The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,465 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 68 additional deaths.
Cook County: 1 male 20s, 1 female 30s, 1 female 50s, 7 males 50s, 3 females 60s, 5 males 60s, 4 females 70s, 10 males 70s, 3 females 80s, 6 males 80s, 4 females 90s, 2 males 90s
DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 3 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
Kane County: 2 males 70s
Kankakee County: 1 male 50s
Lake County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Rock Island County: 1 female 60s
St. Clair County: 1 male 50s
Will County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 2 males 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
Fulton and Greene counties are now reporting a case. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 17,887 cases, including 596 deaths, in 83 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.
* The governor will be speaking on this topic today…
Today, Governor JB Pritzker released a new All In Illinois PSA video featuring a strong message directed at African American communities across Chicago and Illinois, as a reminder that no community is immune to COVID-19.
Current data from Illinois and Chicago public health officials show:
• African Americans make up nearly 30% of the state’s confirmed COVID-19 cases and 42% of deaths.
• In Chicago, 72% of deaths due to COVID-19 were black, despite African Americans making up roughly 30% of the city’s population.
• People with pre-existing health conditions are more likely to have worse outcomes if they get COVID-19. Some of those conditions include: diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease or heart disease — all common for black families.
Governor Pritzker will address the challenges facing African American communities during his daily briefing today at 2:30pm.
This new PSA message, featuring prominent African American celebrities, urges everyone to stay at home to protect those who are most at risk and those on the front lines who must work and cannot stay home. “Staying inside truly saves lives,” said Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The message is simple: if we are “All In” for each other and “All In” for Illinois, we will get through this and flatten the curve together.
The new PSA video features the following celebrities:
• Artist, Chance the Rapper
• Former Chicago Bears player, Charles “Peanut” Tillman
• Chicago artist, Theaster Gates
• Olympian, Jackie Joyner-Kersee
• Actor/comedian, Deon Cole
The data accumulating over the last few weeks has shined a bright light on what seems like a uniquely American problem. Many could have told you what it would highlight, long before the data drew the picture. Generations of systemic disadvantages in healthcare delivery and in healthcare access in communities of color and black communities in particular are now amplified in this crisis. In the city of Chicago, suburban Cook County in greater St Louis in cities and towns all across our state and our nation.
First we need more ubiquitous testing. We’re working hard to expand our state testing capacity and as we do so we’re thinking seriously about where and how these tests are available and to whom. To that end, my team and I have worked to set up a partnership between the downtown Lurie Children’s Hospital in the city of Chicago, and for federally qualified health centers on the city’s south and west sides.
As always, please pardon any transcription errors. Thanks.
* The governor listed several city and suburban sites where tests would be done and then said…
These centers will take specimens for 400 people per day, and send them [out] for testing. And in the Metro East region, we’re launching a similar operation, starting next week three locations of the Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation system will be taking 470 specimens per day and sending them to Anderson Hospital in Madison County. […]
I’m also excited to announce that our new state run South Suburban drive thru testing center will open early next week in the Markham Harvey area. We’ll be taking hundreds of specimens per day with test results coming back to patients much faster than the federally contracted labs.
* A bit of news here since federal help was supposed to end this week…
As for our existing two state drive thru sites, we’ve secured an extension of our federal contracts while we work to transition these sites to run entirely through state and local labs for faster test results.
* Hotel rooms…
As part of our early crisis preparations, we required each of our local jurisdictions to come up with an alternate housing plan to help residents quarantine in a safe place. Simultaneously we at the state level began preparing up to 2000 hotel rooms, outside of Chicago, to support suburban and downstate communities.
These hotel rooms are for people who tested positive for the virus, but have low level symptoms and don’t need hospital level care. There are other rooms available for people who were exposed to a COVID-19 positive person. And are there for a person under investigation, who may need to move out of their home as a precautionary measure to make sure that they don’t expose their families, or their roommates. This extends to our first responder communities especially local health departments.
* Community health providers…
This week 45 community health centers across Illinois are receiving more than $51 million through the bipartisan federal CARES act to sustain their response to this virus.
* Abbott Labs…
I also want to provide an update on our Abbott rapid test distribution. As I mentioned on Wednesday, Illinois received 15 rapid test machines, while we’re still working to acquire the necessary materials to scale up their use beyond the 120 federally provided tests, we are deploying these machines in the following manner so that they’re ready to go as soon as the new tests come. Seven of these machines are going to the federally qualified health centers that I mentioned earlier, to Chicago’s south and west sides, and the remaining three to East St. Louis and the surrounding region.
Another three will go to the Illinois Department of Human Services facilities, the Ludeman Development Center in park forest. The Shapiro Developmental Center in Kankakee, and the Elgin mental health center. And the final five will go to the Illinois Department of Corrections facilities Stateville, Logan, Graham, Dixon and Menard.
