability lawsuits involving Covid-19.
On Wednesday, Pritzker eased the extension of an April order to include nursing homes in an executive order granting immunity for hospitals from lawsuits for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis. Nursing home reform advocates blasted the governor, saying he was protecting an industry rife with elderly abuse.
“To give an industry with a long history of neglect, abuse, poor staffing, poor infection control and non-preparedness for a situation like this…is a very bad idea,” said Steve Levin, a Chicago attorney who specializes in cases involving elder abuse. “It’s essentially giving them a get-out-of-jail free pass for past and current misconduct.”
Those protections now only apply to cases involving the diagnosis, treatment and transmission of Covid-19. Additionally, protections are only available to facilities that provide widespread testing of residents and staff at the homes.
Ann Spillane, Pritzker’s chief legal counsel, denied the original order was about protecting the nursing home industry from legal trouble. She suggested it was intended to address deaths that were likely to occur in facilities that were not originally designed or equipped to handle outbreaks the size of a pandemic.
“We’re asking them to go outside their normal comfort zone,’” Spillane said.
She added that, in April, there was a real danger of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities not accepting Covid-19-positive patients out of fear of liability, a situation that may have overwhelmed nearby hospitals.
However, advocates for nursing home reform say extensions should never have been extended to nursing homes in the first place, especially given the industry’s troubled reputation over many years.
Roosevelt Journigans hasn’t left his workplace in 30 days, and he just signed up to extend that streak to 45 days before he finally goes home again.
Journigans is among 120 employees of Trinity Services Inc. who during the COVID-19 pandemic have moved into residential facilities for developmentally disabled individuals in Illinois to reduce the risk of transmitting the disease.
Instead of eight or nine different staff members a day coming and going across three eight-hour shifts at the Joliet care home where he works, Journigans and two other women left their own homes behind to live 24/7 at the facility for a month.
“At first I wasn’t interested,” said Journigans, 63, who normally lives with his sister in Lockport. “It worked out pretty good.”
It’s quite a personal sacrifice, albeit one that comes with additional compensation of overtime pay and bonuses.
The sacrifice also is made easier by the special relationships that often exist between residents and workers.
“You develop bonds with them. I always worry about them. Basically, we are their family,” he said.
The so-called “stay in place” approach requires workers to cut themselves off physically from the community, almost as if they were working on an oil well at sea.
And it appears to have worked. According to Brown, just six cases and one death have occurred at Trinity’s 100 facilities.
These workers, by the way, are AFSCME Local 2690 members. Journigans is the local president.
…Adding… Kathy Carmody, the CEO of the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities…
Hi Rich –
Below is an excerpt from The Institute’s testimony on Wednesday before the Senate Healthcare and Human Services Workgroup. Agencies that have moved to this staffing model are literally saving the lives of some of our most vulnerable Illinoisans. Roosevelt Journigans and others like him across the state are truly deserving of our praise and appreciation.
Community organizations supporting people in residential settings, like other sectors of the health care industry, have been forced to adapt to the current landscape and make significant changes to their business and service models. In an effort to reduce exposure among CILA residents (nearly 30% of whom are age 60+ and many of whom have co-morbid conditions), agencies have changed their staffing model where possible from a shift-staff to a live-in model. This model greatly reduces exposure and risk however it is a costly proposition which cannot continue indefinitely. In addition to paying overtime and premium wages to staff working under the live-in model, organization are also paying staff who are not working regular wages to retain them. While this approach has indisputably saved lives, it is not a long-term sustainable staffing model. You may have read the article in today’s Chicago Sun Times about Trinity Services, an Institute member and their heroic team member Mr. Roosevelt Journigans who has been living in a Trinity facility for over a month with 2 more weeks still to go. In addition to the live-in model, organizations have widely implemented enhanced wages to staff working during this period in recognition of the risks they are exposed to on a daily basis. While our direct support workforce is as heroic and essential as other members of the healthcare sector, they unfortunately, are not as identifiable as many of their peers in that space.
I will be traveling to Springfield for a few session days to pass a budget and needed COVID related legislation. Before we go it has been advised to get a COVID test even though I have no symptoms. There is no drive thru testing in DuPage county. Perhaps that may be one reason there is a perception that DuPage does not have as many cases. It took me all afternoon to set up to be tested tomorrow morning and that is by going to Melrose Park. The DuPage appointment only sites could not do anything until next week. It should not be this difficult to get a test!
Please keep it Illinois-centric and try to be nice to each other.
Will the state take any additional steps to enforce the stay at home order now that more county sheriffs are refusing to step in?…
You’ve heard us talk about that yesterday. So the answer is, I’d refer everybody to what I said yesterday about the fact that not only should people follow this, but there will be consequences. Also know that there were leaders in the legal community this morning that spoke about the challenges that will be brought to those local law enforcement to local governments and to businesses that are open, because they’re putting people at risk, they’re making their communities unsafe, and they’ll be subject to liability as a result.
* Illinois Sheriffs’ Association…
Illinois Sheriffs have been elected by their local citizens to keep their communities safe, a trust that every sheriff and sworn law enforcement officer holds dear. It is outrageous that the Governor is threatening retaliation against these leaders and the men and women of their offices. He is insulting heroic police officers, corrections officers and local voters.
*** UPDATE *** The Association’s president is Wayne County Sheriff Mike Everett. That’s the home of Fairfield’s Barb Wire Grill.
The House Democratic Women’s Caucus has established an elections work group, chaired by Representative Katie Stuart, with members Representative Carol Ammons, Representative Deb Conroy, Representative Terra Costa-Howard, Representative Eva Dina Delgado, Representative Mary Edly-Allen, Representative Robyn Gabel, Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Representative LaToya Greenwood, Representative Diane Pappas, and Representative Ann Williams. As we prepare to return to Springfield and vote on legislation that will impact the 2020 General Election, we request to be included in discussions about any legislation and that our suggestions be considered for inclusion in any bill.
There is much discussion about Illinois adopting a mandatory vote-by-mail (VBM) program; however, with less than 6 months to go, it has become clear that our election authorities are neither equipped nor financially able to mail a ballot to every elector. However, there are many steps we can take to encourage and facilitate greater participation in VBM and early voting for this upcoming election while we continue to work toward a statewide VBM program. In the meanwhile, the House Democratic Women’s Caucus has designated a top priority for the General Assembly to consider the for the 2020 General Election:
Make Election Day a state holiday. This requires all government and schools to close on November 3rd for the election. This allows election authorities the ability to use the schools. The bill can include language that subject to availability of federal funds, election authorities can seek reimbursement from the State Board of Elections to cover the costs of deep cleaning the facilities.
