The mayor and I would like to give you a further update on the work that we’re doing to stand up our alternate care facility at McCormick Place. Our Illinois National Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers are on pace to have the first phase of this facility completed this week, and the entire facility up and running over subsequent weeks on Saturday we received our first shipment of 500 beds and the Illinois Central management services and the US Army Corps of Engineers began the initial build.
We’re aiming to have these first 500 beds up this week, followed by the next 500 by next week. The next 1200 and 50 by the week of April 20 and the final 750 acute care beds by the end of the month bringing us to a total of 3000 beds,at McCormick Place.
Based on best practices around the world about how to manage positive cases and contain this virus, McCormick will be dedicated to mostly to non acute COVID 19 patients, people whose condition could benefit from the care of medical professionals, but who are not likely to need a formal ICU.
Of course, as I’ve said before, this is an evolving situation. And if our experts determined down the line that McCormick Place should be dedicated to a different set of criteria, we will shift our mission to follow the medical experts best advice. I want to be clear that McCormick Place is dedicated to supporting our existing hospital system, not replacing our existing hospital system today in Chicago, there are hospitals that have a lot of COVID 19 patients. But there are also hospitals that are underutilized in our COVID response. The first place we are directing our patients is to existing hospital beds, maximizing our underutilized hospitals first. If we never have to go beyond our existing facilities we will all be extremely happy.
But since we can’t guarantee that and in fact, we don’t have the data yet to suggest otherwise we’re actively building out capacity.
In addition to McCormick Place in Chicago, the state alongside the Army Corps has formally launched work on two additional alternate care facilities, the former advocate Sherman hospital campus in Elgin, and the metro South Health Center in Blue Island. We’re aiming to temporarily reopen both of these locations to ensure that we have the capacity that we need. Over the next several months. And I just want to say the work that the Illinois National Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers have already done what they’re capable of doing is truly phenomenal. I mean incredible stuff. On behalf of a grateful state. Thank you to all of our guardsmen and to our Army Corps of Engineers. And I also want to especially thank Mayor Lightfoot and the entire city team for their partnership in this unprecedented project.
Please pardon all typos.
* PPE situation…
As I discussed last time, we received a fraction of what we asked for [from the federal government]. Our second request to the federal government was larger than our first, but again we received the same small order back from them. […]
Our third federal shipment arrived yesterday. Our team at IEMA is sorting through this delivery now and we’ll make sure that those resources are delivered where they’re needed as soon as possible.
I will say this federal shipments still pales in comparison to our requests and appears to be even smaller than our previous two shipments from the federal government. My team is sorting through the shipment of 300,095 masks the White House personally told me would be sent to our state. And while we do not have a final count on this yet, I can say with certainty that what they sent were not the N95 masks that were promised, but instead were surgical masks, which is not what we asked for.
* IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike…
The truth is, the number of cases will continue to increase, unfortunately as well, the deaths. The cases that I report do not capture all of the people in Illinois with COVID 19. Many of you know that you may have been ill, but didn’t have a test to confirm it. We know that we’re not testing everyone. But I am reporting that there are 461, new cases, and unfortunately eight additional deaths. That brings our total in Illinois to 5057 cases.
* Dr. Ezike on the Stateville cases, which include one death…
There are 12 men who were incarcerated at Statesville who are now hospitalized. Several requiring ICU and ventilator support. There are 77 additional individuals who have symptoms who are being isolated within the facility. We also know of 11 staff who have symptoms and are being appropriately isolated.
Congregate settings, such as Stateville or any other Correctional Center pose unique challenges and stopping the spread of disease, and protecting the health of individuals who live and work there. […]
Ideally, all cases should be isolated individually and close contact should be quarantined individually. I know our partners at the department of corrections are working innovatively to try to create the best situations for these for these facilities. But some correctional facilities and detention centers do not have enough individual cells. And so, we’re considering isolating multiple laboratory confirmed COVID 19 together cases together as a group, or quarantine in close context of a particular case together as a group. Additionally incarcerated individuals may have medical conditions that further increase the risk of disease from the COVID 19.
We do know that Statesville has an older population of incarcerated individuals. So they are at greater risk of experiencing severe illness. Our focus right now is ensuring that these incarcerated individuals receive the appropriate medical care that they deserve and need public health officials are working with the medical staff and physicians who work in the correctional facilities on isolation and quarantine guidance, as well as healthcare triage. Incarcerated individuals who show symptoms are being tested for COVID 19, the Illinois Department of Corrections is taking a number of steps to control the spread of COVID 19 and correctional centers staff who work with the individuals in isolation and quarantine, as well as in the health center are wearing protective equipment. […]
Other congregate type settings are also experiencing clusters of cases, of course. Nursing homes, which we have talked about numerous times, assisted livings and other long term care facilities across the state, including those in Evanston, Joliet, Taylorville and Belleville have all seen some clusters of cases.
* On to questions for the governor. Will he be extending the stay at home order and what about the schools…
We’ve evaluated that every day as you know and I think you saw that the president of the united states extended his recommendations for social distancing and other measures through April 30. So we’re taking that into account as well and as I think the mayor has said in the past and I certainly have said that we’re looking at the models trying to figure out what does this look like going forward and how to best keep people safe and healthy.
* Why isn’t the state talking about COVID-19 recovery numbers like other states?…
Those are difficult numbers actually to obtain. Think about yourself. If you got the flu and you maybe saw your doctor and then you went home and you were at home and you were recovered. You don’t call your doctor at the end of your recovery and say I am recovered now.
And so collecting that information from people who go home, have COVID 19, you know once they’re done, is somewhat more difficult than you might imagine having said that we are working with the county health officials all across the state to get that data. It’s a little easier in slightly more urban environments to obtain that data a little harder in more rural environments, but we are working on collecting recovered. […]
We do know there are quite a number of people who have had it who’ve recovered. We also know … all the experts are coming to the conclusion that people who had it and recovered may have are likely to have developed antibodies that make them somewhat immune to COVID 19 going forward and we think that’s a positive sign.
* Is Illinois behind in testing? And why aren’t all hospital patients being tested?…
Every state is behind, every state is behind in testing. There are not enough tests and you could ask any governor that’s being honest with you, will tell you. Just look at the numbers of tests that have been done even in the large states, it’s minimal compared to the number of people we know already have COVID 19, or have had it, and never knew it. And so this is an enormous problem. I’ve complained about this from the beginning. […]
There is a protocol for testing, again, because there’s a limited number of tests we can’t test everybody all the time. I am very very excited about the development of this rapid app an Abbott test that’s coming out. This is a test that will take no more than 15 minutes to determine a few minutes to determine if it’s positive … The problem is that Abbott can only produce about 50,000 of these a day.
* Is the drop off in new cases today compared to yesterday an indication that we are flattening the curve in Illinois?…
No. … You really have to look at a trend, not a single day. And so we’ll look at tomorrow’s numbers and the next day and the next day. But part of the reason that the numbers fluctuate is because we get reports from commercial laboratories in a different fashion than we get the reports from our state laboratories or from hospitals in the state. So when a test gets sent off to quest or to labcorp or another commercial facility as, as was indicated it could take four to seven days. Well that report is different than the one that came 24 hours.
* What is the cost to the state of its response to the corona virus outbreak so far and what is the estimated cost to be in the months ahead?…
We’re certainly keeping track of that, but I just want to emphasize to everybody that, and I don’t have a total number to report today, but I want to emphasize to everybody that my number one concern right now is making sure that we get the testing that we need to make sure that we have the hospital beds that are necessary, making sure that people get the treatment that they can get from hospitals and doctors that we have the personnel that we need to treat people.
And honestly, you know that the cost is a consideration. We don’t want to get gouged in any of those things. But I am focused on delivering the health care that is necessary to keep as many people safe and healthy and alive as I can.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 461 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois. Seven new deaths are also being reported, including the death of an incarcerated man from Stateville Correctional Center.
Cook County: male 50s, male 60s, female 60s, female 70s
DuPage County: male 60s
Kendal County: female 60s
Will County: male 50s, male 60s
Additionally, 12 men who were incarcerated at Stateville are now hospitalized, including several requiring ventilators. There are 77 more incarcerated individuals with symptoms who are isolated at the facility. Eleven staff are also being isolated.
The Illinois Department of Corrections is taking a number of steps to control the spread of COVID-19 in its correctional centers. Staff who work with individuals in isolation and quarantine, as well as in the health center, are wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE) and all staff are wearing some PPE. Staff are also having their temperature checked daily as they enter the facility.