* New guidance…
Today we issued guidance that vulnerable and historically marginalized communities must receive equitable care, so that no person of color, or person with disabilities, suffers a disparate outcome due to a legacy of discrimination. It’s in moments like these that we owe each other even greater expressions of humanity.
* Dr. Ezike…
As the governor mentioned, the state is working on alternative housing in communities of color to address some of these challenges of people who live in close communities, and who may be at risk or who’ve already been found to be positive. At IDPH we’ve also created the COVID-19 equity team. It’s comprised of our director for the Center of Minority Health, and it involves other state agencies as well as many community organizations that will serve as the voice and the informational hub on how to accurately address health disparities.
* Dr. Ezike…
Overall mortality rates among blacks are five times higher than whites. And when you break it down by age groups, the disparities are even higher. For people in their 50s, the mortality rate is 12 times higher for blacks than their white counterparts. For people in their 60s, the rate is eight times higher for blacks than their white counterparts. For people in their 70s, it’s 10 times.
The governor has also invited several African-American community leaders to speak. They all offered praise for the governor and encouraged people to stay home and observe social distancing and see a doctor before they have to go to the emergency rooms.
* On to questions for the governor. You mentioned the need for widespread testing. Is 10,000 the number you’ve been throwing out, is that enough or we’re talking about even greater amounts of testing and should the president invoke defense production act as far as testing is concerned?…
Well I’ve been saying for some time now that the president should be invoking the defense production act for everything that we need to combat this pandemic. This is a war it’s a war against COVID-19. If there’s ever a time when you need to organize our industries in the country to address this with PP with testing supplies with machines. These are all things that we need to accomplish the goals that we need to make, you know, a priority in this
* Just to follow up on your comments yesterday regarding summer gatherings perhaps needing to be looked at and possibly canceled, by that same logic is it inevitable you’re going to have to cancel on site schooling for the rest of the year?…
Yesterday I was trying to address the question of whether people should be thinking about what to do about their festivals over the summer and. And I was merely suggesting that people should contemplate, what if, because we need to follow what the scientists and the doctors tell us. That’s the most important thing that we’ve got to save as many lives as possible. And so that’s going to help dictate what the answers to the questions are, it’s not what I’m saying at the podium. On any given day it’s really about what the best scientists that we’ve got are telling us how we ought to operate going forward, because this is all about saving lives. That is what this is all about.
So I’m going to follow that advice and to your question it follows that the question about schools will be dictated again by where are we as we approach April 30, which is the end of our current stay at home order, and what progress has been made and what are the doctors saying about, could you congregate groups of people together in the sizes that classrooms tend to be in the size of. So again I’m gonna wait, and listen to as we make progress here. and you’ve heard me say yesterday, we’re making progress, so that’s good news. But I don’t want to project what next week or the week after will exactly look like because I don’t exactly know when we’re going to peak, or how fast the downslide will be if we do come down off of that peak, or if peaking means that we’re simply flattening the curve and flattening the curve and staying at the peak for some period of time, and then falling we just don’t know yet.
They keep answering the question even though the answer never changes.
* The President today said that the governors, and he didn’t name any by name, but he said that the governors are more satisfied now … are you satisfied with where things are in terms of PPE and everything right now?…
I won’t be satisfied until we’re past this pandemic, frankly, so you know if you hear me complain now and again if you hear me argue for more for Illinois. It’s because we need it. And it’s because we’re doing everything that we can, and it’s not enough, and therefore we need help from others. And so I’m going to make that plea, wherever I need to. But, you know, we’re doing everything we can, I feel like we are making progress, but I’m going to be on the phone with the governors and with the vice president with the president for as long and as often as I need to be.
* I don’t know if you were made aware earlier in the day but since we’ve been in this room. The Chicago Police Department announced that they’ve lost their second member to COVID-19. So first of all your reaction to that, and part two of that is there are still first responders on the first line both in Chicago Chicago Police Department and other departments who still claim they are being protected not enough is being done to keep them safe with regard to PPE…
Let me address the loss of another member of our law enforcement. This has happened across the state. Our first responders. They’re the ones protecting us they in our health care workers. And so every loss of life is a loss to all of us. But someone who’s out there every day who, you know, as they leave their home and kiss their families goodbye knows that they’re exposing themselves potentially to people who have COVID-19 and doing so to protect all of us. Those people are worthy of some special note. Those are heroes and so I you know I every loss is important to all of us we’re paying attention to every loss. But again, those heroes are special and should be taken note of each time so I’m glad you raised it to my attention. Thank you.