In addition, the Caucus suggests the General Assembly also consider the following changes for the 2020 General Election. The items below have been identified as high priority by the members of the Caucus, as such, should we not be able to have them included in legislation for our return next week, they will remain as priority items for our caucus and we request they be considered during subsequent sessions.
1. Require election authorities to send applications to individuals who have previously participated in an election. Any person who has requested a ballot, whether in person or via VBM, in the past X elections will be sent an application.
2. Conduct a campaign to encourage VBM. Require State Board of Elections (SBE) to do follow up mailers to those who received applications, those who newly register, and those who interact with the State. Another idea is to require state agencies to include language encouraging people to register to vote and vote prior to election day, either by mail or in person.
3. Allow new registrants to automatically request a VBM. This saves a step for new registrants. It requires the SBE to include a checkbox on the online registration form and transmit to the election authority (this should not be difficult).
4. Allow for curbside voting. Give election authorities the ability to assign 2 election judges to go to a car and allow a person to vote, typically via VBM. This will ensure people who cannot physically go into a polling location have a chance to vote, and provide a safety net in the event in person voting on election day becomes too dangerous.
5. Allow people to begin submitting applications for VBM now. Under current law a person cannot apply until August 5th. If we expedite the beginning, we have more time to urge people to apply for a VBM and more time to track down those who haven’t applied for a ballot.
6. Give DPH or local health departments authority to establish safety rules for in person voting. The bill can include language that, subject to availability of federal funds, local public health departments or election authorities can seek reimbursement for costs associated with providing PPE or cleaning supplies to election authorities.
7. Clarify that election authorities can begin processing, but not tabulating, VBM ballots before Election Day. Clarify that Section 19-8 allows election authorities to take all steps necessary to prepare and process returned VBMs, except actually tabulate the vote. The purpose is to make it clear they can conduct as much of the process in advance, without disrupting the integrity of the final ballot.
8. Allow election authorities to establish an election day voting center that would permit any elector to vote. This would be an exception to the in-precinct voting rule but provide a possible backup if a polling location is closed or lines are too long.
9. Require a panel of 3 election judges to review each VBM and require 2/3 in order to invalidate any VBM. This ensures both political parties have someone reviewing and signing off on any rejections. The language could establish a presumption that the VBM is valid unless it clearly lacks the requirements (e.g. no signature, already voted)
10. Create an election judge recruitment program. Create a program that encourages people to serve as election judges in the hopes we can fill the various spots and keep older, more vulnerable individuals from having to serve as judges. A few things that can be included, all limited to the 2020 election: (1) allow anyone 16 or over to serve as an election judge; (2) require high schools and colleges to provide notice to students of the opportunity to serve as an election judge and encourage participation; (3) require IDES to provide notice to any individual collecting unemployment of the opportunity to serve as an election judge during the early voting period and on election day; (4) require businesses to give employees serving as election judges paid leave paid leave to serve as election judge; (5) require constitutional amendment booklet to include notice about voter registration, requesting a VBM, and serving as an election judge.
The House Democratic Women’s Caucus intends to be active over the coming months and will be providing the public with information about the 2020 General Election. We look forward to working with you and your staff as we move forward.
State police stormed a Carlyle bar and shut it down on May 8, according to a complaint challenging Gov. JB Pritzker’s virus order.
Dookie’s Set sued Pritzker in Clinton County court on May 11, asserting that he didn’t identify his constitutional power to seize control. […]
In the complaint for Dookie’s, [attorney Thomas DeVore] alleges that deeming the bar a health risk was arbitrary and capricious.
He wrote that at no time did the local health department investigate Dookie’s regarding suspicion of contamination with any infectious disease. […]
He wrote that before 1 a.m. on May 8, “eight armed Illinois state troopers stormed Dookie’s premises.”
“When one of the state troopers curtly asked Dookie’s why it was reopening in violation of Pritzker’s order, the owner told the trooper he needed to feed his family,” he wrote.
“At no time prior to storming Dookie’s premises did the state police advise the Clinton County sheriff’s department of its intentions.”
* I checked in with the Illinois State Police…
On May 8, 2020, ISP District 11 was notified by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office that the Dookie Set located in Carlyle, IL was open and operating. ISP responded to the business and took the approach that ISP has taken consistently throughout this crisis – talking with the owner about the importance of the executive orders in protecting the public health by preventing the spread of COVID-19. ISP provided the owner with documents, including a cease and desist order.
In responding to calls about open bars, ISP works with the Illinois Liquor Control Commission which has authority to take action on the state liquor license of an establishment found to be unlawfully operating. The ILCC’s cease and desist order affords a licensed liquor establishment the opportunity to come into compliance before the ILCC moves forward with due process which, in this type of instance, could include imposition of a fine, or revocation or suspension of the establishment’s state liquor license issued by the ILCC.
The ISP will continue to act as community caretakers, working to educate citizens and businesses about the critical importance of the Stay and Home Executive Order in preventing the spread COVID-19 and urging voluntary compliance. While the goal is voluntary compliance, citizens should be aware that non-compliance with the Executive Order can result in criminal and civil sanctions.
So, they didn’t come storming in without notifying the county sheriff. And of course they were armed. They were on duty. Who would expect otherwise? Also, this was about the liquor commission, not the public health department.
On to questions. On the IDPH website as of today, all regions are currently meeting the state’s metrics to move to the next phase of reopening May 29, I believe, obviously, this might change, but can you confirm that that is the case, including the Northeast Region?…
Every region is so far meeting all the metrics. Remember that they need to go through a time period and there needs to be an averaging of those metrics during that time period. You can see all the metrics on the IDPH website, but that is true and that on the website you can see that Chicago and the region surrounding Chicago has now dropped dropped below 20%, in terms of positivity rate and that’s a gating factor for moving into the next phase.
Remember to pardon all transcription errors.
* Why should counties and cities, they feel as if they’re being punished by being lumped in with Cook County. The Suburbs want to separate. I’ve spoken to several mayors, we’ve also seen several law enforcement, Kane county a couple of different counties are saying they’re going to ignore the rules, what any wiggle room any tweaking of the plan to let some of these regions perhaps be redesigned?…
You know the last question sort of begins to answer this question. The answer to the last question does anyway you can see that every region is poised, if it maintains the metrics that attempt now to move into phase three in a few short days, I mean literally we’re talking about 14 days. So I think it’s useful though to note that, look, you could have drawn regions in virtually any which way and I’ve said it before, but I want you to pay attention to the reason that we drew the regions, as we did.
