* My mom’s birthday was earlier this week, as was my niece Rosalee’s. My niece Tonya’s birthday was last month. My niece Reagan was profiled by her college newspaper a couple of days ago. My niece Isabel is graduating from SIUC’s school of journalism tomorrow and is heading to Medill in the fall. And, of course, Sunday is Mother’s Day.
To these wonderful women: I love all of you and, despite your exceptional brilliance, I’m sorry that you have to put up with stuff like this…
We get it dude
We’ve already heard enough from you
And on that note, I’m outta here. No work this weekend after 62 days. Woohoo!
* After a quick update on where testing stands, the governor took questions from reporters.
Please remember to pardon all transcription errors.
Obviously the mayor had her news conference a short time ago and a couple of differences in the timetables. Hers talks about 14 day timetables across all of the important metrics. You have 28 days on hospital admissions. Can you explain the difference? Are you considering making revisions to 14 days as well?…
No, but I think if you look at the mayor’s plan, and of course the mayor and I have spoken about this plan before, and indeed earlier today. It really is within the parameters of the plan that we put forward.
In other words, it is likely that, because they have some more stringent parts of their plan that when you put all of the pieces of it together from a timing perspective, it will fit I think nicely into the framework that we put forward.
And I think you know other local governments should be considering doing the same thing, thinking about how they can fit their timetables for opening businesses that are particular to their area of the state within the timetables that we’ve laid out, because those are the kind of the safety guidance and guidelines that we’ve set out, but the local governments, like the city of Chicago, are allowed to be more stringent than the state.
* This is the fourth day in a row of 100 plus fatalities. I believe that’s the first time we hit four days of triple digits. What does this suggest in terms of where we are and what the trend says?…
Dr. Ezike: Again, I think people who studied statistics know that you can’t go by a couple of days. It’s the average and where we’re going.
So I think if you look at our averages per week, we definitely have hit a peak of deaths in two weeks, maybe a week ago, so I don’t think overall this is one of our heaviest weights, even though there may have been a cluster of deaths that were reported that seemed high in four days in a row. But if you maybe take the aggregate and look at weeks I don’t think this week has been worse than last week so again, looking day to day or even looking at several days is a little bit harder. I think when you stand back and maybe take a week at a time, we can get bigger trends and to get a more more balanced view and I think, overall, I think we’re going in the right direction I think definitely this week.
Is that as important of a metric as positivity for hospital admissions?…
Well they’re related, they’re all related. So you could imagine that the deaths might be proportional to people being hospitalized, people being hospitalized will be proportional to the number of people who got infected. So I think it’s a continuum. If you think of how the disease would happen first, there would be the virus, somebody would get infected, somebody might get sick, somebody might get hospitalized, might get into the ICU, so there is a continuum there. So all of these statistics and these metrics actually do relate to one another.
Dr. Ezike then said that the Kawasaki type illness seen in young children lately will be made a “reportable illness” by IDPH.
* Restaurants, they are desperately asking that they can reopen in phase three perhaps at 25% capacity. This is an industry that’s used to being regulated they’re great at compliance, they’re professionals. What are the experts telling you that the scientist and they have to be knowledgeable about why 25% capacity in phase three can’t happen according to your plan?…
This is now secondhand information that maybe Dr. Ezike has something to add to because she’s been in many of those conversations too. But first of all, I mean I want as much as anyone to make sure that small businesses are able to open and so many restaurants and bars out there so people who risk their capital and their time and effort and energy to start those businesses and I know they are devastated and it’s why I support you know Sam Toia who’s the head of the Illinois Restaurant Association, has advocated for and he’s right that there ought to be support for the restaurant industry that comes out of the supports the cares act type supports that come out of Washington DC.