We are providing PPE to law enforcement all across the state we have state police that are coordinating the provision of PPE to police departments, fire departments other first responders. Remember that the state is really the backup and support, you know we’ll deliver. I mean if a police department doesn’t have what it needs, they simply need to reach out to the state police or to IEMA, the Emergency Management Agency for Illinois, and we will make sure that they get what they need. And we are constantly out in the global market acquiring the PPE that’s necessary we have it today so anybody that says that they don’t have it, or they aren’t being given the PPE, first thing they should do is go to their superiors at their own agency at their police department or fire department and ask them for that PPE, and if they’re not getting it there they can call their local health department which is where we often deliver much of the PPE that we’re sending around the state, or to the state police and we will make sure that PPE is provided to their department.
* Here in Chicago, and our region hospital CEO was worried about nursing and medical staff leaving their posts for other jobs at McCormick Place and other alternative medical care facilities, he says they just can’t compete with the wages that are offered at McCormick and is worried that they’re going to end up with a critical shortage of staff to operate…
So, I want to make clear what’s happening so nationally, there is a shortage of healthcare workers, and they are looking everywhere in New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut and all the states that you’ve heard of that are hotspots, including by the way in Michigan right they’re hiring wherever they can find people, and there is a market for those people. And so they’re being bid up, essentially, so that the competition is coming from all over the country again. This is because there is no organization of, you know, the supply chain even a people here which the President could be helpful with. But, this is where we are. And so, it is true that the the alternate care facilities in Illinois are also in that market, but we are not hiring, we are not hiring or making, we’re not making any effort to reach out to people in the Chicago market within a certain radius of Chicago, because we don’t want to take away from existing facilities in order to have them work at one of our alternate care facilities. That doesn’t mean though that someone who is part time and not assigned to any given hospital, and therefore isn’t on staff doesn’t put themselves in the market for one of these other positions either in another state or in an alternate care facility so we’re trying to be careful to not, you know, try to poach anybody from an existing facility. And we want to make sure that everybody’s fully staffed.
* You’ve made it clear that you don’t necessarily agree with some of the peak projections that are circulating. So in the interest of transparency, can you share your own methods and models for calculations and peak?…
Well we have multiple models i mean i it would be hard for me just to point at one particular thing and here’s the thing, even any model that everybody likes to point at the IHME model. And, and, you know, it’s a fine model, but the range of possibility between you know the low end of the high end, we’re talking about, you know, I think 30,000 beds difference between the low end and the high end of that model. So I you know how do you even build for that range?
So you have to, you know, you have to kind of look at several models look at what their assumptions are talk to our own experts we’ve got some of the best in the, in the world right here in Illinois, that we rely upon to listen to how they look at those models and also their own models, and then you know you’re, you’re basically taking several models and trying to guesstimate where is the right spot to aim for. And then the question that I think everybody should be thinking about which is. It’s not just about the peak that we’re potentially going through over the next several weeks. There’s also the threat of a peak in the fall.
And you know doctors will tell you that if you look back at the Spanish flu and other pandemics, and even if you look in other countries that have opened up after they’ve peaked that you see a resurgence of cases because we don’t have a vaccine yet. And there isn’t a treatment either yet. So, if you really begin to open things up you’re going to have a second wave. And so we need to make sure that we’re fully prepared. We don’t want to have a second wave, and God forbid we do, because other places in the country open up or because you know we make adjustments and they aren’t proper, which I hope we don’t do improper ones that is that we have to be able to address that. So, so all of the acquisition of PPE and and ventilators, and the maintenance of ICU beds and hospitals has that in mind and again we look at multiple models in order to try and guesstimate and that’s really the best you can do what you really need.
* A community health center in Jacksonville laid off staff and closed doors today because it has too few patients coming in. What are those medical staff needed and other hotspots and what is your plan to keep these medical centers open?…
Well there’s certainly no intention to hire them away from an existing health center. But certainly any of the folks who were working at a health center that are no longer working there, because that center is closed, we need them elsewhere, we need them at another facility. […]
And I’m surprised to learn of that closing there is money that’s coming in I think I just announced it moments ago that’s going to help centers, maybe it’s not enough and I would argue that the hospitals and health centers in the country are not getting enough yet from the federal relief packages. So I’m lobbying and arguing for more. But, I am sorry that that a health center anywhere in the state has closed.
* The Vice President urged people this morning to keep Easter gatherings to fewer than 10 people. Is that something you would agree with or would you tell people to limit a holiday gathering to just those in their own households?…
Well, I would like people to stay at home. I mean that is the safest best thing that they can do stay home. Celebrate at home, you can do so over telecommunications over video conferencing. Zoom or Skype or some other method and and many, many of the pastor’s that are here will acknowledge, everybody would like to get together for the holidays. But this is just one holiday where, you know, I think the the you know the teachings from the Bible will tell you that you know that it is our obligation to save a life. If we have the opportunity to staying home is saving a life, not just your own somebody else’s.