Correctional centers with a confirmed case are placed on lockdown, which means there is no movement around the facility except for medical care. Incarcerated individuals who show symptoms are being tested.
Clark, Crawford, Marion, Randolph, and Saline counties are now reporting cases. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 5,057 cases, including 73 deaths, in 52 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to 99 years.
It appears a death may have been reported at the last moment. Director Ezike just said the total is 8.
That $2.2 trillion federal stimulus bill does a lot more for small business than many people realize, at least for the first eight weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. But almost certainly more will be needed for that group and a host of others, including cash-strapped state and local governments.
That’s the word from U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, who has focused on small-business issues in his time in D.C. and had some influence on the final stimulus package.
Krishnamoorthi said the bill specifically carves out $377 billion available to almost any small business—defined as a company with fewer than 500 employees, plus sole proprietorships and self-employed individuals. All are entitled to loans equal to two and a half times their costs over an eight-week period. Costs include rent, health insurance and, most important, payroll for workers, including tips.
Those loans will become grants if the business continues to pay its costs, he said. With payroll the biggest cost for most firms, operators will have a big incentive to keep their workers on, converting the loan into a grant, Krishnamoorthi said.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has seen the internet memes that depict her enforcing the state’s stay-at-home order and clearing citizens from the public way. […]
The images, some of which are collected on the “Where’s Lightfoot?” Instagram page, show the city’s mayor blocking the Lakefront Trail and popping up in unexpected places as part of the anti-coronavirus campaign. […]
“I think this is a really difficult time. People are afraid. The stress levels are high. In any difficult time, I think we’ve got to have a sense of balance. Humor is a big part of it. I’ve actually enjoyed them,” Lightfoot said at an unrelated news conference. “We’ve acted out a few in my household at night, which I’ll keep to myself. But I think what it shows is the creativity of people in the city and in the region that despite these dire circumstances, and this virus is deadly serious, that we can also see a lighter side of life.”
* A single source who has been battling with the mayor for months is relied upon for a big splashy “scoop”…
CPS students unlikely to return to schools this year, alderman says after mayoral briefing
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday outlined a plan for “remote learning” — including the distribution of lap-top computers to needy students — leaving one aldermen to conclude that Chicago Public Schools students have attended their last day of in-person classes this academic year.
“They’re doing remote learning for the rest of the year. … We have no expectation of them going back,” Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) told the Sun-Times after a conference call with the mayor.
Pressed on whether Lightfoot said students would not return to school buildings for the rest of the year, Lopez said, “I don’t know if that was the exact words. But, that’s the implication— that the rest of the school year will be remote learning. I don’t know why they’d have to go back if they’re all learning at home.”
I checked with three Chicago aldermen after that story came out and they all said Ray Lopez jumped the gun. No determination has yet been made, they said. The mayor was just laying out the CPS remote-learning plan.
That doesn’t mean the story will be wrong in the coming days. I have no idea. But I do know that it’s not right today.
* The mayor was asked about the piece at her news conference today…
"haven't received any guidance from the … Illinois State Board of Education one way or the other."
* Mick Dumke wrote about the Chicago Housing Authority for ProPublica Illinois…
But other information from the CHA was contradictory and confusing. On March 10, a resident service coordinator distributed memos to tenants at the Lincoln Perry apartments announcing that, as a coronavirus precaution, the building’s lunch service would only provide take-out boxed meals. To minimize person-to-person contact, residents were asked to exit the dining room once they picked up their food.
However, the memo added, “The dining room will reopen @1:30 pm daily for socialization, ie, all scheduled events, parties, activities, health seminars, etc.”
A West Loop yoga studio has been issued a violation notice after the city disagreed with its contention that it was a place of “health and wellness” and therefore could remain open as an essential business under the state’s safe-at-home order.
The action on Friday came after several people complained online and to their alderman about Bikram Yoga West Loop studio at 611 W. Adams St., concerned that the close quarters and the nature of its hot yoga classes would further spread the coronavirus.
* Oh for crying out loud…
What happened to our 1st Amendment right of the people peaceably to assemble? pic.twitter.com/iYvXWHhIKM
— Rep. Allen Skillicorn (@allenskillicorn) March 30, 2020
1) That’s a public park and it’s now closed;
2) The government has the right to prohibit activity that presents a potential harm to the populace, particularly during a pandemic;
3) Stop whining on Twitter and go do something proactive and positive for a change.
* Facebook ad…
Another one. Check out the bottom of the website. So, so dumb. But it looked real to a high-up exec at a big IL company, so it was shared during a meeting this morning 😑 pic.twitter.com/0bMzcGpFBa
An article on a holistic health blog that has been circulating Facebook tells people to go outside to prevent catching the new coronavirus because sunlight kills it. […]
Only levels of concentration of UV light much higher than what is found in sunlight can kill viruses, the experts note, and the levels that are able to kill viruses can cause irritation to human skin and should be avoided.
Going outside is definitely good for you (as long as you keep a distance from others), but it won’t cure a virus. Some people were just not raised very well.
On the 29th day next succeeding the primary at which committeepersons are elected, the county central committee of each political party shall meet within the county and proceed to organize by electing from its own number a chair and either from its own number, or otherwise, such other officers as such committee may deem necessary or expedient. Such meeting of the county central committee shall be known as the county convention.
That statute, in other words, requires individual county party conventions on April 15. The governor’s stay at home order is set to expire on April 7, but he’ll undoubtedly extend it that day, when he’s legally able to renew his state disaster declaration. So, how are the parties gonna get that done?
I reached out to both major parties for a response.
* Dan Kovats at the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association…
We’re doing the best we can given the current circumstances. We have provided some guidance to the County Chairs regarding the upcoming County Convention. We are encouraging the Chairs to adhere to the statute while also adhering to the Governor’s stay at home order. We are strongly encouraging only electing the County Chair & Party Treasurer to comply with the statute.
Some of the options we shared include:
1. Proxy voting or Voting by Mail
2. Virtual Meeting (conference call or video conference)
Ultimately it will come down to each County Parties bylaws and at the discretion of the County Chair.
Kovats said some county parties do require in-person conventions “and we have asked them to consider suspending that portion of their bylaws.”
But how do they do that if they can’t meet in person?…
That’s the difficult spot we’re in and why we tried to provide options for the Chairs.
…Adding… The full guidance sent to Democratic chairs is here.
* The ILGOP’s general counsel sent a memo to county chairs days ago. Excerpt…
Other than the requirement that conventions be held on a particular date, the Election Code only directs that a county convention elect a county chairman, select delegates to the state convention and shall be held “within the county.” There is no statutory requirement that a convention must be conducted in any particular manner. In other words, for county organizations without bylaws that might direct otherwise, a convention could possibly be conducted by a conference call (so long as all participants are within the county), or by use of absentee ballots or other methods to elect a chairman and to conduct business. As for the requirement that state convention delegates are chosen at the county convention, that task may be delegated (as has traditionally been the case) to county chairmen if necessary. Of course, all notice requirements must be adhered to, as always.
For counties with bylaws that dictate how their conventions are to be run, those bylaws will control, and county organizations should abide by them.
I asked the same follow-up question to the ILGOP’s Joe Hackler about counties with in-person meeting requirements. His response…
There may be a few that explicitly require personal presence for participation. However, each of these counties conventions would conceivably have a rules committee that could possibly help offer some relief.
Today, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) is announcing that, starting tomorrow, Monday, March 30, 14 Family Community Resource Centers (FCRC) will remain open with reduced staff to balance the need to provide essential services while meeting Center for Disease Control (CDC) social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus situation. FCRCs are the public facing benefits offices that bring nutrition and medical supports to individuals and families across the state. […]
IDHS’s ultimate goal is to have as few FCRC offices open as possible, while still ensuring that all customers are able to receive their life-sustaining benefits. For those offices that remain open, IDHS will continue to take steps to ensure social distancing, customer and employee safety. […]
The 14 of the 75 public facing FCRCs remaining open will have a reduced workforce of 30%- 50% of staff. Staff who are not working at the public-facing offices will continue working remotely to process important benefits, and over 80 in-person local office caseworkers will become statewide ABE (Access to Benefits Electronically) call center agents in addition to the nearly 100 call center agents that are already in place.
The department developed these changes in partnership with AFSCME Council 31, other bargaining units, and advocacy organizations across the state.
In addition, AFSCME 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch told me through a spokesperson…
(W)e are continuing to urge DHS to close all its offices as soon as it can be assured that clients have access to needed services via phone and/or web. In the meantime, we are urging the department to rotate which offices remain open.
