Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Another poll shows majority opposes fully reopening schools and daycare centers

Wednesday, Jul 15, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

A majority of voters oppose the Trump administration’s demand that K-12 schools and day care centers be fully opened for in-person instruction during the coming academic year, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

In addition, a decisive 65 percent of voters rejected President Donald Trump’s threat to cut federal funding for schools that don’t reopen, agreeing instead that schools need resources for continued virtual learning or other types of instruction. Only 22 percent said schools should have their federal money reduced if they don’t fully reopen. […]

Fifty-three percent of voters say they are somewhat or strongly opposed to fully reopening day cares or K-12 schools, while a slightly smaller 50 percent say they are opposed to fully reopening colleges and universities. […]

Women were slightly more opposed (53 percent) than men (47 percent) to colleges and universities fully reopening, as well, while 53 percent of suburbanites opposed the idea, somewhat or strongly.

The poll surveyed 1,992 registered voters between July 10 and 12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Toplines are here.

* I told you about this poll yesterday…

* Meanwhile, here’s a press release…

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced on July 14, 2020 that it will defer to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and the Governor’s Office on all of its Return To Play Guidelines moving forward.

“There is an unprecedented level of planning for this school year due to COVID-19, and we have come to understand that there needs to be a greater consistency between the guidelines for returning to learn and returning to interscholastic athletics,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Some of the recommendations by the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and directives from IDPH have come into direct conflict with each other, especially as it relates to the use of masks by student-athletes. As a result, we feel it is important to let IDPH and ISBE provide a consistent direction for our membership moving forward. We will wait on direction from these organizations for further guidance on Return to Play plans for the 2020-21 school year.”

* Press release…

The Lake County Health Department continues to work closely with Lake Zurich School District 95 in response to multiple cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) identified last week among participants of high school athletic camps and recent social gatherings. In the past week, 36 Lake Zurich High School students have tested positive for COVID-19, and all participants of Lake Zurich High School athletic camps are being instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days from their last possible exposure. […]

On Sunday, July 12, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) contracted with a private company to run a mobile testing site at Lake Zurich High School. Despite high demand for testing which resulted in long wait times, 355 individuals were tested throughout the day.

* And then there’s this problem…

A dramatic slowdown in testing turnaround times is undermining the U.S. response to the coronavirus, rendering tools like contact tracing almost useless in some instances.

Quest Diagnostics, one of the main companies doing coronavirus testing, said Monday that “soaring demand” due to the surge in cases across the South and Southwest had pushed back their average turnaround time for getting results of a coronavirus test to at least seven days for all but the highest priority patients.

LabCorp, another major testing company, said last week that its turnaround times were only slightly better, at four to six days, because of “significant increases in testing demand and constraints in the availability of supplies and equipment.”

The longer delays from previous waits of around two days as recently as late June in getting test results make it much harder to slow the spread of the virus. The fundamental strategy to help contain the virus is to test people quickly so that those who test positive can isolate. Contact tracers can then reach out to people who have been in contact with those infected to avoid spreading the virus on to others.

In Dallas, Texas, there’s a wait of up to 8-10 days for some facilities.

* Related…

* Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data - Hospitals have been ordered to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all patient information to a central database in Washington, raising questions about transparency.

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707 new cases, 25 additional deaths, 3.0 percent positivity rate

Tuesday, Jul 14, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 707 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 25 additional confirmed deaths.

Cass County: 1 female 90s
Cook County: 2 males 20s, 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 4 males 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
DeKalb County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
Kane County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s
Lake County: 1 female 70s
Madison County: 1 male 80s
McHenry County: 1 female 50s
St. Clair County: 1 male 60s

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 155,506 cases, including 7,218 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 28,446 specimens for a total of 2,041,440. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from July 7 –July 13 is 3.0%. As of last night, 1,416 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 333 patients were in the ICU and 126 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.

* Daily Herald…

llinois’ positivity rate has crept up from early July, when it hovered at 2.6%, but compares favorably with other Midwestern averages. Iowa is at 8.9%, Indiana is at 8.4% and Wisconsin is at 6.9%. Michigan’s average also is 2.6%, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

The highest positivity rate occurs in Arizona, with 26.6% and 2,537 daily cases of COVID-19, Johns Hopkins reported. In Mississippi, the positivity rate is 21.5%, and the new case count is 868; South Carolina is at 19.1% with 1,949 more cases, and Florida is at 18.6% and is experiencing a record-breaking surge — 15,300 daily cases on Sunday.

* New poll…

Seven in 10 American parents overall see it as risky for schools to reopen in the fall, including majorities across partisan lines. But as with so many aspects of the pandemic, there are significant differences in how risky Democrats and Republicans see it. Just as striking are the differences between whites and people of color.

• 82% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans say returning to school would be very or moderately risky. Among these, Democrats were more likely to see it as a large risk.

• 89% of Black parents saw returning to school as a large or moderate risk, compared with 80% of Hispanic parents and 64% of white parents.

• Gender wasn’t a big driver of differences — about seven in 10 men and women saw it as risky, though women were slightly more likely to assess the risk as large.

* From the Tribune’s live blog…

Lightfoot to get OK for Cubs weekend night games at Wrigley Field

A Chicago theater is coming back next weekend — yes, next weekend — with ‘Judy & Liza.’

Chicago’s City Colleges will wipe out debt of former students who return, Lightfoot announces

Illinois House Republican leader says he won’t go to GOP convention in Florida: “It’s not going to be a safe environment,” Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said during a videoconference with reporters.

Naperville-area school districts offer parents a choice: send students back to class on part-time basis or do all remote learning

How Chicago restaurants are adapting to draw you back in

Evanston Township High School returning this fall with mix of in-person, remote learning for students

Live concerts are back on a Chicago venue stage — and fans bought tickets to the show, even if they couldn’t be physically present in the room

After Trump retweets game show host saying CDC and doctors are lying, coronavirus task force pushes back: ‘None of us lie’

Surge in US infections hits Delta, with passenger traffic down 93%. A recovery will take more than two years, CEO predicts.

Most US parents see risk in their children returning to school

Whiting’s Whihala Beach to close starting Wednesday because of crowds

5.4 million Americans have lost health insurance in coronavirus-driven recession, analysis finds

* Sun-Times live blog headlines…

Illinois schools to get $50M more in emergency funding to assist with tech

A third scourge quietly stalks Cook County — officials see doubling of ‘needless, preventable’ opioid deaths

Iowa, Oklahoma added to Chicago’s travel quarantine list due to COVID-19 outbreaks

Health and Human Services Secretary visits Chicago Tuesday to study Rush, Haymarket handling of COVID-19

Ban on Friday night games at Wrigley Field to be lifted for pandemic-shortened season

City delays city sticker, parking permit enforcement for 2 weeks

‘Hybrid’ is the new buzzword in higher education

Chicago businesses cited for violating COVID-19 guidelines last weekend

South Side pastor Bishop Larry Trotter has tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokesman for the religious leader said Tuesday.

Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), Chicago’s second-most-senior alderman, tested positive for the coronavirus last month. It was not known whether she remains hospitalized or is recuperating at home.

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