* The New York Times obtained a homeland security projection showing infections might spike in mid to late summer if stay at home orders are lifted after 30 days. Are you familiar with these projections and when will you decide whether to extend it…
I just read a brief paragraph about it, maybe an hour or two ago.
And then he said what he’s been saying for days and days when these questions are asked. He’ll listen to the scientists before making up his mind.
* The data appears to indicate that the coronavirus case growth rate is slowing and Illinois is bending the curve, but the number of new cases today was higher than yesterday. Can you comment on the prospects for bending the curve down, as well as what’s expected next in terms of next steps needed to bend it down further?…
I said yesterday that I believe when you look at the data, it appears to me that we are bending the curve. As far as bending the curve down that evidence isn’t quite there yet. But bending it downward to show it has a downward slope we aren’t there yet. But remember that we were increasing the number of deaths and increasing the number of cases in an exponential fashion for a little while […]
I think you would see also that the number of cases that are being detected as we have increasing testing, and you saw today that we were again over 6000 I think even over 6500, that we had nevertheless around the level number of cases detected. So again I’m not a doctor, I’m not a statistician but I can read numbers and understand what leveling looks like and, Again, a few days in a row is a good sign and a glimmer of hope.
* More than two thirds of rural counties across the country have a confirmed case and at least one case of a COVID-19 death, and one in 10 are reporting at least one death, what can you do to make sure Illinois rural areas are getting the testing they deserve…
You heard me talk about the fact that in downstate Illinois we in fact are increasing testing. I talked about the Metro East area but you know Carbondale and Edwardsville both we monitor very closely and the health centers that are in the critical access hospitals health centers that are in other communities in downstate Illinois are receiving funding, they’re receiving testing, they have swabs many of them have the ability to send the testing to our state labs, we have a state lab that’s in Carbondale one in Springfield so we have the ability to collect those swabs and test them and in relatively short order. And we want to make sure that everybody has testing available. That is why we must increase testing everywhere. It isn’t just in Chicago.
* When will Westlake hospital be up and running to respond to COVID-19 patients, what about other shuttered hospitals the state has identified for opening again, if they’re not up and running by the time Illinois hits our peak will they only be open as long as money in the cares act can pay for them…
It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact date that they will be open but what I can tell you is that our target date for Westlake hospital Metro south, as well as Sherman hospital is April 24 for completion of construction. Once construction is complete, we will need about two days to train all of the staff and have the facility ready to open and accept patients for vibra Hospital, we have a little bit more of an extended timeline we are targeting may 9 for construction completion at Vibra.
* How has the pandemic changed how your family celebrated Passover this year? Do you have any advice or recommendations for family celebrating Easter this weekend?…
Well I was a part of two different saders on both nights of Passover. And they were both over zoom […]
So there are lots of ways to do it. I will say that it was almost fun. … Because you can connect with people that that might not otherwise be able to get to your home on a typical Passover, or a typical Easter and this is an opportunity for you to experience this all the same together. And it really is like being, I know it doesn’t sound like it, but it really is kind of like being in the same room you can see everybody. If anybody ever saw the old show Hollywood Squares. It’s a little bit like Hollywood Squares, you can see everybody on the same screen and talk to them all and it’s really quite good so my staff are all about half my age are laughing in the background because they don’t know what Hollywood Squares. So anyway, thank you all very much. Happy Easter everyone.
Two people have died and more than 50 have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Elisabeth Ludeman Center, an enormous state-run facility for adults with severe disabilities in Park Forest that’s become a virus “hot spot” in the south suburbs.
The majority of cases are residents who live at the facility, but more than a dozen staff members have been infected, Park Forest Mayor Jonathan Vanderbilt said Friday. […]
Vanderbilt is imploring the public to donate personal protective gear to the facility.
It is most in need of disposable stethoscopes, disposable blood pressure cuffs and disposable gowns. Vanderbilt said he reached out to the Cubs and White Sox asking for the teams’ rain ponchos, which could double as protective gowns for staff at the facility.
“The staff is desperate for this protective gear,” Vanderbilt said. “Many of the residents have underlying health issues, and the number of infections at the facility is expected to rise, that’s the scary part.”
* In the wake of news about outbreaks in at least three different state facilities which serve developmentally disabled people, Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line asked the governor and the IDPH director yesterday what the state is doing about it. The answers were somewhat unclear, so I reached out to the governor’s office for a better explanation…
IDPH has worked closely with IDHS to ensure our congregate care facilities under the state’s care were prepared for COVID-19.
At the beginning of March, IDPH issued guidance for long-term care facilities. Facilities were instructed to think through plans to identify spaces to separate residents and spread out if they needed and create plans for isolation if they needed.