In Buckley, a church has volunteered its gymnasium as a makeshift hospital. In Rushville, police officers have stopped accompanying paramedics unless a call is a matter of life or death. And in Watseka, dozens of residents have put hearts in their windows to create a “social distancing scavenger hunt” for local children.
Such are the ways small-town Illinois is facing the threat of COVID-19, even though its impact outside the Chicago area remains limited. More than 90% of the state’s confirmed cases and deaths have come from the city and collar counties, though doctors note that access to testing downstate is still increasing after a slow start. Even as the virus is being detected in an ever-growing list of rural communities, caseloads are relatively small.
Officials on Sunday reported an increase of 11 cases of COVID-19 in Christian County, all linked to the Rolling Meadows Senior Apartments in Tayvlorille.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease to 13 in Christian County. Of the two previously reported cases, officials had said Saturday that one was in the apartments and that other residents would be tested.
“The apartment complex has been placed on quarantine as a protective measure,” the Christian-Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency said in a statement Sunday. “No visitors will be allowed until further notice. The residents are being monitored daily by public health.”
Officials had said Thursday that both previously reported cases in Christian County were linked to services held March 15 at Crossroads Apostolic Ministries in Taylorville. The congregation has fewer than 50 members.
* Remember a couple of weeks ago when DeWitt/Piatt Bi-County Public Health Director David Remmert advised area residents to “Live your life like you normally would”? Well, things change…
“In the overwhelming majority, people have very little symptoms or none at all. That’s why everybody needs to practice those precautionary measures. People who are asymptomatic can go out and spread it,” [Remmert] said. […]
“We believe it’s here. A lot of people probably have it but won’t be tested because they are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms.”
* More seek assistance at Shumway food pantry: “I know we helped 720 people today,” Kight said. “I’m not sure if it’s because more people are out of work or because other food pantries aren’t open. … “We would normally have at least 40 volunteers working in the building,” Kight said. “Due to the coronavirus, we had to cut it down to 10 working inside.”
* Caterpillar laying off KK workers because of economic and COVID-19 concerns: “While our operations have been classified as essential activity, the COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on global economic conditions. We are taking a variety of actions at our global facilities to reduce production due to weaker customer demand, potential supply constraints and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and related government actions. These actions include indefinite layoffs at our East Peoria building KK location.”
* Session is canceled, but lawmakers are still working: Manar estimates the number of calls fielded by him and his staff “is more than tenfold” from its normal volume. “Much of what I’m doing responding to constituent concerns is just getting them accurate and timely information,” Manar said.
Illinois has weak price-gouging laws. In fact, only fuel is covered by the state’s price-gouging statute, Rob Karr, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said.
Karr added that price increases often are made by wholesalers supplying retailers. But retailers often are blamed by customers for the price jump.
An executive order filed this month by Gov. JB Pritzker further expanded enforcement of price gouging to include medical and sanitary items used in the fight against the coronavirus, said Tori Joseph, a spokeswoman for the attorney general. She added the attorney general also can use his civil powers to fine retailers he believes have unfairly increased the prices of other items.
For now, his office is calling retailers who customers have complained about unfairly raising prices, and asking them to cut prices.
* The Question: Should Illinois broaden its price-gouging laws? Make sure to explain your answer, please. Thanks.
John Prine, the postman from Maywood and Army mechanic who became one of the most revered American songwriters of the past half century, is in critical condition “after a sudden onset of COVID-19 symptoms,” his official Twitter feed reported Sunday afternoon.
The news was greeted with an outpouring of well wishes from fans and from fellow musicians, including Seth Meyers, Jason Isbell and the band Dawes.
Prine, who rose to prominence through the Chicago folk music scene in the 1960s and ’70s, “was hospitalized on Thursday. He was intubated Saturday evening, and continues to receive care, but his situation is critical,” said the note “From the Prine family” on the @JohnPrineMusic Twitter feed.
Intubation is a stage of treatment that can precede going on a ventilator. The coronavirus sweeping the globe attacks people through their lungs to the point where the most ill need mechanical breathing help, and the virus is most dangerous to those with underlying medical conditions.
I think Wordslinger was right about carving the names of Prine and Ebert on the Illinois State Library. And when this is all over and people get a chance to breathe again, I’m going to urge Secretary of State Jesse White to consider it.
I had hoped to set up a meet and greet this spring for my readers and Wordslinger’s family, but that’s obviously impossible now. I still think about him every day and wish he was here to provide us with his perspectives. It’s like marching into a war without a leg.
…Adding… Text message from House GOP Leader Jim Durkin…
John Prine was a postman in Westchester when I was young. He would fill in for our regular postman on occasion. Johnny was a big hit with us because he let us push the mail cart down the street with him. He had a heavy beard and was always good to us kids.
*** UPDATE *** John Prine’s spouse…
I have recovered from Covid-19. We are humbled by the outpouring of love for me and John and our precious family. He is stabile. Please continue to send your amazing Love and prayers. Sing his songs. Stay home and wash hands. John loves you. I love you
* The Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair checked out a National Guard drive-through testing facility in Chicago…
With all the various safety procedures and verification points, the process took about five minutes once cars enter the bay. The swab portion lasted as little as 35 seconds between the time Tanton offered her reassuring introduction and the drivers restarted their cars to exit. […]
The results take up to seven days to come back, Illinois National Guard spokesman Maj. A.J. Ruggieri said.
The troops averaged more than 60 tests an hour last Thursday, with the lines moving faster each day. Guard members stop as soon as they use 250 kits, the maximum number of the swabs permitted by the federal government, according to state officials.
On Saturday, the Guard also helped open a testing site in Bloomington in central Illinois. Testing there also tops out at 250 kits each day.
* Pritzker addressed both the 250 per day limit and the week-long lag for test results yesterday…
(D)ue to the federal government requiring federal personnel representation at our two state drive-throughs, we remain tied to a 250 test cap at each of these locations. We know there’s greater need at our longer running Harwood Heights site. We’ve been hitting 250 tests by just the early afternoon, and having to turn people away. We’d like to be able to test more than 400 people a day at these sites and think that we can. We have the capacity to do so. So we’re pushing the federal government to change their requirements and allow us to test more than 250 people were turning people away that we just shouldn’t have to. And we asked the federal government to remove their restriction.
We’re also pressuring the federal government on the return timelines of these tests. The private labs contracted by the federal government are taking four to seven days, sometimes even up to 10 days to turn around results. That is far too long. We’re doing it much faster in the state of Illinois, with the capacity that we have.
Five days ago, three state labs, four commercial facilities and 15 hospital labs processed 2,000 tests per day. The governor said that capacity is up to 4,000 daily with a goal of hitting 10,000 daily in the next 10 days.
“That marker is significant because it’s the number of tests per day that the scientists and experts tell us that we need to get a truly holistic understanding of the virus in each of our 102 counties,” Pritzker said. “…This 10,000-a-day marker will give us the data to run a more mathematically significant model that offers us improved insight into how well our interventions are working.” […]
“Ultimately, my goal is to reach a large enough testing capacity where we’re able to test everyone who needs a test on a regular basis,” Pritzker said. “… Every day we aren’t hitting 10,000 tests or more is another day that we’re not able to get answers that help us get past this current crisis.”
* Gov. Pritzker said the other day that he was trying to learn from mistakes made by Italy and others to avoid repeating them in Illinois. Dylan Scott at Vox takes a look at what Italy did wrong…
Italy’s political leaders did not act preemptively despite evidence suggesting such delayed increases in cases were possible. State-of-emergency declarations were shrugged off by the public and political leaders. In one ominous episode, a group of politicians engaged in deliberate handshakes even after the Covid-19 risks were known — and one of them was diagnosed with the infection a week later. […]
Italy started small with its coronavirus containment and only expanded it as the scale of the problem revealed itself. The country started with a targeted strategy: certain areas with a lot of infections were designated as “red zones.” Within the red zones, there were progressive lockdowns depending on the severity of the outbreak in the area. The restrictions were only broadened to the whole country when these measures did not stop the virus’s spread.
In fact, these limited lockdowns might have made it worse. Because the coronavirus transmits so silently, the “facts on the ground” (number of cases, deaths, etc.) didn’t actually capture the full scale of the problem. Once partial lockdowns went into effect, people fled to less restricted parts of the country — and they may have unwittingly taken the virus with them, according to the Harvard researchers: […]
Italy’s experience indicates that truncated social distancing periods and a mishmash of social distancing policies across different interlocked areas will ultimately only prolong and deepen the problem. Luckily, the country’s provinces that took a more proactive approach may have something to teach their neighbors — and the US.