Start with the fact that people who live in one area don’t necessarily stay in that one area the entire time. They travel outside of the county that they’re in or the city that they’re in and the immediate area and they do that frequently and so we had to account for that as we were drawing regions. Secondly, IDPH uses 11 EMS regions. We asked our medical teams to kind of give us their feedback about how the regions interact with one another and, when they need to move around resources and how do those regions interact. They came back to us and told us that these are the pairings of regions and that worked well together. And then finally, there’s almost any way to draw this map, there are people you know who live in one area who say, Gee, I don’t know anybody who’s been who’s contracted COVID-19, and therefore, you know, my little area should be led out of some region. But the reality is this is about healthcare resources and making sure that if something bad happens like a surge. [And then his wifi cut out.]
* Will the state take any additional steps to enforce the stay at home order now that more County Sheriff’s are refusing to step in?…
You’ve heard us talk about that yesterday. So the answer is, I’d refer everybody to what I said yesterday about the fact that not only should people follow this, but there will be consequences. Also know that there were leaders in the legal community this morning that spoke about the challenges that will be brought to those local law enforcement to local governments and to businesses that are open, because they’re putting people at risk, they’re making their communities unsafe, and they’ll be subject to liability as a result.
* Leader Brady from Bloomington is asking for perhaps a meeting to sit down, wants to have hearings wants to play a role in the Restore act, a public hearing….
Well, as you know, not only am I isolated right now because of the COVID-19 positive case in our office, but nobody is really getting together in groups of 10 or more. It’s against our stay at Home Rule. And so I’m very happy to have conversations with members of the opposite party, and with members of the General Assembly. And I’ve been doing so every single day. Indeed, Leader Brady has my number, I speak with him quite frequently. So there’s no lack of communication. He knows where I stand, I’ve answered questions, my staff has answered questions. His members have had, we’ve you know responded by giving data and information whenever asked so not sure what he’s missing out on. It sounds like grandstanding to me.
…Adding… From Leader Brady…
My caucus and I take the lives of our residents, and their livelihood, seriously. The public has a right to know how the decisions impacting their lives are being made. This is not about grandstanding; this is about transparency.
* Amy Jacobsen WIND radio says more and more county leaders and local mayors are disregarding your plan to reopen or moving ahead with their own plans. You and Mayor Lightfoot are threatening to use force to ensure compliance, but at the same time, you’ve released 1000 inmates from prison including 64 convicted murderers. Do you see the disconnect between these two positions? And with the cases in prisons leveling off, will you then be returning those inmates?…
Well that’s a loaded question if I ever heard one. Let’s start with this. Nobody is, you know, sending police forces in to break up activity across the state. What we are doing is enforcing, using lots of different methods by enforcing using our licensing capability and our ability to pull licenses for businesses. We’re using our ability to make sure that that you know the towns that are following this and funded properly and those that don’t, don’t. And so there are lots of ways in which we can enforce we will continue to work on that enforcement. And we would just once again suggest I would suggest towns and leaders elected leaders do your job. Lead. Be the person that they elected, who is supposed to be protecting your community, don’t fall prey to the rhetoric that’s out there that says oh let’s just open up this virus doesn’t affect anybody like me. You’re wrong.
* Are the requirements for favorable positivity rates for 14 days and hospital admissions for 28 days ironclad. In other words, in the midst of this. There is one bad day, does it do reset the clock to zero, or do they have to go another 14, or 28, without a hitch [the reporter should check the IDPH website, but whatevs]…
You can. There can be days and there are days in which the other metrics are above or inaccurate or above the caps that are set. This is about averaging over a period of time in a given region. If there is a county with bad numbers, will it go ahead and move to the next phase, with its fellow counties in that region. In other words, let’s say Scott County, had a really bad potential positivity rate, but the rest of the central region was okay with Scott go ahead and move up because it is included in the region with the better numbers. Remember that this is about health care regions and the availability of health care. Look at each of those metrics. You’ll take note of what we were attempting here. And so I would just remind everybody that, yes, there will be some areas that will be a bigger hotspot than another area within a region. We didn’t want to hold back a region because there’s one hotspot. What we do want to do is make sure everybody in that region has access to healthcare. Remember, in addition to the COVID-19 patients go into hospitals, we also have people who have heart attacks, people who have gunshot wounds. People have other medical needs that need to go in the hospital so we’re trying to make sure that healthcare is available to everybody, even while so many people are being hospitalized for getting sick from COVID-19.
* Businesses looking to open at the end of the month for your phases need to know what the guidance will be. When will that guidance be available so that they can notify suppliers what goods and [garbled] they need to open?…
So we have been working with industry leaders across the state, industry leaders in each of the many industries that exist in the state of Illinois. We’ve also asked industry to provide us with their best ideas about how to keep our patrons and their employees safe. And so all of that is being worked on now and we’ll certainly probably over the next two weeks or so be releasing the information that will be useful to people in each and every of those industries and where there might be something unusual situation that’s unique. Perhaps we want those people to come forward and seek guidance and IDPH will provide.
* A 12 year old Chicago boy is the youngest to die from COVID in Cook County, did have underlying conditions. Any advice for parents who may be concerned when they hear this news?…
Dr. Ezike: I’m sure every parent, everybody in Illinois is saddened to hear this news. Of course every, every life loss is a tragedy, but it is somehow just more emotional when it’s a child just at the beginning of their life. I know that there’s no way that we can predict who will have some of these most severe outcomes. I just, I think that’s why we’re trying so hard to work on the prevention and just try to limit the amount of people that get infected. Please remember that this is a continuum. We know the virus is there, we can’t change it or we can affect the number of people who can’t track the virus and that’s why staying at home. It does save lives in itself, it buys us time to learn more about this disease, and to hopefully find some cures buys time to have a slower rate of infection so that more people might have antibodies, we really just want to slow the progression down and that means slowing the death. I can’t do anything to necessarily stop every death but you can’t blame us for trying, and I again for parents out there again, the same methods, stay at home as much as possible. If you’re out please try to maintain the social distancing the physical distancing the six feet, wear a mask, clean frequently touch surfaces. Don’t forget about the emphasis on washing our hands for at least 20 seconds with soap. If using hand sanitizer is a percentage of at least 60% alcohol, all of these things will help decrease the number of fatalities that we will see, they sound mundane, but they are tried and true and will work.
The next question had a bad audio connection and the answer was too garbled to post. Sorry.
* Is it true there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 tracked back to the recent open up Illinois rally at the Thompson center. Does anyone know if that is correct?…
Dr. Ezike: I don’t have that information but I can try to see if I can assemble that for tomorrow if that is no.
* Hospital staff have told him that a number of cases where individuals who tested positive refused to be admitted, despite urging, what is the protocol?…
Dr. Ezike: We cannot force individuals to be hospitalized. People can refuse hospitalization just like they can refuse to be transported, even when 911 is called. If someone wants to leave the hospital in the middle of their stay, they can leave against medical advice. So again, I want to say that they would still continue to be tracked by the local public health department in terms of following up on symptoms, we would still do the contact tracing to identify people who they may have been in contact with it that hasn’t been done, but we can’t keep people in the hospital against their will.
