* Still a lot of cases, but it’s down from last week’s highs…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 3,536 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 31 additional deaths.
- Carroll County: 1 male 70s
- Cook County: 1 female 20s, 1 female 30s, 1 female 50s, 3 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 4 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 3 males 80s
- DuPage County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 90s
- Kane County: 1 male 30s
- Lake County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s
- Madison County: 1 male 70s
- McHenry County: 1 female 90s
- Peoria County: 1 female 40s
- Richland County: 1 female 60s
- Tazewell County: 1 male 80s
- Vermilion County: 1 female 30s, 1 female 70s
- Whiteside County: 1 female 30s
- Will County: 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,288,934 cases, including 21,570 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 88,390 specimens for a total of 21,371,760. As of last night, 2,076 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 453 patients were in the ICU and 198 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from April 7-13, 2021 is 4.2%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from April 7-13, 2021 is 5.0%.
The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses for Illinois is 9,386,135. A total of 7,482,650 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 132,810 doses. Yesterday, 138,538 doses were reported administered in Illinois.
*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 a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
* Part of Gov. Pritzker’s response to a question today…
We are seeing upward movement of our cases and hospitalizations, obviously. But we have seen a beginning of maybe a lessening of the rise of cases. I don’t want to predict anything because this virus is unpredictable. But I think at least in the short term that seems to be good news.
Thoughts?
…Adding… Press release…
To further expand availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, Governor JB Pritzker today announced an additional state mass vaccination site in Cook County and that will open to all eligible Illinois residents on Thursday, April 15. As of April 12, all Illinois residents age 16 and older are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine with nearly 19,000 residents receiving vaccinations at state mass vaccination sites in the first 24 hours of universal vaccine eligibility. With the state’s seven-day test positivity rate and hospitalizations on the rise, local and state health officials are urging Illinois residents to seek out a vaccination location near them in order to protect themselves and their families from COVID-19.
“I’m proud to deploy Illinois National Guard teams and additional state resources to Cook County to ensure residents can receive their vaccines as efficiently and equitably as possible,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “The brave men and women of the Guard have already administered over one million vaccine doses to Illinoisans across the state, and as the federal government prepares to increase Illinois’ deliveries to over 100,000 a day in the coming weeks, IDPH and our 97 local health departments are prepared to meet the moment. In the meantime, I encourage all Illinoisans to wear their masks and stay vigilant as we power through to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Opening on April 15, the former Target location in Matteson is the 12th mass vaccination site located in Cook and the collar counties and is the state’s 21st mass vaccination site open to all eligible Illinois residents. The new site will provide Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The State of Illinois is committed to improving healthcare access and equity in underserved communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
7 Comments  
|
* Rachel Hinton…
Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford said Wednesday she tested positive for COVID-19.
In a brief phone conversation with the Chicago Sun-Times, Lightford said she left Springfield, where legislators are convening for session, and returned home where she will join committee meetings through Zoom.
The Maywood Democrat said after testing positive, she was “aching an awful lot.”
Lightford is the third person connected to state government known to have contracted the virus this week.
Meanwhile, the House told lobbyists and members of the public today that they must be tested in order to access House members. However, House members have not yet been required to take any tests.
*** UPDATE *** Leader Lightford told me she had planned to be vaccinated at the same time as her husband, who needed to wait to be cleared by his surgeon after a battle with cancer. Her husband was confirmed cancer-free and got the green light on Wednesday, she said. The two planned to get their shots together when she returned from session this week.
“All of my family members and staff that I have come into contact with tested negative,” Lightford said.
25 Comments
|
* Jaclyn Driscoll…
A staff member in Speaker Welch’s office tested positive for the coronavirus. The staff member tested yesterday as part of the required protocols to return to in-person work in the Capitol. Contact tracing was performed, and those who were in contact with the staff member are now quarantining, pending negative tests. The Speaker was not in contact with the staff member and continues to stress the vital importance of public health safety measures as the House of Representatives gets back to work for the people of Illinois. Thanks to the implementation of the U of I Shield testing, the Speaker’s Office was able to catch the positive result prior to the start of session today and it remains a requirement for all staff to be tested regularly.
…Adding… Unlike the Senate, House members are not required to be tested. Instead, they’re just “strongly” encouraged to take the test. I’m sure that’ll end well.