Click here to read what some places in Italy did right.
This is a story about two very different state legislators, representing very different districts with the same strong belief in hope during a time of anguish.
Some legislators are known for their lawmaking abilities and some are known for their constituent services. Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) falls more into the latter category.
The always-cheerful Bennett can attend as many as 10 or 12 events on a weekend day. His district is huge, stretching from just south of Streator all the way east and south to right above Danville. His constant travels caught up to him last year when he was in a bad one-car accident and broke several ribs. But his pace soon returned to “normal.”
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All the events have one thing in common: They’re put on by groups to raise money for worthy causes. “They’re good people, trying hard,” Bennett said, adding that he tries not to eat at every event he attends.
I reached out to Bennett to see if he was experiencing any withdrawal symptoms. He said he was keeping plenty busy. He put up a lot of yard signs throughout the district even though he didn’t have a primary opponent and has been taking them down since the election ended.
While he was doing that, he also visited restaurants throughout his sprawling district that have remained open for carry-out and delivery, and has been highlighting their offerings on social media to help them stay afloat.
He’s on numerous conference calls every day. He had been putting out a weekly newsletter, but it’s now daily. Bennett, like most legislators, is also fielding urgent calls from constituents.
Bennett has two district offices and they’ve been open from 7:30 or 8 in the morning “until well past supper” during the crisis, he said.
”I get my batteries charged by listening to people talk about what’s going on in their lives,” he said. “It’s the best job I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some good jobs. But this is … good.”
Meanwhile, one of the most frustrating parts of this pandemic is the insane uncertainty about almost everything.
The state legislative session is just one of a multitude of events that have been upended by the crisis. We simply have no precedent to rely on here. And Senate President Don Harmon made an interesting point when I asked him if he was keeping in contact with House Speaker Michael Madigan.
”I try to stay in touch with him,” said Harmon, who was sworn into the chamber’s presidency just a couple of months ago. Madigan has been running his chamber for decades and was first elected to the House when Harmon was not yet four years old.
”It’s strange that the first big crisis is something neither he nor I have experienced. I thought everything I’d go through, the speaker would have already been through.”
Harmon, who’s known as a policy wonk, said he’s doing some work in his home at the dining room table or at a desk in the family room. The Democratic leader all but closed his district office, which is less than a mile away from his Oak Park house, so he spends a lot of time there.
I asked the rookie president what the lowest point of the past few weeks has been for him.
”I think the starkest point was the realization that I was being asked to make decisions that would literally affect people’s health in such a material way. That was a sobering moment.”
Asked what has inspired him the most, Harmon said it would have to be “the willingness of everyone to put aside the usual points of bickering.”
”In some odd way,” he continued, “I think [Senate Republican Leader] Bill Brady and I are going to have a much more productive relationship in the long term because it was forged in this odd time, when we had a responsibility greater than to our caucus or to our party, but to the state and to the country and to the world.
”And I’ve seen that with Democrats and Republicans. I’ve seen that among the factions in the Democratic caucus. Almost universally people are very willing to put aside whatever petty grievances they may have had before and ask all the right questions. What can we be doing together to help our state and our neighbors through this?”
Harmon also praised the governor for acting capably and for being “very attentive to the needs of the legislature and the caucuses. So, I’m hoping all of these relationships will be stronger because of this, once we return to normal times.”
A primary argument of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative supporters of a graduated income tax is that we can trust them. We can trust them to use additional money it would generate to shore up the state’s finances. We can trust them not to use it to come up with new ways to spend money. We can trust them not to use the new system to regularly increase income taxes.
By May 3, we will have a good idea of just how seriously we should regard their word.
May 3 is the deadline for the General Assembly to pass legislation allowing a referendum on creation of a nonpartisan commission to draw legislative boundaries, replacing the highly politicized process now in place. If they miss that deadline, the state will not have a chance to address the issue until the next U.S. Census in 10 years. […]
Support for change from the public and within the legislature is clearly strong. Only three people stand in the way of action. Democratic Speaker Mike Madigan decides what legislation gets voted on in the House. Democratic Senate President Don Harmon has that role in the Senate. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has repeatedly claimed to support a new redistricting process, has the prestige and influence of his office to move legislative leaders of his own party.
Not one word in the entire editorial about the international pandemic and how that might impact the deadline.
The General Assembly has a May 3 deadline to vote on the Fair Maps Amendment, which would ask voters in a November referendum to approve a state constitutional amendment that would put redistricting in the hands of an independent commission.
State Rep. Terra Costa Howard, a Glen Ellyn Democrat and co-sponsor of the bipartisan bill, said momentum had been building, but priorities have shifted.
“This is my No. 1 priority, but I also have to focus on protecting people’s lives, making sure there is food supply, that businesses can keep running,” she said. “That is the highest priority that we as legislators have right now.”
Co-sponsor state Sen. John Curran, a Republican from Downers Grove, agreed.
“I am very hopeful that we will be back and be able to put this matter before the voters. It is very important,” he said. “And if we are back and able to do that, we will also have known that we turned the corner on this pandemic and flattened the curve.”
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Even though we’ve moved past the point of pure containment, it remains a priority to further build our testing abilities in part to understand the presence and spread of COVID 19 across the state. In our last testing announcement on the 24th, we were running about 2000 tests per day across our three state labs, our four commercial labs and our 15 hospital labs. Today we’re now averaging around 4000 tests per day. And in total we have now run nearly 28,000 tests here in Illinois with 30 Hospital and clinical laboratories now up and running.
Within the next 10 days we believe that we will be up to 10,000 tests per day. Again, we’re at 4000 today. That marker 10,000 is significant because it’s the number of tests per day that the scientists and experts tell us that we need to get a truly holistic understanding of the virus in each of our hundred and two counties.
Right now we’re working with roughly the same data that the majority of states are working with. That gives our state a rough picture of the viruses landscape across our state and in our municipalities by extrapolating the data using modeling largely based on the viruses spread in other countries. This 10,000 a day marker will give us the data to run a more mathematically significant model that offers us improved insight into how well our interventions are working. Ultimately, my goal is to reach a large enough testing capacity, where we’re able to test. Everyone who needs a test on a regular basis. But for right now all of the experts point to 10,000 tests as the standard that we need to achieve again.
Again, I want to be frank with you, where we are now is not where I want to be. Every day we aren’t hitting 10,000 tests or more is another day that we’re not able to get answers that help us get past this current crisis.
And to be clear though, loss of essentially the entire month of February in the effort to scale up robust testing, and the exponential spread that followed, was a profound failing of the federal government. State leaders have spent every day since then, trying to correct for this foundational mistake.
Nationally, there have been some improvements in testing, but we still have so far to go. The United States is still trailing other countries in testing on a per capita basis, several times over. In all the states we are working to fill the gap.
But the most frustrating part of this gap is, it’s not just in the past. The White House has promised millions of tests for weeks now and they’re just not here. To be clear, I also welcome the testing capacity when it actually arrives, but I’m not going to wait on promises from the federal government that may never be fulfilled. We need this testing capacity now, so we’re building it ourselves in Illinois.
Here’s how we’re getting there. All three of our state labs are running a second shift of technicians to run samples, and we’ll be adding a third shift when we can get our hands on an even larger supply of the reagent and viral transport media, and other material elements needed beyond the swabs themselves.
Second, and this is key, we’re acquiring additional laboratory robotics to load our 12 real time PCR machines at a multi thousand unit increase in single day capacity. We’re getting our first two machines on loan. And we’ll have them up and running by Tuesday, and we expect the others later this week. This technology is crucial, as it replaces manual loading and shrinks down the bottleneck for results. We’re working with the University of Illinois discovery partners Institute to ensure our staffing and logistics reflects this increased capacity, as well as exploring options with the Illinois State Police to utilize their manpower to move materials and equipment to maximize daily capacity at each of our three state labs.
You also might have heard that Friday, Abbott Laboratories, an Illinois company announced a portable five minute rapid test for COVID 19. That same night I picked up the phone and I spoke with the president of Abbott, and the CEO of Abbott separately to ask that Illinois be first in line. I’m proud to say that they expressed their real dedication to taking care of their home state, and will be very helpful to us here in Illinois as their production ramps up. In a parallel effort, we’re collaborating with our university and hospital partners to ensure Illinois’ commercial testing can grow as fast as possible.