* Is it true that Chicago hospitals originally plan to take down their drive up testing temps. They’re now changing that plan because there has been an uptick in cases…
Dr. Ezike: I cannot speak to that. I don’t have that information.
* Can you clarify some statements you made yesterday about looking forward to meeting up with legislators in Springfield. When is your self isolation over, how will you meet with the leaders and do you plan to get another test before you go?…
Well right now my staff and I are isolating is at home as you know and we’re working with IDPH to determine how long we have to do this.
I’d like to return to Springfield, probably, mid late next week for the opportunity to be there during session. But I just need to get sign off from the experts, from the doctors.
And what would that look like would you be in your governor’s office and would people be coming in or would it be zoom meetings, how do you envision that?
I think, you know, I’d be taking the same precautions that I generally do during this pandemic. I’ll spend time in my office. I’ll sleep overnight at the executive residence. So, it’ll be I think reasonably, or at least you know those two locations are reasonably well known to everybody, where I would spend time so you know that’s where you’d find me.
* As of yesterday we were about to surpass Queens County as the worst. The most cases nationwide. Just checking in, if we did surpass that and also if there’s any lessons to be had from Queens County since they’re kind of going on a downward trajectory now…
Dr. Ezike: I just want to make sure that everyone is clear how that has happened, increasing our testing. No one in the country has captured all of the cases of COVID-19. You have captured cases for which people have been tested and not everybody has been tested so I think it’s a credit that we have been able to ramp up testing throughout the state. And this is getting us closer to actual numbers but it’s falling, far, far, far below the actual numbers. We obviously want to promote testing, we want to get as many people tested as possible and to do that we have to keep ramping up our capacity, again, recall that less than two weeks ago we were testing about resulting about five seven specimens per day. And recently, we’ve had several days over 20,000. So that’s a significant jump, which appropriately has resulted in a significant increase in the number of cases identified. I don’t want to get that point lost that the number of cases that we’re identifying is proportional to the number of tests, and we’ve increased our cases because we’ve increased the amount of testing we’ve done and we hope to keep doing that. So you actually will see more cases because we will continue to ramp up our testing.
* A black Chicago mom with the COVID-19 diagnosis was sent home with her newborn and died soon after. With black maternal death rates in this country already alarmingly high what can be done prevent another tragedy like this from happening? Will there be an effort to ensure that all expectant mothers not only be tested but provided care if they’re found positive?…
Dr. Ezike: That is obviously, it’s a significant tragedy. Any case of maternal mortality is something that is thoroughly investigated as part of our maternal mortality review committee. We know that we have a high rate of maternal mortality and that is one of the thrusts of the public health of our agency that we have a very robust review committee. We’ve put out a landmark study paper that we put out a year, I think, October of 19, and we are looking forward to putting out the next one in short order. This is an important issue that we are addressing, while COVID is going on that’s another issue that public health has to continue to address in terms of maternal mortality rates of maternal mortality in in communities and mothers of color.
* A World Health Organization doctor said today coronavirus is not going anywhere and may end up being something like HIV, that we will have to live with. They also want the mental health crisis linked to [garbled]. What do you think of this assessment, is it possible that phase five will happen with the virus still among us?…
Dr. Ezike: We will have to see. Again we’re taking this slowly. I think it’s maybe under appreciated what we’re saying when we call this a novel Coronavirus. We don’t exactly know all the characteristics of this virus we’re dealing with. Of course, there’s search, and we’re learning from what cases have been seen around the world. We’re learning from the cases that we have even here, stateside. But as we learn more again this new pediatric inflammatory syndrome is being appreciated newly so there are new things that we find out almost every day, just two weeks ago the CDC added some additional symptoms that seemed to be coming up with increased frequency to suggest that they should be included as symptoms when you think about this a little bit, 19, we see that potential potentially in pediatric cases, they might have a different presentation, there might be more vomiting and diarrhea so again we are learning as we go. And so we need to have that time to be able to learn. So being able to forecast and project. A too far ahead is difficult. We’re trying to use the best information we have coupling it with information that we have from other viruses that may be similar, but even viruses in the same family of the SARS virus the MERS virus, those have shown quite different syndromes quite different, infectivity quite different fatality rates. So again we are trying to get as much information as we can and that’s why we have to follow the science and keep learning to make the best informed decisions that we can.
* You’ve talked about this before but people are getting angry people are sad there’s all sorts of emotions going on. Is there anything that you can tell people in Illinois, any sort of advice of how people should be coping through this crisis?…
Dr. Ezike: Again, this is an unprecedented situation, not just in terms of amount of lives lost in this very short period of time, but for those who are living, the the this complete disruption of their life. And for many their actual livelihoods, people are experiencing this virus in very different ways, and I am the first to to acknowledge that someone who’s sitting at home and trying to shelter in place but it’s still getting a paycheck is not at all in the same situation as someone who’s sitting at home, who’s not getting a paycheck, and is worried about paying their car note or their, their apartment rent or other bills or fighting for their family so the mental health toll that that will take that that is taking is significant and you know there are some supports that are available through the state, we have hotlines that are available we have some resources on our state websites. We’re hoping that people are able to connect with others not physically, but if there are no phone calls, if there are virtual connections we hoping that people are using the electronic methods that we’re becoming more familiar with, to be able to connect with people, tele health and tele mental health, being able to use this for telepsychiatry. That is a very effective method of still getting the help that is needed. I think telehealth lends itself very well to dealing with mental health issues. And so I’m encouraging people, whether they want to seek help from a from a psychiatric provider a mental health provider a social worker, if they want to reach out to people in their faith community, please avail yourself of all of those options because it is a real thing. This is causing a mental health strain on many people and some people much more.
* You’ve talked about this before but people are getting angry people are sad there’s all sorts of emotions going on. Is there anything that you can tell people in Illinois, any sort of advice of how people should be coping through this crisis?…
Again, this is an unprecedented situation, not just in terms of amount of lives lost in this very short period of time, but for those who are living, the the this complete disruption of their life. And for many their actual livelihoods, people are experiencing this virus in very different ways, and I am the first to acknowledge that someone who’s sitting at home and trying to shelter in place, but it’s still getting a paycheck is not at all in the same situation as someone who’s sitting at home, who’s not getting a paycheck, and is worried about paying their car note or their apartment rent or other bills or fighting for their family. So the mental health toll that will take that is taking is significant and you know there are some supports that are available through the state, we have hotlines that are available we have some resources on our state websites. We’re hoping that people are able to connect with others not physically, but if there are no phone calls, if there are virtual connections we hoping that people are using the electronic methods that we’re becoming more familiar with, to be able to connect with people, tele health and tele mental health, being able to use this for telepsychiatry. That is a very effective method of still getting the help that is needed. I think telehealth lends itself very well to dealing with mental health issues. And so I’m encouraging people, whether they want to seek help from a from a psychiatric provider a mental health provider a social worker, if they want to reach out to people in their faith community, please avail yourself of all of those options because it is a real thing. This is causing a mental health strain on many people and some people much more.