In terms of why the epidemiologists have seen restaurants as more difficult to open than let’s say other kinds of small shops. My understanding of it is that, because it’s very difficult to socially distance as between a server and the food, the server, the food and delivery of the food to the table. It’s also difficult even to seat people at tables the way they’re normally configured in a six foot distance for everybody that’s sitting at a table. So that’s my understanding of why you know as between I think you probably add to that the dishwasher. And the person who’s the chef in the back, the bartender and so on. Just the number of people who kind of come in contact with the thing that you’re ultimately getting delivered to you, and they can’t be delivered in a socially distance way is the reason.
Are you on the phone with Senator Durbin, with other congressional representatives regarding a federal bailout or relief package specific to restaurants because they’re as you indicated they’re really calling for that?…
Yeah, so I’ve been on the phone, I have been in contact with the restaurant association with many of the people in the industry, about that and certainly as I discuss the broader issue of support for state and local governments and small businesses with our federal representatives. I try always to bring in the different industries that I think they particularly a particular day, Illinois. And this is a good example, because we have so many restaurants and so many great restaurants in Illinois that attract people from around the world. So yeah, I try to bring up the industries that are most affected by COVID-19.
Is the restaurants, the [same as] how you went to bat for the hospitals for instance?…
And I do and I just to be clear, I just didn’t want to overstate I mean I do there are other industries that I also talked about I didn’t want to overstate how I talk about restaurants, but I do believe that Sam Toia and the industry is correct, that they deserve support so many small businesses and so many people depend upon those jobs as entry level jobs as well as permanent positions.
[This was followed by very detailed questions about IDES. I’m going to skip them for now because I’m behind.]
* Amy Jacobson from WIND asking you if Chicago sports teams can’t play in front of fans later this summer or fall, do you support the idea of letting them play in neighboring states?…
Well, I would listen we’re gonna work very hard to have a play here. I have spoken with the commissioners of the various major league teams. And they all are looking for ways to do it safely. They want to protect their players. They, none of them have suggested to me, short of getting to stage five really, that they would have fans or many fans in the stands. They are looking for television, the ability to broadcast a game. And so, as far as neighboring states, well we have all the facilities here for them to do it. We would want to see their plan. I’ve suggested that they are putting a plan together, where they already have put a plan together and they intend to submit it to have it reviewed by our medical experts and by me and to make sure that it fits with the stages and considerations that we’ve made for businesses. But look I’m the first person, I want to see sports play and I think it’s good for everybody. I think they can do it here in Illinois, and especially if you look at the timetable, there’s a high likelihood that they could do it within a timetable that we’re hoping that we’ll be able to reopen many businesses.
[Gotta hand it to her. That was a pretty good zinger.]
* Jordan: [A reporter] has a question that we are going to amend so we can get multiple questions out of the way. Governor, are you aware of the back to business plan made by representative Wilhour and Bailey in an effort to reopen Central Illinois regions, is this something you’ll consider? There are also many questions about XYZ plan from various places around the state. So let’s answer that all at once…
I am aware of multiple plans from multiple places around the state of Illinois. I think this demonstrates why there ought to have been a federal plan that was put forward. Because, now what you’ve got is a patchwork of states doing different things, some of us creating pacts in various regions of the country. And now you see counties want to put together their own plans, cities and counties, you know, cities want to work with other cities, mayor’s talking to each other, submitting plans. Everybody’s got a different plan. The truth is, this is why you need leadership. This is why you need to make sure that we’ve got a plan that works for the regions, that allows regions to move forward or backward if they’re meeting or not meeting the requirements for health. ButI have read many of these plans that have been put forward and I’ve included many of those ideas in our [plan].
* Should parents assume that summer camps will be canceled this year?…
I mean I suppose it depends upon the timing. I wouldn’t assume anything and I would look very intently for whether treatments are being developed. That will be appropriate for us to change the playbook because that’s what I’m really hoping we’ll be able to do. And of course in phase four we’ll be able to have 50 person gatherings and that is something that would work with summer programs. Maybe not overnight camps but there certainly could be camps of 50 people together.