First, facilities implemented visitor questionnaires and screening and then stopped visitors altogether to try to prevent the virus from entering the facility. Pre-shift assessments were implemented to ensure staff were not working while sick. When residents required healthcare they tried to provide appointments within the facility instead of transferring residents to a hospital. A lot of steps were taken before they had a positive case.
Now that there are cases at these facilities, IDPH is working closely with them in terms of having an infection control preventionist working directly with the facilities. We’re keeping a close eye, and we’ve had deliveries of thousands of PPE materials to these facilities, include a shipment that should have been delivered to Murray today.
It’s obviously not enough if we have a state facility begging baseball teams for rain ponchos.
* And there’s this from IARF President & CEO Josh Evans…
It is with deep sadness and concern that we continue to learn of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in group homes and state centers where individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities reside. With at least 47 known cases in group homes and five deaths – and with news of over a dozen residents of Murray Center - we grieve with families and guardians that are experiencing loss and we hope for a speedy recovery for those going through this horrible illness. […]
Yet for many staff in IARF provider agencies and state-run centers, there isn’t access to critically needed personal protective equipment (PPEs), such as masks, disinfectant, thermometers, and robes. We simply cannot get PPE in the quantity we need it to protect residents and staff.
Evans went on to praise the Department of Human Services and the administration for taking quick action that likely saved lives, but then said this…
Consider this a call to anyone reading this – in government, outside of government, in supply chains, in our healthcare and social services safety net with any sort of surplus or reserve – we need PPE – we need it to protect our friends and loved ones with developmental disabilities, and the staff that support them – with families of their own.
The Illinois Department of Human Services has conducted hundreds of coronavirus tests at its seven facilities for people with developmental disabilities in the past week, yielding positive results for 112 residents and 43 employees.
The confirmed cases include 17 residents and six employees at Warren G. Murray Developmental Center in Centralia, the third-largest facility in the state with 241 residents and 559 employees. […]
At least 69 residents and employees have tested positive for coronavirus at Samuel H. Shapiro Developmental Center in Kankakee, the state’s largest facility for people with developmental disabilities. Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center in Park Forest, the second-largest, had 52 confirmed cases and two deaths as of Thursday.
* The US DOT recently allowed states to do this. I’ve asked the Pritzker administration if Illinois will join, but haven’t yet heard an answer…
The Indiana Department of Transportation is now allowing food trucks at 38 highway rest stops. The state is requiring food truck operators to apply for temporary permits. They can operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Food truck owners are excited, with some saying they had already thought about the idea, especially when they heard what some truck drivers were dealing with.
Expiration dates of Illinois driver’s licenses, identification cards, vehicle registrations and more will be extended even further due to the coronavirus pandemic, Secretary of State Jesse White announced Friday.
White said in a statement that his office had filed emergency rules extending the expiration dates for the various documents for at least 90 days after Driver Services facilities reopen. He had previously extended the deadline for 30 days.
* ISRA…
After a few weeks of conversations with the Illinois State Police, new emergency rules have been issued regarding FOID card renewals, according to Richard Pearson, Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association.
“The upshot is FOID card holders will be able to keep their FOID cards current during the coronavirus crisis and for one year after termination of the disaster,” Pearson said. “These emergency rules help ensure that honest gun owners will not be blocked from making firearm purchases. It has taken some time to get to this point, but we are pleased with the end result.”
Specifically, the emergency rules for Firearm Owner Identification and Concealed Carry Licenses during the COVID-19 epidemic are as follows:
· FOID card holders, who submit their renewal application will remain valid during the duration of the state’s disaster proclamation and for a period of 12 months following the termination of the disaster, even if their renewal application is/was not submitted prior to expiration.
· CCL licensees, who submit their renewal application, will remain valid during the duration of the state’s disaster proclamation and for a period of 12 months following its termination, even if their CCL renewal application was not submitted prior to expiration.
· CCL licensees will not be required to immediately submit proof of three-hour training with their CCL renewal application.
· CCL licensees will need to submit proof of their three-hour renewal training within 12 months following the termination of the state’s disaster proclamation in order to maintain the validity of their CCL license.
* Greg Hinz interviewed the governor and got personal…
He catches an episode or two of “Tiger King,” the somehow seemingly appropriate Netflix series about people who happen to keep tigers around as pets—if you can call a 500-pound ball of teeth and claws a pet.
“It’s worth it,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker chuckles as we speak over the phone. “It’s got a lot of crazy people.”
Pritzker says he has no regrets over attacking Trump’s performance, especially on what the governor says is a long record of broken promises to deliver ventilators, top-quality masks, test kits and the like.
Those bumps have been his biggest disappointment, he says—”The unfilled promises.” But parts of the federal government, particularly the Army Corps of Engineers, which helped convert McCormick Place into a temporary hospital have been “hugely helpful, he says. And letting Trump have it right between the eyes actually may have helped get stuff, he adds. “I think we’ve received more by speaking out. They (in the Trump White House) are very reactive.”