* I have a couple of questions about the positivity rate, and I would just like to say as a reporter I think that a lot of people don’t understand what it is, and how it’s being equated what I was told is that it’s on a seven day rolling basis, is there just a good explanation to everybody to understand the positivity rates of the regions…
They can find that on a daily basis. It’s on the IDPH website. You can take a look at the positivity rates for each region. And again it’s, the goal here is to keep it below 20%. Now, as of today every region is currently on track to do that there’s a rolling time period. 14 days for measuring that. And so that’s a, it allows us to make sure that, again, that we’re not experiencing a major surge. So that’s the purpose of that positivity rate.
People don’t understand at the north, I guess in the Northeast Region without a lower than 20% rate, just they’re trying to understand the clock the process…
It’s essentially a rolling average 14 days for the positivity rate and as it happens, the Northeast region was the only region. That wasn’t meeting that metric for a number of days going back. Back to May one. Now, as I have seen as you can see, it’s below 20% on a rolling 14 day basis. And I think overall if you look at the trend trend for the state and the trend for that region is downward. So I think that’s a very good sign that as of the end of a 28 day period on May 28 the end of May 28, that it’s highly likely that on that metric, the Northeast region as well as the other regions will meet that mark and then you know you’ve got to look at the other marks. But it looks to me like they’re all on track to meet the other marks to move into phase three.
* We’re hearing other states and cities tell school districts they need to start revising down their budgets for the next school year, we have not heard that in Illinois. Why?…
There’s going to be work on the state budget that’s done, there’s already been a lot of work by the working groups in Springfield, or that are in the General Assembly rather, and my administration has interacted with those working groups so our hope is though that we’re going to get kind of a unified voice, the need for federal support for the state, and in particular state of Illinois. I hope that Republicans will step up, people in the General Assembly elected officials, Republicans will step up and advocate for the state with their Republican colleagues in Congress, both in the House and in the Senate. Even in other states, hearing from Republicans maybe Republican senators will respond better than hearing from Democrats and we really should speak with one voice on this to the federal government. But all of that will have an effect on whether or not we’re able to fully fund schools to meet the evidence based funding, so that you know we all want to meet. And the schools so that they’ll be ready for the fall. So that’s one of the reasons why you haven’t heard a call for massive reductions, is because we’re right in the zone here where the House of Representatives voting on a package the senate considering that packages in the General Assembly in Springfield meeting next week, it all is happening in just a few week period, we’ll know much more in the next few weeks.
* How has your revenue projections for the fiscal year 2021 changed since you provided an update last month?…
The revenue projections have not changed a whole lot. There were, there are adjustments to our assumptions. With regard to costs around Medicaid, for example, that have adjusted but the revenue projections for 2021 really changed a whole lot. Remember, we projected a fairly significant downturn. And so that’s what the budget making processes considering.
I’ll take note that, that Tina just called on her colleague from a rival Chicago newspaper, which I think shows a lot of character on her part.
* Looking past the worst part of the pandemic, do you get a sense we’ll see a population shift from big cities like Chicago to smaller communities that aren’t a petri dish for COVID-19 and other viruses?…
It’s a great question Shia. I haven’t considered that, but I must say that there has been an overall trend, or at least a belief that there will be a trend of population movement from urban areas toward suburban and exurban and rural areas over time, in part because of the expansion of broadband. Of course we’re doing a lot of work on here in Illinois and our rebuild Illinois program infrastructure program invests $420 million in running broadband everywhere. So I think that will be the thing that really moves people, and less so worry about a future pandemic. I think at the moment, we’re in this moment where people aren’t going to move around I don’t believe the midst of this phase three phase four, hoping to get to phase five relatively quickly if we can. But I do think there’s a trend in the direction that you’re describing I just think it may be for other reasons.
* Do you have any concern the Illinois Supreme Court will follow the lead of Wisconsin and strip you of your stay at home powers?…
I don’t think so, we’re well within the laws that exist in Illinois to have a disaster declaration. And if there’s an ongoing disaster ongoing emergency, Illinois, as there is nationally and has been declared nationally we’ll continue to work within the law to make sure that we’re keeping people safe.
* In as few words as humanly possible, can you please explain the science behind why Illinois, unlike almost anywhere else, uses a 28-day hospitalization metric, instead of a 14 day metric? Thanks in advance for brevity and succinctness…
Thanks for the advice, Rich. Remember that the phase that we’re in, phase two, began May 1, many changes as a result of the fact. So as a result of the need to move into a new phase, you make changes from one phase to another. It means that we have to take a measure of how we’re doing within that phase so that we don’t have a surge that will overcome our healthcare system.
I will add that our plan only requires stabilization of these metrics, unlike the plan put out by the White House, like plans that were proposed in other states require 14 days of downward movement. Ours only requires stability. And if you look across the board in the state, we are, roughly speaking, the stable, moving downward, likely that we will move into phase three in a shorter period of time under the metrics that I put forward and not under the metrics that the White House put forth.
* Can you speak to the reopening plan your office has reached with the Catholic Church? Have any other denominations reached out to perhaps similar plans?…
Well the Catholic Church developed their own plan that fits well within the requirements of the stay at home order that we have in place. And talking about their plans, with regard to phase three also fits within the restore Illinois plan. So, we advised them when they asked us for our advice and that was it. And I’m actually very pleased, I think they did an excellent job with a plan that they put for their churches. Other church leaders have also reached out and we’ve tried to provide guidance. Each one has a different set of concerns about the rituals of their particular denomination. And so we’ve provided the advice from our Department of Public Health.
* Some businesses and regions including Southern Illinois and a county or local officials, health departments should make decisions about whether they should open not the state or the governor. Who has the authority or who should have the authority now the county or the state?…
While we’re under a pandemic, globe-wide pandemic and emergency disaster declaration, there’s a reason why those exist in the law. That’s because you want to make sure that we’re marshalling all of our resources as a state, dealing with something this large. And so, it is important that the state set ground rules that the executive orders, under the existing law set the ground rules for us in order to deal with it. And guess what, [the curve] is flattening and that didn’t just happen by accident. It happened because we put executive orders in, and people have followed those orders. So I would just suggest that, for now this is working. People need to follow it as we move into phase three and phase four. Very important that we not over burden our healthcare system that we keep people safe.