As for our drive-thru testing, we’ve added a fifth facility since our last testing update the Illinois National Guard, really truly an amazing group, the Illinois National Guard has opened up a second state run drive thru testing facility in McLean county yesterday, joining our Harwood heights community based testing site in northwest Chicago, and the three federal HHS sites in Bolingbrook North Lake and Joliet. Our state run sites have been a huge success. And in addition to our McLean county site. We’re investigating additional areas around the state to launch potential drive thru locations symptomatic first responders healthcare workers seniors and all people with underlying health conditions will be able to visit these sites.
* Federal red tape and delays…
Still, due to the federal government requiring federal personnel representation at our two state drive throughs we remain tied to a 250 test cap at each of these locations. We know there’s greater need at our longer running Harwood Heights site. We’ve been hitting 250 tests by just the early afternoon, and having to turn people away. We’d like to be able to test more than 400 people a day at these sites and think that we can. We have the capacity to do so. So we’re pushing the federal government to change their requirements and allow us to test more than 250 people were turning people away that we just shouldn’t have to. And we asked the federal government to remove their restriction.
We’re also pressuring the federal government on the return timelines of these tests. The private labs contracted by the federal government are taking four to seven days, sometimes even up to 10 days to turn around results. That is far too long. We’re doing it much faster in the state of Illinois, with the capacity that we have.
* Evictions…
We’re seeing news stories out of other states about nurses being thrown out of apartments or are denied the ability to rent their apartments out of fear of exposure by other tenants. We’ve not yet specifically heard of instances like that here in Illinois. But let me be very clear, that will not be tolerated in our state. I want to remind everyone that evictions are prohibited during this disaster to begin with. But I also want to make sure that landlords are not inappropriately terminating leases. So let me say this here in Illinois we are fortunate to have a very strong community of attorneys that are ready to fight for nurses and for all healthcare workers to make sure that their rights are protected. If any healthcare workers encounter this situation. They should immediately contact the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for assistance.
* On to questions for the governor. Why haven’t construction projects been halted? Some are complaining that they are working too close together on the sites…
Well, it’s certainly up to the companies that are doing the construction to make sure that people are social distancing that are working there. There should be an opportunity at most construction sites to do that. But to the extent that they’re not able to, that is a concern certainly for me and it should be for the owners of the companies that people are operating those construction sites. So anybody that is concerned about that certainly should be reporting that to the Department of Public Health or letting my administration know, because there is, remember that much of what is being done is essential work that’s been determined at least as essential under our order and we don’t want anybody to be at risk but but we also want to make sure that we’re, you know, continuing the necessary work across the state. So please, anybody that’s experiencing that should let us know.
Again, please pardon all typos.
* Asked about closures of local parks and forest preserves…
Those decisions are being made on a city by city, county by county basis, and should be by the locals there.
* Reached the peak?…
No we have not hit the peak here in Chicago, or in the state of Illinois and we’re going to continue to see an increase unfortunately of cases, and likely deaths.
* There have been a lot of reports nationally about the PPE shelf life extension program. Has the federal government let Illinois extend the shelf life of COVID 19 intensive supplies and how big is that stockpile?…
All of the PPE that we have in the state anything that is expired or deemed to be expired is being checked it’s being sampled and checked. According to the regulations for extending that shelf life so we’re trying to be very careful about any PPE that’s being distributed that has any extension and making sure that we’re keeping our healthcare workers safe. I should also add though that we’re running through PPE at a reasonable clip across the state. We’re also acquiring millions of units PPE. Most of what we are acquiring is being shipped out to locations where they’re running through the PPE so I would expect that in many places they’ll be using the PPE that was recently acquired recently manufactured. And we’re going to continue to make those acquisitions, so you’ll be seeing even more PPE but we’ve checked with all of our local health departments and continue to talk to the hospitals and health care centers to make sure that the end nursing homes and other locations where we need PP to make sure that people have what they need. And that we’re supplying them with anything that they may need, especially in the near future.
* Governor, people downstate need to hear from you in person. And provided you and your staff can travel safely without becoming ill, when will you be back downstate?…
I appreciate the question and I always love to be in downstate Illinois. I was there just a week ago I think, it seems like about a month or two ago, but that’s the way time is moving right now. In Murphysboro, in Springfield, and elsewhere and I am in Carbondale, so I’m going to, I am not reticent to travel. And I certainly will try to find a moment in the near future.
I would just remind you, though, that the virus has been so severe in North Eastern Illinois in the in Chicago in the collar counties. I’ve tried to make sure that I’ve been on hand to make decisions here about the thousands and thousands of people that have been affected here, while also looking seriously at the areas of the state like St Clair and Madison counties, like Jackson County Peoria and Champaign where there’s been a rising number of cases. But I’m glad somebody asked and I’m always glad to travel and I will do so and sometime in the near future.
* The University of Washington projected the COVID 19 apex in Illinois at April 16, and forecasted 2454 deaths by August. Do those figures and other data in this analysis align with the current state projections?…
We have our own statisticians and and modelers that along with the scientists and experts here, we have now taken that University of Washington data and melded in some of the conclusions that they reached, looked at the data sets that they had, and tried to make sure that we’re doing the right thing in terms of our modeling here in Illinois. We’re not concluded, every day there’s new information that goes into these models. But I think that it is fair to say that most of the models that I’ve seen and we’ve seen a number of them show that we’ll be peaking sometime in April in Illinois. And we’re not yet close to that, you know, we have weeks to go.
* Is it a foregone conclusion that our medical infrastructure will be vastly overwhelmed in a few weeks? What are you going to do about it?…
Oh my goodness. That is my number one concern is to make sure that we don’t have our medical capacity overwhelmed. But I must say when you look at New York, when you look at other places in the country, and you see how fast the beds are filling, the ICU beds, hospitalizations and so on. You can’t help but feel that they have been running as hard as they can to create capacity and to mitigate and put in orders.
So, in terms of the mitigation efforts that we put in place, I am pleased that we were able to be early, or at least to do it as quickly as possible. And that has helped us to drop the number of cases that we think will hit the hospitals going forward.
But I must tell you that there’s not enough capacity today. That is why you see us building out facilities across the state, that’s why you see us putting in triage centers. We’re building, our national guardsmen and others are putting up tents and other facilities at 10s of dozens of hospitals across the state to make sure that we’re able to keep people separate, that the epidemic doesn’t fly through an emergency room for example. And then we’re building out capacity at some hospitals to just literally add beds in an on to facilities that already exist, and then McCormick Place and the hospitals that we’re looking to turn on in the next couple of weeks.
* Question for IDPH Director: If you don’t have adequate testing yet and we’re already roughly halfway through the stay at home order, then how do we measure the rate of transmission? Do we have any evidence to suggest that the spread is slowing?…
In addition to testing, we also have the hospital data. Every day, we collect the number of people who are admitted with COVID disease, who have coded like disease, who maybe haven’t had their testing. We’re checking the amount of people with these illnesses that require ICU admission that require the use of a ventilator. And so following those numbers as well, that gives us a track and actual good data in terms of how this is growing and how this is spreading and how our capacity might be reached and how much more we will need. So those data are additional data points that we can use for the modeling that can supplement what we don’t have with widespread testing.
-30-
…Adding… I should’ve added this. The question for the IDPH Director was: “What information can you tell us about the nine month old who has died? Is it known how the baby contracted the virus, have the parents tested positive? And what is the status of the other infant who tested positive?…
The investigation of the infant that we reported about yesterday is still very fresh. We are trying to gather all the data before speaking. I know that there’s a lot of concern as hearing about the death of an infant who also had COVID. And so we really want to get a complete report.
Gov. Pritzker also responded…
I would remind parents out there that this is highly uncommon. I mean, it really is highly uncommon. That isn’t to say that that every infant is safe, but it just is. It’s so uncommon that, at least when I started to do the work and listen to the experts about it, I got at least some comfort in the idea that this is not something that we should expect to hear a lot more of, because it’s just not happening very often at all.
* Some hospitals nationally are continuing to do elective surgeries because they have to worry about their bottom line. How does that fit in with the coronavirus directives in Illinois?…
Well, first of all, we, you know, we had to make space for there’s an elective surgery somebody can put off, then we had to ask people to do that. And we realized that it has a financial impact on hospitals. But I have to say, first to the credit of the hospitals, that was not their primary concern when they heard that we were considering it they understood that we needed to do this. And many of them wanted to let us know how quickly they could get to a state where they’re not doing elective surgeries. And so I’m very proud of those institutions and I thank them very much for their willingness. There is a significant financial impact on the hospitals and that’s why the last relief package had a large amount over 100 billion dollars. That was dedicated to hospitals and health centers precisely in part because the impact of COVID 19 on hospitals, has been, I mean, you know, severe, and they’re doing the work anyway they’re they’re doing it and they’re, you know they’re losing money doing everything that they’re doing, but they’re saving people’s lives and I’m so grateful for that we’re gonna work very hard with our federal delegation to help take care of the hospitals that have stepped up. All of them have
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,105 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 18 additional deaths.
