COVID-19 roundup
Monday, Nov 9, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Daily Herald…
FoxFire Restaurant in Geneva has lost the temporary restraining order that prevented state and local authorities from enforcing the governor’s recent ban on indoor dining at the business.
The Illinois 2nd District Appellate Court dissolved the TRO Friday, saying a Kane County judge was wrong to have ordered it.
“We are a little upset by the ruling,” said K.C. Gulbro, co-owner of the steakhouse at 17 W. State St. in Geneva’s downtown, which was open for indoor dinging on Friday night.
“We will sit down with our lawyers tomorrow and decide where we go from here,” Gulbro said when asked if FoxFire would continue with indoor dining. “We’ve still got a lot of fight left and we still think that we have a valid case.”
* Tribune…
In the last 30 days, people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus reported having recently visited a total of 647 public and private schools statewide, according to Illinois public health data released Friday.
The data also lists 10 schools with current COVID-19 outbreaks, defined as at least five cases among staff or students that were traced to school exposure. Among those sites are a DuPage County religious school and three public schools in McHenry County.
The figures do not include cases related to Chicago Public Schools buildings. Chicago, the state’s largest school district, tracks those separately; data shows 137 COVID-19 cases linked to CPS sites.
The statewide data, obtained through contact tracing, is the first school-related COVID-19 data that Illinois officials have published. It comes after parents and educators urged the state to release information about the virus’s spread in schools. In many parts of Illinois, the school year began nearly three months ago, and people have had to make decisions about in-person learning without comprehensive information.
It’s really time that Chicago got with the program here.
* Speaking of school outbreaks…
The first [basketball] practices for teams who decide to take the IHSA up on winter basketball start on Nov. 16, with contests beginning on Nov. 30. The end of the regular season would be Feb. 6, with a postseason event scheduled for Feb. 8-13.
The IHSA board also released “considerations” for the 2020-21 basketball season. As they were during golf, cross country and girls tennis, schools may only play games within their IDPH COVID-19 region and against schools in their conference and meet IHSA contest limitations.
Players will be wearing masks during contests and a media time-out will be taken each quarter at the first dead ball under the five-minute mark to give players an opportunity to catch their breath.
All other coaches, administrators, timers, paid and volunteer game officials, cheerleaders and media members also must wear masks and count toward the 50 people maximum gym capacity that also includes players.
* It keeps going, and going, and…
An additional 60 Coles County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the county Health Department announced on Saturday.
It marked the second straight day with 60 new cases in the county. The announcement also came three days after the department announced the highest one-day total of 72 cases since the coronavirus began.
* If you can, please read the whole thing…
Names and faces get lost in the din of COVID-19 statistics. It’s easy to become numb to it. But the family of McLean County’s youngest coronavirus victim wants to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Danielle Kater, 30, of Bloomington died Nov. 3. The McLean County Health Department reported her death the next day as “a woman in her 30s” who did not have any prior health conditions and was not affiliated with a long-term care facility.
Dani’s family offers a more robust account of her life. Kater was an only child. Her parents, Tina and Bob Rubin, recall her always being kind, studious and passionate about animals.
* Tribune live coverage headlines…
Pfizer says early data signals COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective; company on track for emergency use application
Biden names COVID-19 task force, including former Chicago public health official
New confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus reported in Illinois topped 10,000 for both Saturday and Sunday.
Hospitalizations in Illinois are headed to a level above the previous, spring peak of coronavirus cases, worrying health officials.
Illinois state officials started reporting confirmed COVID-19 cases and probable cases together as one statistic, on Friday reporting them as separate numbers, but subsequently aggregating them as one number, following what they said was CDC guidance.
* Sun-Times headlines…
2 more Cook County judges test positive for COVID-19
Notre Dame president disappointed in students disregard of COVID-19 protocols after football game
Illinois reports 10,000-plus coronavirus caseload for 3rd consecutive day
Preckwinkle staffer tests positive for COVID-19
Shop locally this holiday season for the sake of pandemic-hammered Chicago businesses
- Anon221 - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:44 am:
Foxfire article: I know this is a typo, but it’s an appropriate typo for this situation…
“…which was open for indoor dinging on Friday night.”
- Soxfan - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:49 am:
Notre Dame president scolding students is the height of hypocrisy.
- JS Mill - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:51 am:
The Dani Kater story is heartbreaking. I cannot imagine the feeling of loss her young husband and family feel.
- Because I said so.... - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:53 am:
While the ND students should not have rushed the field after their upset victory, their president attended a super spreader event at the White House. Do as I say, not as I do.
- Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 11:54 am:
“Notre Dame president disappointed”
Hi, we’re the Roman Catholic Church.
Please don’t Google us.
- Hard D - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 12:08 pm:
Come live in Orland Park bars and restaurants open and no social distancing we don’t have Covid-19 in Orland Park just ask the Mayor
- thoughts matter - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 1:04 pm:
Dani Kater was originally from the Mt. Zion area. That town just lost their school board President to Covid a week or so ago. That town has a population of about 6,000. This hurts.
- Lefty Lefty - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 4:03 pm:
It looks like the entire Fox Valley piggybacked on the FoxFire TRO - while driving through Geneva and St. Charles over the weekend (at night when we could see in the windows) many bars and restaurants had customers seated inside.
Meanwhile Geneva’s own Mayor Burns was on Chicago Tonight Thursday night passing the buck to the Kane County Health Department so fast I thought he was going to pull a muscle.
Clearly the blockheads will make their own choices on when enough is enough, sickening and killing people as they decide.
- cdog - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 4:38 pm:
What would you do if you owned a business and had all the pressures of COVID, minimum wage increases, property taxes, etc? Asking for a friend that needs to make some hard decisions that will affect a lot of people.
- MyTwoCents - Monday, Nov 9, 20 @ 5:19 pm:
The FireFox owner either didn’t read the appellate opinion or is being sold a load of goods by the attorney because even to this non-attorney it’s pretty obvious that there’s a very tough, if not impossible, road ahead for any lawsuit. The opinion, written by Justice Joe Birkett, pretty well outlined how all these lawsuits should fail.