* You said the other day that you don’t think the public will want to go to restaurants too soon, has the industry’s response to your reopening plan changed your thinking at all? Also Why doesn’t your plan require a decrease in cases like Mayor Lightfoot?…
I think if you look at other states that have simply flung the doors open on their restaurants you’ve seen that there are you know the expectation was very high that people go rushing back to restaurants they haven’t. And so that’s why I made the comment that I did I did make.
[On the Lightfoot part of the question] That’s a different approach that they’ve taken. That is absolutely something that we considered, but I just want to say that for those who think that we ought to be opening more quickly, I would say that our plan is makes it more likely that one could open at the end of May, than some other plans. And so you know I just say that requiring a decrease as opposed to a stability, when we have hospital availability if you meet all the other criteria then you know making sure you have positivity rates at a certain level hospital availability at a certain level and so on. Those things all work in tandem with one another, to get us you know healthy reopening. So I think the mayor’s plan is a is a good one for Chicago I haven’t looked at details, at least, you know, in the last day. If any changes were made, but it’s a good plan, it fits within the plans that we have for the state.
* Hundreds of thousands of people use public transit in Illinois every day during normal times. When the Northeast Region eventually reaches phase four, where gatherings of 50 or fewer are permitted, what direction will you give the RTA? Will there be limits on the number of people in train cars or buses, will large downtown companies who have a lot of employees coming into the Loop be required to participate in some sort of agreement of staggered work from home days to get ridership down?…
We will certainly be working on staggered work hours with major businesses, and all across the state honestly that are reliant upon mass transit. But that’ll obviously be much, much more concentrated in the collar counties and Cook County.
It is very important that we have our mass transit clean, and make sure that it is COVID free and that we protect all the people who are riding on mass transit. That’s something that I’ve expressed to the mayor and to many of the surrounding county leaders because we just have to make sure that people can use mass transit in a reopening society, on a regular basis. Otherwise, we won’t be able to reopen safely.
* Lori Lightfoot said today she’s determined to open schools this fall. Do you have a response to that statement and whether you’re considering this for the state?…
I think we’re all determined, want very badly for schools to open and that is my hope and desire. I think that’s what she is expressing as well, and planning I think you’ve got to do planning for reopening in the fall. So I, none of us knows what the future exactly holds but I think we have a great hope that and desire for reopening schools.
* Congressman LaHood joined two state lawmakers for a press conference in Quincy today. They say you should visit Quincy to see your impact to the order is having downstate. Will you leave Chicago?…
Yeah, and you know that I have regular contact with people in Quincy/ I certainly understand, read the newspapers, understand the challenges that all the areas of the state are undergoing. I think that someone who lives in Quincy can understand what’s going on in Cook County in the collar counties just as easily as somebody who may be standing in the cook and the collar counties can understand by reading what’s going on in their area. But I look forward to traveling around the state, and to, you know, speaking with elected officials and people about the challenges that people are having.
And, most importantly, I think, rather than traveling is just addressing those challenges which is what we’ve been doing for two months now. You know, this is my 61st day straight on the job, not just standing in front of a microphone, but working for the people of Illinois on this coronavirus crisis. And I’m not going to stop until we overcome it. I’m not going to stop until we revive the economy. It’s our obligation, we’ve got to get things moving again safely for our families.
* A restaurant owner in Southern Illinois reopened his restaurant this morning with plans to space people out, to practice social distancing. He says the local health department called and threatened to revoke his food permit. Now he plans to sue. Why isn’t the state’s criteria to reopen based on an individual business’s ability to practice social distancing?…
Because this virus isn’t limited to the four walls of that one business. That’s why.