Cook County: male 50s, 2 females 60s, 2 males 70s, 3 females 70s, 2 males 80s, female 80s
DuPage County: male 60s
Kane County: male 40s, 2 males 90s
Kendal County: male 60s
LaSalle County: male 80s
St. Clair County: female 70s
Bond, Knox, Menard, and Montgomery counties are now reporting cases. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 4,596 cases, including 65 deaths, in 47 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to 99 years.
As of 5 p.m. on 03/28/2020 , a total of 190 detainees in DOC custody have been tested for COVID-19.
Of those:
89 detainees have tested positive.
9 detainees have tested negative.
92 detainees have pending test results.
Additionally, 12 Sheriff’s Office staff have tested positive.
Cermak Health Services staff are closely monitoring the detainees on the living units where these individuals were housed and will test any detainees who are symptomatic.
Illinois schools won’t have to make up days missed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but will have to implement remote learning starting Tuesday, the Illinois State Board of Education announced.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed public and private schools statewide from March 17 through at least April 7. Through Monday, those days were declared “act of God” days. Starting Tuesday, schools will be required to use remote learning.
Remote learning days “count toward the minimum length of the school year and absolutely do not need to be made up,” according to a news release from the Illinois State Board of Education. […]
The State Board of Education’s Remote Learning Recommendations “strongly encourage that school districts’ local grading policies during Remote Learning Days embrace the principle of ‘no educational harm to any child’ and that school districts adopt grading models of pass or incomplete,” according to a news release.
In addition, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signed an executive order that suspended all state assessment testing for the spring.
* Empty…
Empty streets. Deserted public spaces. This aerial video by @ZBzdak shows what Chicago looks like during a pandemic.
* Reports of prescribers stocking up on drugs for family: The Executive Director of Illinois Pharmacists Association says they’ve gotten reports from members and pharmacies that prescribers were calling in the prescriptions in large amounts for themselves, immediate family, or people close to them, and rarely for their patients who need them.
* Coronavirus concerns imperil Illinois’ equine industry: “As this goes on, two weeks, three weeks, we could be OK,” said Tony Somone of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association. “But as it hits four weeks, five weeks, six weeks, we’re going to see some horsemen struggle to feed themselves and feed their horses.”
* A new study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is quite sobering. Let’s start with the press release…
In a forecast based on new data analyses, researchers find demand for ventilators and beds in US hospital intensive care units (ICUs) will far exceed capacity for COVID-19 patients as early as the second week of April. Deaths related to the current wave of COVID-19 in the US are likely to persist into July, even assuming people protect themselves and their communities by strongly adhering to social distancing measures and by taking other precautions advised by public health officials.
The study uses a range of outcomes with a 95 percent uncertainty (or confidence) interval (UI). This produces a lower- and upper-bound estimate. The result should appear between those two bounds in 95 out of 100 simulations. This a very tricky thing to model, as they state in their methods section…
Uncertainty in the model estimates is driven by two components: (1) uncertainty from fixed effect estimation and (2) uncertainty from random effects, with the latter dominant because of the high variation between locations.
That “variation between locations” also applies to individual states. So far, though, their numbers are holding up.
* Deaths per day. The study projects the United States will hit its peak of deaths per day on April 14th at 2,341, (or between 1,149 and 4,844 at 95% UI). The study projected 437 national deaths for March 28 (with a range between 380 and 508). The actual number on the 28th was 447, so that’s well within the expected range.
You can also look at the numbers by state. Illinois is expected to hit 91 deaths per day at its peak on April 17th, (or between 18 and 177 at 95% UI). The study projected 11 deaths per day for Illinois by March 28, (or between 6 and 17). Illinois reported 13 deaths yesterday.
According to the projection, Illinois will not return to yesterday’s death level until around May 11th. But it could come earlier (late April) considering the projected range, or later (beginning of June). You can clearly see the difficulty here in predicting when Illinois should lift its stay at home order.
* Cumulative deaths. By March 28, the study had forecast 1,979 cumulative deaths in the US, a number derived from a range of 1,842 to 2,137. The actual total was 2,038. That’s well within the expected range.
For Illinois, the study projected 47 cumulative deaths by March 28, (or between 34 and 63). The actual number was 47.
Point being, each day’s projected number won’t be exactly right, but it will likely be in the expected ballpark over time at a 95 percent UI. Its projection for New York of 722 deaths by March 28 was also pretty spot on. New York reported 728 deaths as of that day.
* In all, the study projects 81,114 total deaths in the United States by July 15th, (or between 38,242 and 162,106). Things start to level off around the first week of June or thereabouts.
Illinois can expect to experience 2,453 deaths by June 4, (or between 507 and 5,850). As noted above, Illinois is projected to start leveling off in earlyish May or so.
* Peak resource use. The study projects peak resources will be needed in the nation as a whole by April 14th. By that point, the nation will be short 49,292 hospital beds and 14,601 ICU beds and 18,767 ventilators will be needed (the researchers could not estimate existing ventilator capacity). But because this is such a large country and the trajectories are different for various regions, let’s focus on Illinois.
Illinois will hit its peak resource day on April 16. We should have 14,552 hospital beds available by that day. The study projects we’ll need 8,885. So, we’re good, right? Well, that number is derived from a range of 1,998 to 16,986, so don’t get too comfortable. Also - and this is very, very important - Illinois is a big and diverse state. Some hospitals may have excess capacity while several may not. It could be a real nightmare for some areas and/or individual hospitals.
Also, just because we have bed capacity doesn’t mean that hospitals have enough gloves, masks, etc. And, partly because of the national PPE and testing shortages and lack of a vaccine, hospital/ambulance/first responder staffing levels could crash as more and more workers contract the virus.
And then there’s the ICU bed issue. Illinois will have 1,131 ICU beds available on April 16, but it will need 1,335, or 204 more than existing capacity (the projected ICU bed range need is between 180 and 2,700). That obviously needs to be addressed, particularly when you factor in any regional disparity.
We’ll also need 721 ventilators by that time, but the expected range could push that number as high as 1,447.
Indiana is in much worse shape. They’ll need an additional 1,973 hospital beds, 876 ICU beds and 854 ventilators. Missouri’s is even worse. Michigan is about to get clobbered. By April 8th, that state is projected to need 10,563 additional hospital beds, 2,564 ICU beds and 1,785 ventilators. New York is a disaster. By April 6th it’s projected to need 35,301 more hospital beds than it had, 6,949 ICU beds and 4,141 ventilators.
* Now, on to some visuals. When you hear people say “flatten the curve,” it means we have to keep the following graph’s curving purple dotted line (hospital beds needed) beneath that straight solid purple line (existing hospital beds available). Same goes for needed and existing ICU beds with the green dotted and straight lines. As noted above, Illinois achieves the flattening goal for hospital beds, but not for ICU beds. A shortage of existing ICU beds will begin on April 7 and last what could be two very long weeks…
* Indiana will not sufficiently flatten the curve. The state goes above existing hospital bed capacity on April 8th and won’t have excess beds until April 21. Existing ICU capacity is breached on March 31 and that will last through April 24…
* New York went above existing capacity days ago and won’t have available hospital beds and ICU beds until April 22nd…
* Michigan appears to already be above existing ICU capacity and will be above existing hospital bed capacity on March 30. It won’t have an excess capacity of existing ICU and hospital beds until April 19…
* Missouri will be above existing hospital bed capacity from April 12-29 and above existing ICU capacity from April 2 through May 4…
According to the projection, Wisconsin doesn’t hit peak resource needs until May 22nd, so it has time to beef up its existing ICU beds, which are projected to exceed capacity from May 4 through June 4. Ohio, like Wisconsin and Illinois, should have enough hospital beds, but it will experience an ICU bed shortage based on existing capacity from April 9-19. Minnesota will have a shortage of existing ICU beds from April 11 through May 6.
Bottom line: We’re better off than some other states, but it’s still gonna be bad. Please, stay inside.
The U.S. government’s foremost infection disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the U.S. will certainly have “millions of cases” of COVID-19 and more than 100,000 deaths.
As the U.S. tops the world in reported infections from the new coronavirus, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases predicts 100,000-200,000 deaths from the outbreak in the U.S.