And, of course, it’s my goal for us to get back to normal. I want you to know for every region to everybody in the state of Illinois, to be doing precisely what they’d like to be doing right now, but we are facing a very difficult circumstance.
One last thing to say, officials have been very collaborative with us, the local County Departments of Public Health, many of the county board chairs across the state and mayors. It’s the loudest folks that you’re hearing from and not the vast majority of the people in almost 1300 municipalities that exist in the state, or the hundred and two counties. It’s just the very loud voices of people who are being defiant and ignoring science and data.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 3,239 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 138 additional deaths.
Coles County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s
Cook County: 4 males 30s, 1 female 40s, 2 males 40s, 3 females 50s, 10 males 50s, 4 females 60s, 13 males 60s, 4 females 70s, 10 males 70s, 1 unknown 70s, 9 females 80s, 15 males 80s, 11 females 90s, 1 female 100+
DuPage County: 2 males 70s, 3 females 80s, 3 females 90s
Jefferson County: 1 female 90s
Kane County: 1 male 30s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s
Kendall County: 2 females 80s
Lake County: 1 male 60s, 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
Lee County: 1 male 50s
McHenry County: 1 female 60s
Sangamon County: 1 male 70s
St. Clair County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 80s
Wayne County: 1 male 80s
Will County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 3 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 3 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 female 100+
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 87,937 cases, including 3,928 deaths, in 99 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 22,678 specimens for a total of 512,037. The statewide 7-day rolling positivity rate is 17%
As of last night 4473 people are reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1132 patients were in the ICU and 689 patients were on ventilators
Watching all these people in other places go to restaurants and beaches and salons and doing generally whatever they want is so depressing in that it makes it feel like those of us who have stayed in for the last 60 days did it for nothing.
* The Tribune talked to several people about the state’s response to nursing homes. It boils down to these bullet points…
Gear: The state has said that — despite nationwide shortages — it’s provided county officials with personal protective equipment to cover the needs of nursing homes, and even begun direct shipments to facilities. But workers and homes have said they lack consistent supplies.
Staff: The industry, fearing it will run critically low on workers, asked the state weeks ago to create a new work corps, even prepare to call in the National Guard. The state has loosened hiring regulations but said facilities are responsible for their own staffing.
Metrics: The state doesn’t ask each facility to report each day on staffing levels or gear supplies — something advocates are pushing for nationally. Illinois officials say they’re looking to improve the process. Illinois does require facilities to report COVID-19 cases to health officials, but the information that the state provides publicly about cases at homes can be tardy or inaccurate.
Inspections: The state can inspect facilities for infection-control violations, but the City View case shows that the bar to dispatch inspectors can be high. Mostly, regulators offer long-distance guidance, saying that approach best ensures rules are followed across the state. Advocates say it has further endangered residents, some of whom they say already were receiving substandard care.
* From the SGOP…
Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady has sent the attached letter to Senate President Don Harmon asking for hearings next week to discuss and amend the governor’s Restore Illinois plan. This is in keeping with the Leader’s continued concerns with the 28-day window and the plan not using the 11 EMS regions.
* Rep. Chris Welch interviewed Gov. Pritzker yesterday. The governor was able to explain his approach better in this setting. I wish he would do the same in his briefings…
Thursday, May 14, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The Illinois Kidney Care Alliance (IKCA) consists of health advocates and professionals, community and patient groups, health providers and businesses focused on raising awareness about those who suffer from kidney disease.
As hospitals prepared to care for patients with COVID-19, another unanticipated medical complication has emerged — kidney failure. Approximately 20-40% of those most severely ill due to COVID-19 have developed acute kidney injury.
IKCA advocates for those who suffer from kidney failure and their families. Patients currently on life-sustaining dialysis or waiting for a functioning kidney are among society’s most vulnerable people. IKCA urges dialysis patients to continue their treatment and to adhere to social distancing during these challenging times. For more information, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or visit our website.
* According to Worldometers, Illinois ranks 9th in the nation on number of cases reported per million population, at 6,684. The national average is 4,349.
Illinois ranks 11th in deaths per million population, at 299. National average is 259. New York (1,403), New Jersey (1,095), Massachusetts (771), Louisiana (520), Michigan (472), Pennsylvania (337) and Maryland (309) are among the states with more deaths per million.
Illinois ranks 13th in tests performed per million, at 40,093. National average is 31,363. New York (64,713) and Massachusetts (59,490) are way ahead of us. The others are small states.
* According to IDPH, the positivity rate in region 1 (Chicagoland area) is 20.7 percent. It’s 7.7 percent in the North-Central Region, 5.8 percent in the Central Region and 8.1 percent in the Southern Region.
Also according to IDPH, 50 percent of confirmed cases are women, 47.7 percent are men and 2.3 percent were either unknown or the form was left blank.
55.8 percent of deaths were men, 43.9 percent were women and 0.26 percent were unknown or the form was left blank.
The racial demographics on confirmed cases are almost worthless because 27 percent were unknown or the form was left blank. Deaths are a different story. Just 2.8 percent were left blank. Whites make up 42.5 percent of all deaths, African-Americans are 32.1 percent, Hispanics are 17 percent, Asian-Americans are 4.5 percent.
*** UPDATE *** I meant to update this post and forgot. IDPH has updated its metrics scoreboard since I published earlier today. Today’s positivity rate in region 1 (Chicagoland area) is 19.9 percent. It’s 8 percent in the North-Central Region, 5.7 percent in the Central Region and 7.9 percent in the Southern Region. And so…
For the first time on Thursday, each of the four regions in Gov. JB Pritzker’s reopening plan were on pace to meet the metrics required to move into the next phase of opening the state’s economy.
The Northeast region, which encompasses Chicago and the collar counties, where the largest number of COVID-19 cases have been reported, for several days had a higher percentage of positive coroanvirus tests than allowed for reopening. On Thursday, the positive test rate dipped to 19.9%, just enough to put it below the 20% threshold. That rate has fallen more than 3.2 percentage points in the region in the past 14 days, according to the state.
The earliest a region can move into Phase 3 is May 29 because one of the other metrics requires 28 days from May 1 with no overall increase in hospital admissions.
“Every region is poised, if it maintains the metrics that it’s at now, to move into Phase 3 in a few short days,” Pritzker said from his Chicago home Thursday during his daily news briefing. “Literally we’re talking about 14 days.”
Nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week as the viral outbreak led more companies to slash jobs, even though most states have begun to let some businesses reopen under certain restrictions.