2 Comments
|
Lawsuits! Lawsuits! Lawsuits!
Tuesday, Apr 13, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Capitol News Illinois…
A Kane County restaurant’s legal challenge to Gov. JB Pritzker’s ban on indoor dining can continue, a Sangamon County judge ruled this week.
Attorneys for Pritzker tried to have the lawsuit dismissed but Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow on Wednesday declined to do so. While Grischow decided not to dismiss the case, she did not reach a decision on the merits of their argument.
The order is here.
* Cook County Record…
A federal judge has not only refused to grant Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s wish to end federal oversight of state employment and hiring practices, but has also granted a modest expansion of that watchdog duty.
“The message is not getting across to employment decision-makers” that overseers “will root out the problems and that there is a price to pay,” said Judge Edmond Chang.
On March 31, Chang, of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, denied motions by Pritzker to kill off the so-called Shakman Decrees, court orders requiring federal court oversight of hiring practices in a host of government agencies in Chicago and Springfield. […]
Chang acknowledged the state has made “significant” progress in its employment practices, and he might be receptive to another request late this year to terminate oversight. Chang noted that if the Cook County sheriff, the Cook County Forest Preserve District, the city of Chicago and Cook County have been able to satisfy Shakman, then “so can the State.” These governmental bodies are no longer under federal monitoring. […]
Adding that implementation is “complex,” Chang noted there is “evidence of ongoing noncompliance.” He particularly noted problems with Pritzker’s attempt to persuade the court to place trust in the Inspector General’s office. The judge pointed to an “apparent lack of sanctions for disregarding recommendations” made by the OEIG.
The opinion is here.
…Adding… The governor’s office points to this passage from page 30…
“t bears repeating and emphasis that this is not to cast pejorative criticisms on any particular institution or person. It just is not easy to durably protect State employees from partisan decision-making in employment, because those in power will do much to keep unlawful employment decisions out of the light and employees who lose out naturally fear retribution if they speak up. Nor does the Court downplay the significant progress made by the State, especially in the past two years, toward implementing a durable remedy. Indeed, as the implementation of the CEP continues, and as HEM continues its efforts and—it is hoped—increases its impact on State agencies, then the Court would be receptive to consider another motion to terminate in the last quarter of this year.
* Cook County Record…
A coalition of road construction contractors have asked the Illinois Supreme Court to step into the first court fight over whether an Illinois state constitutional amendment can be used to force Cook County and other local governments to spend money from local transportation-related taxes on actual transportation projects, and not county operations.
This week, attorneys for the group, headlined by trade lobby group, the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, filed a petition with the Illinois Supreme Court, seeking permission to appeal to the state high court of a state appellate court’s decision.
In that decision, a panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court declared their belief that Cook County is free to spend transportation-related tax dollars as the county government deems fit, despite a state constitutional amendment intended to lock away transportation funding from being spent elsewhere.
In their petition to the state Supreme Court, the road builders said the high court needed step in to set the precedent that local governments – not just the state government – must abide by the language of the so-called Safe Roads Amendment, and dedicate transportation money to transportation projects.
“This is not only a matter of first impression, but one of great public importance,” the road builders wrote. “At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation tax revenue that, under a constitutional amendment that the people of Illinois overwhelmingly approved, must be invested in our transportation infrastructure.”
The petition is here.
4 Comments
|
* AP…
The U.S. is recommending a “pause” in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday they were investigating unusual clots that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The clots occurred in veins that drain blood from the brain and occurred together with low platelets. All six cases were in women between the ages of 18 and 48; there was one death and all remained under investigation.
* IDPH…
In accordance with recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) will pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution. The CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine.
IDPH has notified all Illinois COVID-19 providers throughout the state to discontinue use of the J&J vaccine at this time. In order to keep appointments, IDPH is strongly advising providers to use Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Moderna and Pfizer make up the vast majority of doses on hand in the State of Illinois. This week, the state’s allocation of J&J was 17,000 doses. For the week of April 18, 2021, the expected allocation for the State is 483,720 total doses. Of that total allocation, 5,800 doses were expected to be J&J.
Per the federal health authorities, people who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider. Patients with other clinical questions should contact their health care provider.