I’ve learned through personal experience that grief is a bridge. It gives us permission to experience the sadness that we need to feel. In order to move forward. It helps us empathize with the people in our community that are hurting. That helps us to lift them up.
And I’m here to tell you, maybe the most important thing that I know is that this will pass. We will carry our lost family members and friends with us forever. And someday their memories will not bring grief. But the grace we need so that we can live on, and love again
* More…
Today marks one week that are since our stay at home order was put in place.
We’re increasing testing capacity, every day. We’re stopping at nothing to obtain supplies and equipment that we need for our hospitals and our medical workers, and I’ll continue to do everything necessary to bend to this curve and to keep Illinois safe and healthy. Based on science, data, and the guidance of health experts, our approach to fighting this virus is two pronged: suppress the spread and increase hospital capacity to meet the need. A critical component of our increasing our capacity is identifying and building out additional facilities across the state to support our existing hospitals and health care systems.
IDPH, IEMA, the Illinois National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers have been hard at work collaborating with our local officials on where we’re seeing the largest concentration of potential additional need. In partnership with the City of Chicago and the US Army Corps of Engineers, we’re planning to use the city’s McCormick Place Convention Center as Illinois’ first field hospital. I’ll provide more details on this effort for the public in the coming days, but the baseline is that we’re not waiting for the worst, we’re preparing ourselves for the worst.
As always, please pardon all typos.
* Thanks McDonald’s…
And because we’re receiving their donation this afternoon, I want to specifically recognize McDonald’s Corporation, headquartered here in Chicago, for today giving us an additional 400,095 masks to protect our essential workers in the fight against COVID 19.
* Medicaid…
We’ve put in every waiver that we can with the federal government to expand health care availability during this period. Number one, we’ve worked to ensure that no one will lose Medicaid as we work to stop COVID 19. We’re asking to temporarily suspend the annual renewal process that Medicaid recipients normally go through. Number two, we’ve worked to fast track Medicaid enrollment through the elimination of time consuming review procedures, as well as the suspension of numerous co-payments, spend downs and asset verifications, making it easier than ever for new applicants to get assistance. Three we’ve worked to guarantee covered costs for kovat 19 treatment to all of our uninsured residents, regardless of income. And four, we’ve worked to have all our insured residents covered for any out of pocket expenses relating to COVID 19 treatment costs. We’ve already received waivers allowing us to suspend prior authorizations, meaning doctors and providers don’t have to wait for approval before they can offer Medicaid care and streamlining our enrollment system on the provider side. Finally we’re exploring how to allow any medical provider in Illinois to bill Medicaid. We’re also awaiting approval of a waiver to further expand home delivered meals to help people stay at home and still get the nutrition that they need.
* Grocery stores…
Since my previous announcement about grocery stores, offering dedicated hours to older and more vulnerable shoppers, we’ve continued to work with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association to make shopping a safer experience.
That continued reassessment has resulted in a new best practice that grocery stores will be rolling out in the coming days. In fact several new procedures.
These include signage at the entrance and throughout the store alerting customers that they must follow the six foot separation rule, to continuous announcements of social distancing rules throughout the store on their PA systems, setting up floor markers to socially distance at checkout lines, encouraging cashless purchases for speed at checkout, dedicating staff to regularly walking the floor to help customers follow the social distancing rules, placing shield guards in front of the cashier or the bagger that may not be six feet away from the customer, temporarily prohibiting reusable bags, encouraging the use of online ordering and curbside pickup and encouraging the use of self checkout lanes to reduce the number of interactions our grocery store employees have to make with customers.
* On to questions for the governor. President Trump has called for a quarantine of NYC. Are you concerned this will happen here?…
It’s unclear what the President, I’m not sure that he actually completed the call for it. He suggested that he may call for it. Look, I have to say that, New York, New Jersey, that entire area, you know, several of us lead in our stay at home orders relatively early. Indeed, I think we were among the very first states. And so I’m not sure what the President has in mind in terms of quarantining.
But if we here in Illinois do what people should be doing, following the rules according to the stay at home order, then you know we will be able to bend the curve here. But I think we’re all deeply concerned about what’s happening in New York and clearly it’s happening in New Jersey. There are hotspots around the nation and, you know, Chicago is now being referred to by some as a hotspot. So we’re all watching what’s happening and how the President and the federal government are reacting to them because at some point, we have to we’re going to be reaching a peak and we will want to know what can we expect from the federal government, because, frankly, so far we haven’t received enough support for what we think, you know, we’re going to reach a height of ICU admissions and hospitalizations.
* Concerned about first responders getting the virus?…
I’m deeply concerned about first responders, police, fire, healthcare workers, obviously, and we have provided for police departments fire departments and first responders the kind of PPE that they need in the near term. And as we acquire more PPE we’ll make sure that they have the stores that are necessary for the days going forward. It’s very important for us to, to make sure that those very essential workers, those first responders are kept safe. And as you saw we opened up a special testing facility just for our first responders and our healthcare workers to make sure that they get priority in this effort and they have the ability to get that test as soon as they are deemed by their doctor appropriate to get the test.
* From what you have learned about COVID 19, do people get it and then recover do they become immune or can you become reinfected by the virus…
IDPH Director: I’ve been scouring all the articles from around the world in terms of trying to amass all the knowledge about this virus. This virus seems to be a stable virus and that it doesn’t seem to mutate very significantly, so if you get this virus we think that you develop antibodies within less than a week and we think that that will give you immunity.
* Governor you obviously have teenage children, how do you as a father talk to them about what’s happening with COVID 19, and what advice do you have for parents and explaining what’s going on with the pandemic to their children and especially young children…
Well, I certainly have admonished my children to follow the rules, and they have you know, it’s not easy. You know the kids. And I think many kids are used to using the internet to communicate with one another so that’s, I think, a benefit to them that maybe we didn’t have as kids. But, in talking to them. I’ve also said, don’t watch TV news. Because you know it’s okay to keep up with news and I’m sure that they do I know that they do. But don’t watch all day. Don’t turn on CNN or MSNBC or god forbid Fox and try to follow this through the news it’s not worth doing.
And then I just add one more thing which is you know for very young children. You know I remember the immediate aftermath of 911. And I think it’s very important for children to ease the concerns of their very young children that and let them know we’re going to get through this and I want to say this to everybody that’s watching and listening today, we are going to get through this, we are. We’re working very hard to make sure that we keep everybody healthy and safe. We are going to get through this. And when we get on the other side of it I think we’ll look back and say, we did everything that we could. And I think did the right things at the right times.
* There have been concerns expressed by members of the public about delays and getting testing results back. How long does it typically take for test results to be processed….
There are different laboratories that have different turnaround times and of course the more specimens you take in if you have a limited amount of capacity to process those tests there can be a lag in returning the results of those tests. The commercial laboratories that the federal government has contracted with are inundated and it is taking more days to get something back from a commercial laboratory, which used to be the fastest providers, than it does to get a test back from our state labs or from your local hospital or provider that has their own testing capability. So we’re trying to, you know, talk to the federal government about speeding up that process but more importantly here in Illinois. We’re acquiring more testing capability and not only the test kids as we’ve talked about the past, and all the pieces of the supply chain but the actual machines that are doing the work of of giving results and so we’re building up our internal test capability and lab technicians and you know all of the supplies so that we can do it better and faster within the state of Illinois, because the federal government, honestly, their process has not delivered fast results.
* If the governors are bidding against each other for things like PPE and the federal government is not overseeing this, why don’t the governor’s just organize themselves to buy as one and then divide up the goods, maybe the states could come up with a voluntary buying consortium?…
Well that question sounds like it came from a business person because I have for many days now been been working with other states. I have talked to other governors about their needs, but making sure that we make package, you know demand requests to the various suppliers, so that we’re buying in bulk, essentially, for multiple states. So we’re doing that we’re working with different states on different PPE and ventilators and so on. We all have enormous needs. But this points up a problem that you all should be aware of which is what we ought to be doing is doing these kinds of purchases en masse through the federal government, they should have led this to begin with. I’ve said this over and over again and I’ll repeat it. The defense production act which only now has been invoked for one circumstance for one supplier that was GM yesterday, should be invoked across the board because there are a lot of manufacturers out there. And as I have said they are selling often to countries other than the United States, and they have an order book that looks like one of their customers is FEMA, and then they’re competing against New York they’re competing against California against Illinois and all the rest of the states that are trying to put orders in. And so those who are at the bottom of the list and I’ve tried to move us up those lists, but those who are at the bottom of the lists may not see ventilators until you know potentially months after they peak in terms of their COVID patients in their hospital so that’s not going to be very useful for many states.