* Exelon had its quarterly earnings call today and said it wants Springfield to deliver a subsidy package for its struggling nuclear plants by the end of May, or possibly the summer. Is that a priority for you right now, and how big of a problem is it for Exelon to advance any kind of agenda at the Capitol with all of the investigations into its lobbying activities still unresolved?…
Yeah, I’ve said that, you know, we’re gonna make sure that we work on an energy package for the state and we don’t need the high paid lobbyists to be guiding that for us. I think the legislature has been working on this for some time. I have been working on it for some time. And I can’t tell you exactly when something will get passed on it. My hope is that the legislature has been continuing its work in the working groups that have been created for it, as it has on so many other topics, and I look forward to the legislature getting together again to address so many challenges that we have. But is it true that that there are higher priorities right now? Yes there are higher priorities right now, and that’s reviving our economy.
* The city of Bloomington has canceled the Fourth of July fireworks display. Do you recommend more cities and towns do this considering it’s a gathering of more than 50 people?…
Again, I think people can read for themselves what the health consequences are of not following the rules that we put in place for each phase. So I think those are decisions that will have to be made at the local level. And again, you know I’m hoping that by July there will be some areas that we’ll be able to have gatherings of 50 or less, but there’s no guarantee of that and we’re watching it for the data, the science to determine whether and when these things can take place.
* Massachusetts and Illinois both reached 1000 cases within two days of each other. Massachusetts started contact tracing in April and they now have 1600 investigators. Why is Illinois so far behind Massachusetts?…
Actually we’ve been contact tracing since the very beginning and I think Dr Ezike was suggesting that earlier. Remember we have local county public health departments, they have health workers, neighborhood health workers. So does the city of Chicago, Cook County and other counties.
So there’s it’s not that there’s no contact tracing going on. What we’re spinning up in Illinois is a much more robust contact tracing effort, and it is like the one in Massachusetts. And indeed, you know we are following the model of Massachusetts taking a lot of advice from Massachusetts and we are working hard to spin that up but remember that much of what Massachusetts has is what much of what Illinois will be starting with which is all of the existing contact tracing that’s already going on and then we’ll be adding on workers and volunteers on top of that
[My question was why the state is lagging behind the state of Massachusetts and he did not answer it. I’ll ask again next week, I suppose.]
* Black and Latino people have disproportionately lost their jobs due to this pandemic, according to today’s jobs report. What will the state do to help workers of color who have been impacted by this?…
Yeah, well you know that’s what we’re trying to do as we reopen the economy, is to make sure we’re providing supports for families, as they get their jobs back or as they go seek a new job. It’s very important to me, in particular that we, those communities have been left out and left behind for decades, are the ones who are the first ones that are affected when we’ve got a downturn. And this downturn, which is caused by this invisible enemy, has so badly affected communities of color. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re focused on providing supports for communities. And by the way that also includes everybody else in the state that has been so badly affected. So those supports though in the communities that are poorest are the communities that are most hard hit are vitally important, so that’s part of what we’ll do. And then of course you know trying to revitalize the industries that employ many people across the state in particular communities of color is part of the plan going forward. I’m not, the plan that we put forward for restoring and reopening the state is just a beginning, you know, economic development, encouraging the creation of or the rebuilding of small businesses has got to be a vital part of what we do to build up the economy of the state in the aftermath or at least as we’re trying to deal with COVID-19 in a phase three, phase four and phase five world and that’s one of the reasons that I’ve gone back to Washington DC, to the people in Washington DC to ask them for support for the state so that we can do the work on the ground that a broad federal program can’t do, and that’s helping put back these jobs that have been lost.
Hundreds of millions of dollars were distributed by the federal government to municipalities across the country but in Illinois, local governments have yet to see those dollars because Governor JB Pritzker has not released them.
Congressman Rodney Davis wants to know why those dollars are not going to communities in Illinois when many are already planning on struggles once the coronavirus has been defeated. Congressman Davis says programs like the PPP helped small businesses and their employees, it is time to help local governments.
The Congressman from Taylorville says it is too soon to start talking about more stimulus bills before we know what the economy looks like as Americans begin getting back to work. He says there is still stimulus money to be distributed, and those dollars need to get out before they disperse more.