* The governor’s press secretary announced this yesterday before reading questions from reporters working remotely…
A lawmaker on Twitter said they would like me to say who the question is coming from, so I’m going to try and do that.
From that legislator…
I’ve been asking the same thing. Couldn’t see how they would think that’s appropriate. Have to at least state who the question is from. Right now, she could just make things up to fit the narrative if she chose to. Not saying that’s happening, BTW.
Attorney general’s office fields more than 1,200 price-gouging complaints
UIC medical students to graduate early amid COVID-19 pandemic
Near North Side retiree sews face masks for other seniors as her part in the ‘pandemic war’
* More news…
* Still hitting the links — by driving across state lines: In neighboring Indiana, where courses fall under “outdoor recreation” and are therefore allowed to stay open, Rivercrest Golf Club managing partner JW Potter says there’s been an increase in the number of golfers from Illinois the last couple of weeks.
Lindsay Ippel Douglass has worked in emergency rooms and Level 1 trauma centers as a nurse. She’s also worked in the intensive care unit at Decatur Memorial Hospital after she and husband Chris moved back from Chicago several years ago.
When the COVID-19 unit opened at the hospital, she volunteered to work there, too. One evening as she headed to work, her husband and two small children were outdoors, and her husband asked a passerby to help them cheer for her as she left.
“The next night my former basketball coach from Millikin, Lori Kerans, and her family as well as my in-laws who all live nearby joined them,” Douglass said. “Since then it has grown to not only include many neighbors but other family, friends, Millikin teammates and friends and other supporters from my church.”
The support for her and her fellow frontline healthcare workers helps keep their spirits up, she said, as well as donations of food and protective equipment such as masks, safety glasses and headbands.
* This was on Twitter a few days ago. Make sure to turn up the sound…
If the goal is to keep social distancing as a way to bend the virus curve, then the government is sending mixed messages.
On one hand, the government is shutting down small businesses who were following the social distancing rules and had smaller customer bases, while concurrently allowing big box stores to remain open, with the implication that bigger stores must be safer.
Here are a few examples of many mixed messages that do not seem to pass the public commonsense test:
A flower store on Perryville was informed that they could not sell flowers, not even curbside. The reasoning behind the decision; public safety was at risk. Yet on the very same street, Lowes, Home Depot and Meijer’s all have their flower departments fully open.
I think it’s a reasonable question. So I put it to the governor’s office by using the example of small clothing stores that are closed while big box stores stayed open and are selling clothes.
* Response from Jordan Abudayyeh…
COVID-19 has brought us unprecedented challenges that no one could have imagined just a few months ago.
Like the governor has said, there are no good or easy choices. Right now, there are only bad and less bad choices.
For many communities in Illinois, big box stores are the only pharmacy or grocery store in town. The administration prioritized keeping open essential businesses so residents would have access to food and medicine during this crisis.
Again, there are no perfect solutions. Once we’re able to test expansively, closely trace the virus, and offer treatment we look forward to returning to some semblance of normalcy.
Thoughts?
…Adding… Since I asked Jordan about clothing stores, she just sent me this about garden shops…
The Department of Commerce and Economic Development (DCEO)’s original guidance provided that “stores that sell supplies that assist with either (a) agriculture; or (b) products for landscaping can continue to sell those products to the public, provided adequate social distancing is complied with.” This guidance remains valid.
DCEO has expanded their original guidance so that all garden stores, garden centers, and nurseries (even those that did not fall within our original guidance above) are allowed to sell products for delivery or pick-up. That expanded guidance states: “Garden stores and greenhouses can remain open for purposes of maintaining inventory, and to fulfill online and phone orders for pick-up or delivery only.” This guidance applies to both standalone stores as well as garden centers that are part of a larger store (such as a garden center that is part of a hardware store or big box stores such as Lowes or Home Depot).
So, Syverson could be dealing with a local control issue. Anyway, the overall point still stands.
After nearly four decades in prison for his role as the lookout in two gas station robberies, Basil Powell was given a second chance at life Thursday.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker commuted the former Chicago man’s natural life sentence earlier this week amid mounting pressure from prison reform advocates urging the release of elderly or ill inmates during the coronavirus pandemic.
Powell, a 68-year-old grandfather with diabetes and high blood pressure, has been in prison since 1986 under an old tough-on-crime sentencing law that labeled him a habitual criminal and forever slammed the prison door shut after his third class X felony conviction.
Powell is among a group of people serving life sentences in the Illinois Department of Corrections to whom Pritzker has quietly granted release in recent days through his executive clemency power.
His office did not provide information on the commutations Thursday. But Pritzker has commuted the sentences of 17 Illinois prisoners since March 11, including seven convicted of murder.