IDPH will continue to update the public as additional information becomes available.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Johnson & Johnson…
The safety and well-being of the people who use our products is our number one priority. We are aware of an extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of individuals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases out of more than 6.8 million doses administered. Out of an abundance of caution, the CDC and FDA have recommended a pause in the use of our vaccine.
In addition, we have been reviewing these cases with European health authorities. We have made the decision to proactively delay the rollout of our vaccine in Europe.
We have been working closely with medical experts and health authorities, and we strongly support the open communication of this information to healthcare professionals and the public.
The CDC and FDA have made information available about proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot. The health authorities advise that people who have received our COVID-19 vaccine and develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.
For more information on the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, click here.
A commenter asked how many people would die from contracting COVID-19 as a result of this pause. It’s a good question.
…Adding… Another good point…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Block Club Chicago…
The state will send 50,000 doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to Chicago as the city suspends using its Johnson & Johnson doses. […]
The pause is only expected to last several days, officials have said.
The one-shot vaccine has been administered to tens of thousands of people in Chicago, and officials hoped that, as supply of the doses increased, it would play a significant role in getting residents vaccinated as quickly as possible — especially with cases on the rise in the city.
*** UPDATE 3 *** IDPH…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is developing and implementing plans to move forward with COVID-19 vaccinations in Illinois after putting a pause on administration of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine, including robust communication with all providers and the transfer of 50,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Chicago.
Earlier today, at the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), IDPH paused the use of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution. The CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine, out of a total of more than six million Americans who have received the J&J vaccine. In Illinois, of the total 7.3 million doses administered to date, 4% or approximately 290,000 have been J&J. These individuals remain fully vaccinated and do not need to seek out an alternate vaccine. People vaccinated with J&J should consult with their medial provider if they develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination.
“Public health officials made a commitment that any safety signals that came up concerning COVID-19 vaccines would be fully addressed in a transparent manner, which is what is occurring right now with the J&J vaccine,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “The blood clot cases appear to be extremely rare and there are no reported cases associated with either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna vaccines. IDPH is taking immediate action to ensure as little disruption to Illinois residents as possible during this pause, and I strongly encourage people to continue to get vaccinated. Millions upon millions of people have already been safely vaccinated and it will take millions more before we can put this pandemic behind us.”
Upon learning of the recommendation, IDPH took the following actions to ensure COVID-19 vaccine providers and health care workers in Illinois were aware of the pause and received the support they needed to adjust their planning:
• Immediately sent notification about the pause to COVID-19 providers, local health departments, and health care providers via the State of Illinois Rapid Electronic Notification system, which included follow-up calls, text, and emails.
• Directly emailed and called all local health departments through IDPH Emergency Response Coordinators, to assess impact and work to mitigate using Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
• Connected with all mass vaccination sites, Illinois National Guard vaccination missions, and one-day J&J clinics scheduled in EMTrack to develop alternate plans where necessary and ensure the least amount of disruption possible on individuals with appointments.
• Sent notification to hospitals, emergency departments, physicians, and other health care providers about treatment for this specific type of blood clot
The pause on the J&J vaccine will not have a large impact on state vaccination efforts as the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines make up the vast majority of doses on hand in the State of Illinois. No state-supported mass vaccination sites will be closed and no rapid response team clinics, faith-based or equity clinics, or rural clinics have been cancelled at this time. They will all move forward with a different type of vaccine.
The total allocation of J&J vaccine to Illinois, including Chicago, is 760,300, of which 290,615 doses have been administered. This week, the state’s allocation of J&J was 17,000 doses. For the week of April 18, 2021, the expected allocation for the State is 483,720 total doses. Of that total allocation, 5,800 doses were expected to be J&J.
In an effort to vaccinate as many people as possible across Illinois, the State is allocating 50,000 first doses of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to the City of Chicago over the next seven days to help meet demand. The State will also be allocating 50,000 doses to Chicago when second doses come due to be administered.
IDPH encourages people to register with V-safe After Vaccination Health Checker, a smartphone-based tool that uses text messages and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you receive a COVID-19 vaccine. For more information on v-safe, go to https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/vsafe.html.
35 Comments
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
 
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS |
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax |
Advertise Here |
Mobile Version |
Contact Rich Miller
|
