[Simon now says it won’t reopen the malls. Click here.]
* Tim Moran at the Patch…
The Orland Square Mall, which has been closed since March 18 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, is slated to reopen on May 31. The Simon Property Group that owns the mall announced this week their plan to open all their Illinois mall properties on that date.
Other Simon shopping centers scheduled to reopen on May 31 include Chicago Premium Outlets, Gurnee Mills, White Oaks Mall in Springfield and Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. […]
In its reopening announcement, Simon outlined safety protocols it is taking with each mall reopening, including preemptive employee screening for coronavirus, requirements that all employees wear masks and frequently wash their hands. Employees that fail health screenings will be sent home. […]
Malls will implement occupancy limits and use “traffic measuring technologies” to ensure that occupancy does not exceed one person per 50 square feet of space, Simon said, adding, “As needed, we will restrict the number of open entrances to the property while complying with local fire code requirements, and have queuing protocols in place to manage traffic. Each tenant will be responsible for managing to targets set by state or local authorities for their leased spaces.”
It looks like they’re interpreting the EO to apply to individual stores, not the mall itself.
* The governor was asked about the mall in Orland Park today…
Again, indoor venues with hundreds and hundreds of people who will be walking together,that’s an extraordinarily difficult circumstance under the epidemiological recommendations here. So, that’s something that will have to happen over the course of months and not in the immediate next phase.
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* Dr. Ezike…
To date we have run a total of 379,043 tests for COVID-19 with 17,783 tests being resulted in the last 24 hours. Of those 17-plus thousand tests, 2641 tests were positive. That’s a 15% of positivity rate, and that brings our total number of positive cases to 70,873.
Most sadly, we report that we have exceeded 3000 deaths related to COVID for the state of Illinois. With the additional 138 lives reported as lost over the last 24 hours we now have a total of 3111 fatalities.
Regarding inpatient admissions related to COVID, 4862 individuals as of midnight were in the hospital with COVID, and of those 1253 patients are in the ICU, of those ICU patients 766 patients were on ventilators.
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,641 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 138 additional deaths.
- Clinton County: 1 male 70s
- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 1 male 30s, 2 males 40s, 2 females 50s, 5 males 50s, 1 unknown 50s, 6 females 60s, 12 males 60s, 1 unknown 60s, 9 females 70s, 19 males 70s, 10 females 80s, 14 males 80s, 17 females 90s, 6 males 90s, 1 female 100+
- DuPage County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 2 males 70s, 4 females 90s
- Jackson County: 1 male 60s
- Kane County: 2 females 80s, 1 female 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 female 80s
- Lake County: 2 males 60s, 1 female 80s
- Macon County: 1 female 70s
- McHenry County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- Peoria County: 1 female 90s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 70s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 80s
- St. Clair County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Will County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 2 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 70,873 cases, including 3,111 deaths, in 97 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have processed 17,783 specimens for a total of 379,043.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for deaths previously reported have changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted.
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* From the Anti-Defamation League…
Extremists and conspiracy theorists often use protests or rallies to spread their beliefs, but the pervasiveness and extensive media coverage of lockdown protests – which actually represent a minority opinion – has created an irresistible public platform.
There is ample evidence of extremists using these rallies to broadcast their beliefs. Members of the Three Percenters, a wing of the anti-government movement, attended events in Michigan, Oregon, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois and California
* What are Three Percenters?…
A wing of the militia movement that arose as part of a resurgence of the militia movement in 2009. The term “Three Percenter” refers to the erroneous belief that only 3% of colonists fought against the British during the Revolutionary War—but achieved liberty for everybody. Three Percenters view themselves as modern day versions of those revolutionaries, fighting against a tyrannical U.S. government rather than the British. With anyone able to declare themselves a Three Percenter, the concept allowed many people to join who were not suited, physically or by inclination, to engage in paramilitary activities. The Three Percenter logo—the Roman numeral III—has become very popular among anti-government extremists.
* So I asked the ADL what evidence they had that those folks were at an Illinois rally. They referred me to this tweet. Check out the Roman numeral III on the rally sponsor’s sign…
Every politician who spoke at the rally stood in front of that sign, including Kendall County GOP Chair James Marter, Rep. Dan Caulkins and Rep. Darren Bailey.
* Orphans of the American Dream has a podcast and a Facebook site. Here’s its logo…
* From April 27th…
The Reopen Illinois rally was organized on Facebook by Orphans of the American Dream. Participants want their voices heard as Governor JB Pritzker extends the stay-at-home order on May 1. Pritzker announced changes coming to his executive order during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
“We’ve honestly been watching the press conferences from President Trump and Governor JB Pritzker and just been getting more and more infuriated every time we watch them,” said Matthew Walder who organized the rally. Walder was happy with the turnout, despite the rain. “I can’t even imagine if it was nice out, how many people would be here.” A similar protest took place at the Capitol on April 19 as part of the national Operation Gridlock.
Walder hosts a podcast for Orphans of the American Dream, but he says this isn’t a partisan issue. “I think this is medical tyranny and our economy is about to crash, let’s be frank. That’s what we’re worried about. There are businesses that are probably closed off now that probably won’t open again, and that’s a travesty,” Walder said.