The bulk of the total federal influx includes $470 million to the city from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, nearly $800 million dedicated to the CTA and $205 million for Chicago Public Schools.
O’Hare and Midway airports also will get a split of the $10 billion the legislation includes for airports across the country. The city currently is in discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration and still doesn’t know how much Chicago’s airports will receive, but officials said they expect it will be “considerable assistance.”
Lightfoot cracked the door open to a tax increase.
“I’m gonna be very clear-eyed about the fact that if there is a need to raise additional revenue after we see in the long term what this impact will be, I’m gonna be straightforward and very transparent about it,” she said.
While it’s too soon to tell for sure, the mayor said, she took layoffs and a delayed pension payment off the table when and if the city recalculates its budget.
Layoffs “don’t make sense to us” because government should be spurring and not retarding growth now, Lightfoot said. As for pensions, “We’re not going to compromise our long-term financial position.”
Lightfoot et al. continued to assert they expect to receive $160 million in the form of a higher Medicaid reimbursement for the use of Fire Department ambulances. That application, sent to the state, has been pending in Washington for several months now, with money already included in the city’s 2020 budget.
City officials did not directly answer a question on whether pension obligation bonds are being considered beyond saying they would not take any actions that damage the city’s fiscal position. City hall and market sources have told The Bond Buyer that the city is exploring the POBs idea and bankers have been asked to run numbers on various scenarios and the administration has enlisted some aldermen to join in consideration of the idea.
One source cautioned that at this point the city was exploring the idea and sizing, timing, and structuring were a long way off if the city decided to go that route and the aim would be to improve funding and not for near-term relief. […]
The city so far has spent $100 million on COVID-19 emergency response costs for equipment, supplies and quarantine and shelter sites and believes it’s eligible to receive more than $500 million in federal aid from CARES with its eligibility on other packages still under review.
The city maintains strong liquidity of more than $2 billion in cash to manage near-term costs, as noted by rating agencies. “We are not looking to draw down our reserves” and have flexibility with liquidity, Bennett said.
They’re also taking a look at the Federal Reserve’s new Municipal Liquidity Facility. Click here for more info on that.
The governor should also be sharing far more detailed budget info. He has said he’s focusing on keeping people healthy, and that’s definitely his top job right now.
But Illinois’ finances are always an issue and the public has a right to know what this crisis is doing to the state’s bottom line.
Amendments to Article IV of this Constitution may be proposed by a petition signed by a number of electors equal in number to at least eight percent of the total votes cast for candidates for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial election. Amendments shall be limited to structural and procedural subjects contained in Article IV. A petition shall contain the text of the proposed amendment and the date of the general election at which the proposed amendment is to be submitted, shall have been signed by the petitioning electors not more than twenty-four months preceding that general election and shall be filed with the Secretary of State at least six months before that general election.
A group of political activists have filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the signature requirements to put referenda on the November ballot must be eased because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Perhaps not surprisingly, one of their lawyers is former Gov. Pat Quinn, who stepped onto the political stage more than four decades ago by gathering signatures to put various referenda on the ballot and never kicked the habit. […]
In their lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the plaintiffs said they want the court to issue an order to allow them to collect signatures electronically, to lower the threshold signatures needed to get a question on the ballot by 50 percent and to push back the deadline to turn in signatures.
Issue a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction enjoining or modifying enforcement of Illinois’ petition collection requirements for initiative referendums for Illinois’ November 3, 2020 general election; and (ii) enabling and requiring the Defendants to allow for petitions to be submitted electronically via names of qualified electors collected by an online form to be created by the Secretary of State; extend the May 3, 2020 deadline for an Article XIV, Section 3 referendum to August 3, 2020; and reduce by 50% the number of signatures required to qualify statewide and Evanston initiative referendums for the general election ballot or some percentage of required signatures necessary to demonstrate substantial public support;
* So, what are they trying to get on the ballot? Here’s Lauraann Wood at Law360…
The committee aims to ask voters in November whether Illinois’ constitution should be amended to allow them to petition for a mandatory roll call vote on legislative bills proposing stronger ethical standards for Illinois public officials. Under current Illinois petitioning requirements, it will need to submit 363,813 signatures by May 3 to place the initiative on the November ballot, according to the suit.
Locally, plaintiff Jackson Paller wants a ballot referendum asking whether Evanston, Illinois, residents should be given petition power to propose ordinances that would require a City Council vote within 70 days. He’ll need to submit 2,800 signatures by Aug. 3 to get that question on the ballot, the suit says.
Instead of an ice rink or basketball court, the floor of the United Center is currently packed from end to end with nearly 26,000 boxes of food.
As of Thursday, a whopping 774,840 pounds of rice, beans, pasta, tuna, tomato sauce, peanut butter, canned vegetables and other non-perishable items filled every inch of the normal playing surface.