* I asked the governor’s press secretary about the alleged holdup. Jordan Abudayyeh’s reply…
Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, Lake County, Will County, and Kane County all received direct funding from the federal government under the CARES Act.
That leaves 97 counties and approximately 1200 cities outside the collars without funding. We have been working with the IML for several weeks on a plan to allocate the remaining portion of local money not claimed by Chicago and the collar counties, approximately $800 million, to those municipalities. In order to do this, the administration has proposed creating a grant program through DCEO.
This requires legislation and we have presented this plan to all four caucuses of the General Assembly for their consideration. We look forward to Congressman Davis supporting that plan when the General Assembly returns to Springfield.
Congressman Davis should’ve probably read the bill he voted for.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,887 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 130 additional deaths.
Boone County: 1 female 90
Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 females 40s, 2 males 40s, 2 males 50s, 2 females 60s, 16 males 60s, 6 females 70s, 15 males 70s, 1 unknown 70s, 14 females 80s, 10 males 80s, 9 females 90s, 8 males 90s, 1 unknown 90
DuPage County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
Grundy County: 1 male 70s
Jasper County: 1 male 90s
Kane County: 1 male 40s, 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 2 females 70s
Kankakee County: 1 male 70s
Lake County: 1 female 30s, 1 male 40s, 1 male 50s, 2 females 80
LaSalle County: 1 female 40s
Macon County: 1 female 50s
Madison County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
McHenry County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
Sangamon County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
St. Clair County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 70s
Will County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
Williamson County: 1 male 60s
Pope County is now reporting a case of COVID-19. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 73,760 cases, including 3,241 deaths, in 98 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 20,671 specimens for a total of 399,714.
All employees at Rantoul Foods will begin undergoing COVID-19 testing today, according to Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Administrator Julie Pryde.
An outbreak there grew to 52 positive cases among employees Thursday, with the addition of three more.
Pryde said the Champaign occupational health practice SafeWorks Illinois would begin doing testing at the plant today, with hundreds of employees still remaining to be tested.
“I believe only about 200 of the 700 employees have been tested,” she said in a Thursday afternoon media briefing.
Southern Illinois lawmakers in an online news conference Thursday called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to allow the Amateur Trapshooting Association to host its annual championship at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta this summer.
State Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, State Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, and State Rep. Nathan Reitz, D-Steeleville, spoke Thursday about the impact of the Grand American not just on Randolph County, but also on the region.
Schimpf reminded meeting attendees that the ATA is in a contract with the state of Illinois to host its yearly Grand American World Trapshooting Championship at the Sparta World Shooting and Recreational Complex. 2020 would be the 15th year for the competition in Sparta. It is currently scheduled for July 31 to Aug. 15.
However, with limitations on gatherings put in place by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to curb the spread of the sometimes deadly COVID-19 respiratory virus, the ATA’s ability to hold the contest this year has been put in doubt. Schimpf said the ATA has penned two letters to Pritzker’s office asking for a definitive yes or no to hold the event by June 15. Schimpf said the group has yet to hear a reply.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s battle against the coronavirus faces a new religious challenge in federal court, this time from churches in Chicago and Niles opposing his Restore Illinois plan and insisting on the right to worship with extensive social distancing guidelines in place.
Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church in Chicago and Logos Baptist Ministries in Niles asked for a temporary restraining order Friday. Just last week, a church west of Rockford launched a similar but unsuccessful challenge that has moved on to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
But the latest lawsuit points to Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan — unveiled just this week — and the two churches laid out proposed social distancing guidelines they would implement if allowed to move forward.
Governor Pritzker, D-Illinois, announced on Wednesday that the state fairs likely won’t be happening.
Besides being a week of fun for Illinois residents, the state fair drives tourism in Springfield over the summer. The hospitality industry has already been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s no substitute for consumer demand,” said Todd Maisch, the president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. “If you take one of the biggest sources for consumer demand out of the Springfield economy. There’s just no replacing that.”