* Is the administration considering any action related to stopping doctors from stockpiling drugs that may be used as a treatment for coronavirus…
The administration does not seem to be stopping any of the stockpiling of drugs.
What I know is that it is true that there is not yet a known approved treatment for Coronavirus, COVID 19. Please take note of that, because I know that there’s some misinformation out there that you know even the President has repeated sometimes.
What I know is that we have ongoing tests at our terrific globally recognized medical institutions here in Chicago and in Illinois. Those tests are around, new drug applications. There is one called REM des severe which is being manufactured by and put forward by Gilead, still unproven. But it does, it has seemed to be somewhat effective so far.
The tests have to be ongoing here, we have to get to a result to know, because you don’t know what the side effects are going to be, and the side effects can sometimes be worse than the original disease that you’re treating or the virus that you’re treating so we’re continuing to watch that and to make sure that we’re staying ahead of it. And of course the federal government needs to step in here and make sure that those drugs are available to all the states as needed when they become approved.
* What is the situation with availability of ventilators?…
Virtually every state doesn’t have enough ventilators That’s just a fact there was nowhere in the United States that was ready for a pandemic.
The federal government has said they have 10,000 ventilators on hand. Just to give you a sense, New York alone right now says they need 30,000 more ventilators. So the federal government wasn’t ready for this either.
And, to be honest, the president the current president, although he’s blamed previous presidents, also wasn’t ready and hasn’t gotten us ready, even though we knew for two months now that this was going to be a problem.
So what we’re doing is acquiring ventilators wherever we can. We’ve collected up the ventilators around the state of Illinois certainly anybody that’s listening to this knows of a ventilator that has not been contributed to or made available to the state or to local hospitals, please come forward. Let us know about that. We’re out in the market, acquiring as many ventilators as we possibly can. Currently, you know, we don’t have enough we need thousands more than we have today.
There is some discussion about ventilators being moved around the country as hotspots flare up, but it’s not clear to me whether for example, New York will start ramping down their need fast enough for Illinois to be able to use what, New York currently needs and may not need it on the other side of their peak. So, we’re not relying upon that, we’re just out in the market acquiring any piece of ventilator equipment that we can. And as you may have read, even in the state of Illinois the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign has developed a ventilator product that may be usable for us to expand our ventilator capabilities across the state.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported the death of an infant younger than one year in Chicago who tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“There has never before been a death associated with COVID-19 in an infant. A full investigation is underway to determine the cause of death,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “We must do everything we can to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. If not to protect ourselves, but to protect those around us.”
Older adults are at higher risk of severe illness, and more than 85% of deaths in Illinois are among individuals 60 years of age and older. However, people of all ages are suffering severe illness.
Today, IDPH reported 465 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 13 new deaths.
Cook County: infant, 2 males 60s, 2 males 70s, 1 female 70s, female 80s, male 80s
McHenry County: male 50s
Kane County: 2 males 70s
Lake County: female 90s
Will County: female 90s
Carroll, Fayette, and Macon counties are now reporting cases. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,491 cases, including 47 deaths, in 43 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to 99 years.
A young Chicago child has died from coronavirus, Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner at the Chicago Department of Public Health said.
“Obviously, our hearts go out to that family,” Arwady said, adding that the county’s medical examiner is doing a full investigation.
She stressed that while the death is likely to raise concern among parents and caregivers, Arwady said, “local data is not looking different in any way than in settings that have seen more cases.”
The mayor and police chief in Aurora, the state’s second largest city, have tested positive for COVID-19, city officials said in a news release Friday, making them among the first city leaders in the west suburbs publicly known to have the coronavirus. […]
Ziman and Irvin have been working remotely during the past week, and intend to continue doing so, their spokesmen said. Neither has been hospitalized, and anyone tested is mandated to be quarantined for at least 14 days from their initial tests.
* Dart agrees with the state sheriff association on this, but advocates are with the Illinois Department of Corrections. WBEZ…
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is slamming Illinois Gov. JB Prtizker’s decision to largely stop accepting new prisoners into the Illinois Department of Corrections, an attempt to slow the rapid spread of COVID-19 behind bars. Instead of going into state prisons, those detainees will be held in jails under the supervision of county sheriffs.
“If someone thinks that is proper, they need to get a new job,” Dart said. “People who do that clearly don’t look at it as we are in this thing together. That’s every man for himself. And I clearly don’t think anybody who’s thoughtful would be doing that at this time.”
But criminal justice advocates have praised the governor’s move as a way to help slow the spread of COVID-19. They say Cook County has drastically reduced its population in recent years so Dart has more space to facilitate social distancing.
The advocates also say limiting transfers between facilities will help contain the spread of the virus. As of Friday morning, the Cook County jail had 38 detainees who tested positive for the disease.
Dart is in an unenviable position, but passing his problem up the food chain to a much larger system is probably not a wise idea. I additionally checked with Jennifer Vollen-Katz, the executive director of the John Howard Association…
JHA supports reducing incarcerated populations, including stopping admissions into jails and prisons, which includes stopping transfers from county detention into state run institutions. The more people moved, the greater the exposure to COVID19 is for everyone. Stopping admissions and transfers is consistent with sheltering in place efforts.
Dart needs to stand down and get ahold of himself.
As Illinoisans are ordered to hunker down to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, calls to allow legal marijuana deliveries have increased.
Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago) introduced legislation last month that would allow cannabis dispensaries to deliver marijuana to both medical pot patients and recreational customers. Now, she’s calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to take immediate action amid the rising public health crisis.
“I would be happy to see if the governor maybe could make a special executive order allowing that, or us being able to get that legislation through maybe quicker than normal this year to provide for that,” said Harper, who co-sponsored the bill that legalized pot statewide at the start of the year.
That landmark piece of legislation didn’t include a provision allowing deliveries, though lawmakers discussed the prospect while it was being drafted.
As Charlie Wheeler always says, read the bill. Or in this case Public Act 101-0027…
(n) A dispensing organization shall not:
(7) Operate drive-through windows;
(8) Allow for the dispensing of cannabis or cannabis-infused products in vending machines;
(9) Transport cannabis to residences or other locations where purchasers may be for delivery;
(10) Enter into agreements to allow persons who are not dispensing organization agents to deliver cannabis or to transport cannabis to purchasers.
All of those restrictions should eventually be repealed, but only the General Assembly can do it. And I didn’t see anywhere in the law that allows the state to set up a licensing procedure for home delivery, so I checked with the sponsors and the state cannabis czar and was told the GA has to take action before it can be done. The governor can waive administrative rules, but he cannot just waive away statutes.
* I do not know how organized this union actually is, nor do I know how widespread its support is beyond the San Francisco area . Its not-for-profit status hasn’t even been approved yet. But, hey, these are new times and the company most definitely needs to step up for its workers…
Shoppers for the online grocery delivery service [Instacart] are threatening to strike Monday if the San Francisco-based company doesn’t meet their demands for more safety protections and better pay, as demand skyrockets during the COVID-19 shutdown.
The Instacart Shoppers and Gig Workers Collective accused the company of turning “this pandemic into a PR campaign, portraying itself [as] the hero of families that are sheltered-in-place, isolated or quarantined.
But “Instacart has still not provided essential protections to shoppers on the front lines that could prevent them from becoming carriers, falling ill themselves or worse,” collective members said in a statement issued Friday.
Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta announced last week the company planned to nearly triple its ranks with an additional 300,000 full-service shoppers nationwide, as states have ordered residents to stay home and practice social distancing to contain the viral outbreak.
Abbott Laboratories says it has received approval for the fastest COVID-19 test to date.
The North Chicago medical device maker today announced the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has authorized the use of its new coronavirus test, which delivers positive results within five minutes and negative results within 13.
* From the daily Q&A with legislators…
Q: Are individuals obligated to attend in person any legal witnessing such as getting documents notarized or witnessing signing a will?
A: Per Executive Order 14, any act of witnessing required by Illinois law may be completed remotely via two-way audio-video communication technology provided certain requirements are met. Please refer to the Executive Order 14 for further guidance.
Across Southern Illinois, people are reporting for COVID-19 pandemic duty with an unlikely weapon: their sewing machines.
Collectively, they have made hundreds of homemade face masks for paramedics, nurses, doctors, nursing home staff, drivers, cooks and others whose jobs require that they keep showing up while the rest of us hunker down at home.
They join an unofficial network of people across the country sewing masks in response to a critical shortage of them.