I’ve reached out to the group via Facebook. I’ll let you know what they say.
…Adding… From comments…
I’m one of the hosts of that podcast you speak of. We are not actually associated with any militia groups whatsoever. We are a news podcast and social media page. Just 3 guys who like to talk about politics. Listen to our show and you will find the facts. Thank you
Just III guys.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Nursing home strike averted
Thursday, May 7, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Frontline nursing home workers who were poised to start a historic strike on Friday have reached a tentative agreement with nursing home owners for a two-year contract with significant wins that will help safeguard both workers and residents through the current pandemic and beyond.
The agreement impacts over 10,000 members of SEIU Healthcare who provide care to residents at the 100+ nursing homes of the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities. The contract gains are a testament to the courage and commitment of workers who were poised to strike at 64 facilities in order to protect themselves and the residents for which they care during this time of unprecedented vulnerability and risk.
The workers won significant contract gains, including:
• Higher baseline wages bringing all workers above $15 an hour and establishing greater parity in wages across geographic areas
• Hazard pay for all workers for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis
• Additional fully paid sick days for COVID-19 related testing, illness or quarantine for duration of the crisis
• Provisions ensuring that employees are not required to work without adequate PPE as determined by regulatory agencies for the duration of the crisis
All of the major contract gains will help safeguard the health and safety of workers and the residents for which they care—at a time when both are vulnerable to the risks associated with COVID-19. While residents are at increased risk of the virus due to age and compromised health, workers face increased negative impacts from coronavirus due to their history of poverty wages, lack of paid time off, and the underlying health conditions that often accompany poverty. Additionally, a majority of workers are African-American, and a disproportionate number of African-American lives have been claimed by COVID-19.
Significantly, the agreement continues to build on the progress made by nursing home workers in recent years to lift wage standards for the industry.
The tentative agreement was overwhelmingly supported by members of the bargaining committee, but must be ratified by the larger group of members who will be impacted by its terms.
*** UPDATE *** Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities…
The Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities is proud that is has negotiated the largest wage hike in our history for our employees. With base pay raises up to 24%, the IAHCF has achieved the Fight for $15 ahead of the city and state for our dedicated employees on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. This two-year contract includes $2 per hour COVID bonus pay for all 10,000 employees during the duration of the stay-at-home order and beyond, as well as expanded paid sick leave. While negotiations have ended, this insidious virus has not. We are grateful a walkout was avoided, and that our heroic staff members will continue caring for our vulnerable seniors as we fight this battle together.
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* Oy…
A further 3.2 million Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as the economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic continued to mount.
The new applications brought the total number of jobless claims since mid-March to 33.3 million.
That amounts to more than 15% of the US workforce.
However, it was less than the 3.8 million a week ago and down from the record 6.9 million for one week in March.
* Illinois estimate…
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 74,476 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of April 27 in Illinois, according to the DOL’s weekly claims report released Thursday. […]
During the week of April 20, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates 81,245 new unemployment claims were filed in Illinois.
During the week of April 20, there were 3,169,000 new claims filed across the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 102,736 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of April 13 in Illinois
*** UPDATE *** Yikes…
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) today released new statewide data showing the department processed 74,476 new initial unemployment claims for the week ending May 2, and with upward revisions from weeks past, has now processed 1,006,925 initial unemployment claims from March 1 through May 2. This nearly 12 times the number of claims the department processed over the same period last year, when IDES processed just 78,100 initial unemployment claims.
Statewide unemployment claims data, which reflects activity for the week prior, will be available on the IDES website every Thursday afternoon. Previous initial claims data has undergone an upward revision to properly account for a number of successfully processed claims. While the number of initial claims has slightly declined over the last two weeks, IDES may experience an increase when the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program becomes available on Monday, May 11, 2020.
Workers who believe they may be eligible for new federal benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, must first apply for regular unemployment insurance before applying for benefits under PUA when a new application portal opens on Monday via the IDES website.
Claimants who receive an eligibility determination of $0 can then appeal that decision by providing verification of wages earned or they can submit a claim for PUA benefits. Claimants who have already applied for and been denied regular unemployment benefits can submit a claim through the new PUA portal when it opens. Receiving a denial for regular unemployment benefits is a mandatory first step in determining eligibility for PUA.
PUA provides 100% federally-funded unemployment benefits for individuals who are unemployed for specified COVID-19-related reasons and are not eligible for the state’s regular unemployment insurance program, the extended benefit (EB) program under Illinois law, or the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program (PEUC), including independent contractors and sole-proprietors. Up to 39 weeks’ worth of benefits are potentially available under the program for COVID-19-related unemployment claims.
IDES is contracting with Deloitte to implement and maintain the web-based PUA program. While a program of this magnitude would normally take up to a year to design and implement, the department worked swiftly to get the program up and running within 4 weeks.
PUA claims will be backdated to the individuals’ first week of unemployment, but no earlier than February 2, 2020, and will continue for as long as the individual remains unemployed as a result of COVID-19, but no later than the week ending December 26, 2020. The program is similar to the federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance program which provides unemployment benefits in response to local disasters.
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