Roughly 36 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the two months since the coronavirus first forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Still, the number of first-time applications has now declined for six straight weeks, suggesting that a dwindling number of companies are reducing their payrolls.
By historical standards, though, the latest tally shows that the number of weekly jobless claims remains enormous, reflecting an economy that is sinking into a severe downturn. Last week’s pace of new applications for aid is still four times the record high that prevailed before the coronavirus struck hard in March.
Add nearly 73,000 people to the more than 1 million Illinoisans who have filed for unemployment amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The U.S. Department of Labor reports of the 2.9 million people who filed across the country last week, there were 72,993 claims filed in Illinois.
That’s slightly down from the 74,476 who filed last week, but this week’s numbers will go up because 1099 workers were able to file claims starting Monday.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday of the threat of a prolonged recession resulting from the viral outbreak and urged Congress and the White House to act further to prevent long-lasting economic damage.
The Fed and Congress have taken far-reaching steps to try to counter what is likely to be a severe downturn resulting from the widespread shutdown of the U.S. economy. But Powell cautioned that widespread bankruptcies among small businesses and extended unemployment for many people remain a serious risk.
“We ought to do what we can to avoid these outcomes,” Powell said.
Additional rescue aid from government spending or tax policies, though costly, would be “worth it if it helps avoid long-term economic damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery,” he said.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) today released new statewide data showing the department processed 72,671 new initial claims for regular unemployment benefits during the week ending May 9. The department has now processed 1,076,461 claims for regular unemployment benefits from March 1 through May 9. This amount is nearly 11.5 times the number of claims the department processed over the same period last year, when IDES processed just 87,000 claims for regular unemployment benefits.
IDES has processed 33,729 Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation claims (PEUC), which provides up to 13 weeks’ worth of 100% federally funded benefits to individuals who have exhausted their regular state unemployment benefits. PEUC is potentially available for weeks beginning on or after March 29, 2020 and continuing through the week ending December 26, 2020.
While the number of initial claims for regular benefits has plateaued in the last two weeks, IDES will experience an increase in overall claims processed when the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims data becomes available Thursday, May 21, 2020. Launched on May 11, more than 50,000 PUA claims have been filed through the new portal in the first three days of operation. IDES expects the number of claimants accessing the new unemployment system to continue to grow in the coming days and weeks.
Statewide unemployment claims data, which reflects activity for the week prior, is made available on the IDES website every Thursday afternoon. PUA claims data will follow these same federal embargo provisions, with this week’s data available on Thursday, May 21. Previous initial claims data has undergone a revision to properly account for the number of successfully processed claims.
With Illinois’ unemployment numbers surging amid a global pandemic, and with thousands of laid-off workers struggling to make ends meet — not to mention tanking state revenues — you might think state government would be firing on all cylinders.
You might also think, given the state’s precarious financial condition, that the General Assembly would be meeting in some fashion to address pressing matters, including the completion of a budget. Uh, nope.
House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Don Harmon have been lying low and canceling legislative session days in Springfield — for safety reasons. Has anyone even seen or heard from Madigan in months? Just because he prefers seclusion doesn’t mean the public and the media should be acquiescing. He leads the party that controls this state.
We know we urged members of the Illinois General Assembly to get back to work in Springfield, but that doesn’t mean we won’t flinch — and protest — after they arrive. Prepare yourselves, taxpayers, because it will be your hard-earned money on the line, as always.
On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker turned up the volume on his request that lawmakers meet to pass legislation that would include broad relief and compensation measures for Illinoisans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. “The legislature must convene so that we can begin to put our financial and economic house back in order,” Pritzker said. By Wednesday morning, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Don Harmon were announcing plans to restart their spring session next week.
Coincidentally or not, the push by Illinois Democratic leaders to get cracking came in tandem with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introducing the Democratic version of yet another coronavirus aid package. Pelosi’s bill comes with an extraordinary $3 trillion price tag, including as much as $1 trillion for states and cities.
Possibly billions to the states? No wonder Springfield is roaring back to life.
* Every day, the governor’s office answers questions from state legislators in writing. From the latest…
Q: Can the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) give further clarification on how the regions were developed in the Restore Illinois plan and how the IDPH Districts will factor into the plan (if at all)?
A: IDPH has 11 Emergency Medical Services Regions that have traditionally guided its statewide public health work. For the purposes of the Restore Illinois plan, from those 11, four health regions were established: Northeast Illinois, North-Central Illinois, Central Illinois and Southern Illinois.
To learn more about the development and implementation of the Restore Illinois plan, we encourage you to visit the plan here.
But if you follow that link and then click on the FAQ link, you’ll see this…
Q: How did the administration come up with the four regions?
A: The Illinois Department of Public Health has 11 Emergency Medical Services Regions that have traditionally guided its statewide public health work. For the purposes of the Restore Illinois plan, from those 11, four health regions were established: Northeast Illinois, North-Central Illinois, Central Illinois and Southern Illinois.
* As we’ve already discussed, the lack of clarification or insight into the reasoning behind the regional map has led to anger, confusion and division. The latest from Capitol News Illinois…
Officials from Peoria County on Wednesday unveiled their own COVID-19 reopening plan that breaks up north-central Illinois into a sub-region of 11 counties, which officials say will allow the area to take a more localized approach that protects public and economic health better than the state’s plan.
The proposed plan, which Peoria officials have dubbed “Restore Heart of Illinois,” seeks to amend Pritzker’s four-region “Restore Illinois” plan by carving out an 11-county area within the 27-county North-Central region, which would include the metropolitan centers of Peoria and Bloomington.
The sub-region, which is based on commuter data, would include Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton, Marshall, Stark, McLean, Livingston, Bureau, Putnam and LaSalle counties.
“They’re not really that different,” Peoria County Public Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson, who also has a background in epidemiology, said of the three-stage sub-region plan and the state’s five-phase plan.
Friday, the proposal was sent to Gov. JB Prtizker, who has yet to offer a reply to Ardis or the others. In the past, Pritzker has said he is not considering localized changes to his Restore Illinois blueprint. But Ardis said Wednesday the governor’s blessing is not imperative regarding the Peoria-area plan, which could go into effect in seven to 10 days.
“The plan is to continue to move forward,” Ardis said. “If the governor comes out and say no, our plan is to move forward.” […]
The plan calls for three stages for reopening, with the entire sub-region aiming at moving forward together. “However, if an identifiable location within the sub-region is not following approved guidance and/or showing health system stress indicators, that area may be excluded from moving to the next stage,” the plan states.
But the plan is hopeful of an aggressive reopening: “We have an extraordinary ability to respond to health emergencies in our sub-region. We believe that ability uniquely enables the sub-region to move forward in a more aggressive manner, beginning with a 50 percent opening rather than the 25 percent common in many plans.”