The food has been relocated to free up space in the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s main warehouse, according to GCFD senior manager Greg Trotter.
Friday, Apr 10, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
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At least three Illinois hospitals in Lake County have joined others in the region in hitting a pandemic milestone: filling all of the intensive care beds they had prior to the arrival of the coronavirus, according to county officials.
One of them, Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, acknowledged it nearly ran out of room for more ICU patients Tuesday evening.
The hospital, which had 16 intensive care unit beds before the COVID-19 pandemic, has added many more in recent weeks. But Tuesday night, all ICU beds for which it could provide appropriate staffing were full, said Norman Stephens, CEO of Vista Health System. […]
Since Tuesday, the hospital has gotten more nurses, opened up more ICU beds and discharged many patients, meaning it is no longer on the edge of reaching ICU capacity, Stephens said.
The Illinois Nurses Association today warned that the nurse-to-patient ratio at AMITA St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Joliet is four times higher than safe levels in the units where COVID-19 patients are treated. SJMC had recommended care for patients in COVID care units, who require around the clock care and monitoring, be at a 1 to 1 ratio of nurses to patients.
According to INA, due to COVID-19, that ratio is now up to one nurse for every four patients.
INA learned that 16 nurses are under investigation for COVID-19, creating an immediate shortage of skilled nurses to help patients. The hospital recently furloughed 45 staff including 16 nurses, exacerbating the problem.
“There are not enough nurses in the ER, ICU and the COVID-19 unit,” said Pat Meade, RN at ASJMC. “Runners are needed to assist the nurse because we can’t leave the critical patients.”
Higher nurse to patient ratios is associated with higher mortality rates and higher rates of workplace violence.
The hospital this week reported five deaths associated with COVID-19 and nine patients were transferred from Stateville Correctional Center for treatment. As of today, there are 62 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 or were under investigation for the virus.
INA learned this week that 12 correctional center staff tested positive while 187 staff await results. Additionally, 14 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and 77 have shown symptoms. Hospitals in the Joliet area have begun treating these patients and it’s likely all Joliet-area hospitals will be taxed to capacity soon.
“These ratios are putting nurses and patients at risk. A ratio of four patients to one Registered Nurse in an ICU is not safe,” said Alice Johnson, executive director of the INA.
Meade expressed frustration that nurses’ advice on public health preparation was not taken as seriously as it should have been.
Some Illinois nursing home residents who have been hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic have been stuck in limbo. When hospitals have decided these patients were well enough to return to their long-term care facilities, some nursing homes have resisted taking them back.
The problem is bubbling up around the country, with states stepping in to varying degrees — with some forcing nursing homes to take back COVID-19 patients and others restricting them from returning.
To help address the issue in Illinois, industry groups recently forged a plan and presented it to state officials. The Illinois Department of Public Health released it Tuesday. It makes recommendations on the hand-off of patients between hospitals and nursing homes, depending on how sick the patients are.
For example, it recommends that nursing homes put residents returning from the hospital who have tested positive for COVID-19 in a designated wing or unit, keeping them apart from other residents. For returning patients who aren’t as sick, they can be isolated in their own rooms and wear face masks during treatments until their symptoms clear up or until 14 days have passed since they became sick.
The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont has been considered as a possible field hospital that could deal with an overflow of patients, but only as a “last resort,” village officials said.
The Army Corps of Engineers recently toured the 840,000-square-foot village-owned exhibition center, where officials discussed plans for as many as 3,000 beds, should area hospitals become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
Christopher Stephens, the convention center’s executive director, said the Army Corps and other officials on the tour “liked the space” and considered using the entire building. But since the sprawling field hospital being built at McCormick Place in Chicago has yet to take any patients, constructing and putting a similar makeshift hospital in Rosemont “would be somewhat of a last resort,” Stephens said.
Wearing a surgical mask constructed from Chicago Cubs-branded fabric, Riverside Healthcare President and CEO Phil Kambic gave local media a tour of what the hospital has put in place in case a rush of COVID-19 patients hits the hospital.
Of course, Kambic and other Riverside Medical Center personnel say they hope these plans are not needed to be enacted, but the hospital stands ready.
“We’re going to be OK,” Kambic said near the conclusion of an approximate two-hour session with media members. “Just be cautious and do the right thing.”
Neil Young has released “Shut It Down 2020,” a new version of “Shut It Down” from his 2019 album Colorado that was “inspired by fans reaching out to Young expressing the elevated poignancy the song has come to represent during this pandemic.” Recorded with Crazy Horse, the new video is interspersed with images from various places around the world from the past month. “These are uncertain times,” Young said in a statement. “I wish you all the best as you care for our sick, the young and old who we love so much.”
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