The new plan would push the sub-region from what is currently the governor’s phase 2 into phase 3 almost immediately — a scenario not seen by the governor until the end of May, at best. Phase 3, for example, allows for offices, salons and barber shops to open, with capacity limits and other safety precautions. Face coverings would still be required. Any gatherings of 10 or fewer would be allowed. The governor’s phase 4 would start at the end of May.
* Look, I’m not saying the regions are necessarily bad. What I am saying is that the governor needs to explain exactly why the eleven EMS regions were not used…
* From the Clifford Law Offices, one of the most successful trial lawyer firms in the country…
Several bar leaders from across the state are speaking out supporting the rule of law and on behalf of innocent victims of violators of Illinois’ stay-at-home Executive Order effective through May 30.
Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Executive Order requires Illinois residents to continue to shelter in place through May 30, but it has come under fire from some downstate legislators. Bar leaders from the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) are speaking out in support of the Governor’s Executive Order in an effort to protect Illinoisans across the state and to reinforce the rule of law.
As of Wednesday, May 13, 2020, the number of deaths in Illinois attributed to COVID-19 totaled more than 3,700 and the number of total infections in the state exceeded 84,000.
Presidents of three leading bar associations stated that they recognize the Governor’s authority to protect its citizens, particularly in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic situation, and that the Executive Order to shelter in place must be practiced by the Illinois citizenry for the health, safety and welfare of all.
ISBA President David Sosin said, “The constitutionality of the Governor’s actions is now before the courts and we await the decision of the judicial branch, but in the meantime, we must respect the rule of law in this state. A violation of the Governor’s Executive Order may result in consequences that result in legal action, but at the same time, we appreciate the efforts being made to recognize that different areas of the state may be treated differently depending upon their experience with coronavirus and their current success with social distancing efforts.”
CBA First Vice President Maryam Ahmad, who ascends to the presidency next month, echoed Sosin’s sentiments and added, “The Chicago Bar Association supports our Governor’s efforts to assure and defend the safety of the residents of Illinois; this goal is consistent with the CBA’s mission to promote the general welfare of our members and to preserve and protect the legal profession. Governor Pritzker’s Executive Orders properly cite and rely upon broad statutory authority, particularly now, during a crisis. They are presumptively valid and have the effect of law. Parties seeking to challenge these orders should do so before a court; unless declared unconstitutional, these orders are to be followed.”
ITLA President Antonio Romanucci said, “The risk of opening early outweighs the benefit of limiting liability not only for a municipality but also for any employer who follows the guidelines of the municipality.” Romanucci said in a May 8 written statement that the “prudent course” would be to stay closed and limit any further potential spread that could lead to litigation. “Certainly, no one wants to do a second round of sheltering,” he went on to say.
Mark Prince, immediate past President of ITLA of downstate Marion, said, “I am supportive of the Governor’s Executive Order because Illinois needs to re-open only once and do it the right way. This deadly virus affects everyone across the state and even one death is one too many.”
Romanucci pointed out that the insurance industry itself pointed out that consequences for violating the Executive Order may include liability for those who become sick as a result of violating the order and denial of insurance claims should a court find the business or local government to be acting outside the parameters of what is covered in their policies.
ISBA President David Sosin, CBA First Vice President Maryam Ahmad, ITLA President Antonio Romanucci and ITLA Immediate Past President Mark Prince will hold a virtual press conference at 11 a.m., Thursday, May 14, 2020, on Zoom.
Amy Jacobson from WIND asks if the Illinois attorney general has a written legal opinion that dates back to 2001 that essentially said that you are acting illegally. You did not have the power to issue the stay at home order beyond the initial 30 days according to this legal opinion.
Republican state Rep. Darren Bailey has filed an amended lawsuit in a downstate court challenging Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, contending that a 2001 Illinois attorney general document contradicts the state’s position on why the order could be extended beyond the initial 30 days.
The 2001 letter from then-Attorney General Jim Ryan to the state Emergency Management Agency director appears to respond to questions about foot-and-mouth disease and whether the governor could “exercise emergency powers in excess of 30 days after the declaration of a disaster.”
According to the letter, which is among the documents filed with Bailey’s lawsuit, Ryan wrote that he would “comment informally upon the questions you have raised.”
The act “clearly authorizes the governor to exercise emergency powers for up to 30 days,” Ryan wrote in the 2001 letter cited in the lawsuit. “A construction of its provisions to allow the governor to extend the 30-day period would render the limitation clause meaningless. A more reasonable construction, taking into consideration the other provisions of the act, is that the governor would be required to seek legislative approval for the exercise of extraordinary measures extending beyond 30 days.”
* I reached out to the attorney general’s office for some clarification. This was an informal opinion and, contrary to the Tribune report, was not written by Attorney General Ryan…
I will comment informally on the questions you have raised.
The AG’s offices told me the informal opinion was not about a human health risk, making it different than the current circumstances. And, despite the informal opinion from 2001, Attorney General Kwame Raoul has successfully argued the 30-day issue twice now. Once with a federal judge and also with a Cook County judge…
Mahwikizi’s suit also asked the court to issue a declaratory judgment that Pritzker’s emergency powers under the Illinois Emergency Management Act expired April 8, or 30 days after he issued his March 9 disaster proclamation.
Gamrath rejected that argument, holding the IEMA Act gives Pritzker authority to extend his power beyond an initial 30-day period without approval from the legislature.
The 30-day limit, Gamrath wrote, only applies more strictly to a “discrete event — one that stops and starts in a relatively short amount of time.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, she wrote, “is not a discrete or isolated disaster. It is a dynamic pandemic, still ongoing.”
“This continuing disaster poses a threat that is underway and has not abated as quickly as a more typical natural disaster like an earthquake or tornado,” Gamrath wrote. ”When an emergency epidemic of disease occurs and a pandemic ensues, the [g]overnor has authority under the [a]ct to utilize emergency powers beyond a single 30-day period to protect the community and residents of the [s]tate.”
So, give Bailey credit for finding that informal opinion, but we’ll see if the move works.
Thursday, May 14, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The deadline to let voters decide if we should reshape our constitution and redistricting process has passed, but our fight continues. Fixing the foundation of our democracy is too important and we still can move forward toward a better redistricting process.
The Illinois Redistricting Collaborative, a diverse coalition of 34 organizations, is committed to standing with the 75% of Illinois voters who want an independent citizen-led commission.
Lawmakers can stand with Illinois voters and our diverse, statewide coalition by committing to passing meaningful legislative reforms before next year’s decennial redistricting.
Gerrymandering is voter suppression and we must end it. We can join the ranks of people in both red and blue states across the country who have made improvements to their redistricting process.