Local restaurants and businesses also would lose out on tourism dollars they usually see in the summer
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US unemployment hits 14.7%, highest rate since Great Depression
Smaller Illinois businesses are landing loans in round two of the federal PPP, but doubts remain about reopening
Two local churches challenge governor’s coronavirus rules, arguing for right to worship
Chicago’s Poetry Foundation is sitting on millions — a petition asks it to do more in response to the pandemic
Mayor’s office closes Cook County Forest Preserve golf courses within city limits for the remainder of May
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Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, alongside the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), today announced the “Protecting Chicago” framework that the City will be using to guide Chicago’s reopening process amid COVID-19. The framework – organized into five phases in alignment with the State of Illinois’ “Restore Illinois” plan – will advise Chicagoans on how to safely exit from shelter-in-place while continuing to prioritize the health of our most vulnerable residents.
“Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we have been committed to basing our decisions on the science and data related to this disease and communicating our actions to the public in an open and transparent way,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “Though we still have a way to go before we can begin reopening our city, when the time comes, that reopening will follow our thoughtful, data-driven process aimed at ensuring all our residents and businesses are informed and supported every step of the way.”
The framework lays out how the City is thinking about reopening, and the details for each phase are being informed by economic and health data, and a combination of input from industry working groups, health experts and the public. As part of the reopening strategy, the City is soliciting public input to gauge sentiment on shelter-in-place and ensure the reopening is phased in a way that eases concerns that residents may have. To provide feedback, residents can visit https://www.chicago.gov/coronavirus/reopeningsurvey to complete a short survey.
The “Protecting Chicago” framework comprises five phases, and Chicago has already transitioned from phase one (Strict Stay-at-Home) to phase two (Stay-at-Home):
PHASE ONE: STRICT STAY-AT-HOME – Limit the amount of contact with others; goal is to limit interactions to rapidly slow the spread of COVID-19
• Essential workers go to work; everyone else works from home
• Stay at home and limit going out to essential activities only
• Physically distance from anyone you do not live with, especially vulnerable friends and family
PHASE TWO: STAY-AT-HOME – Guard against unsafe interactions with others; goal is to continue flattening the curve while safely being outside
• Essential workers go to work; everyone else works from home
• Stay at home as much as possible
• Wear a face covering while outside your home
• Physically distance from anyone you do not live with, especially vulnerable friends and family
PHASE THREE: CAUTIOUSLY REOPEN – Strict physical distancing with some businesses opening; goal is to thoughtfully begin to reopen Chicago safely
• Non-essential workers begin to return to work in a phased way
• Select businesses, non-profits, city entities open with demonstrated, appropriate protections for workers and customers
• When meeting others, physically distance and wear a face covering
• Non-business, social gatherings limited to <10 persons
• Phased, limited public amenities begin to open
• Stay at home if you feel ill or have come into contact with someone with COVID-19
• Continue to physically distance from vulnerable populations
• Get tested if you have symptoms
PHASE FOUR: GRADUALLY RESUME – Continued staggered reopening into a new normal; goal is to further reopen Chicago while ensuring the safety of residents
• Additional business and capacity restrictions are lifted with appropriate safeguards
• Additional public amenities open
• Continue to wear face covering and physically distance
• Continue to distance and allow vulnerable residents to shelter
• Get tested if you have symptoms or think you have had COVID-19
PHASE FIVE: PROTECT – Continue to protect vulnerable populations; goal is to continue to maintain safety until COVID-19 is contained
• All businesses open
• Non-vulnerable individuals can resume working
• Most activities resume with health safety in place
• Some events can resume
• Set up screenings and tests at work or with your family
• Sign up for a vaccine on the COVID Coach web portal
The epidemiological criteria for transitioning between phases are rooted in public health guidance and will be reviewed and revisited on an ongoing basis. Health-based metrics are one of the many considerations that the City is weighing to determine the details of the City’s reopening approach and sequencing. Foremost, Chicago is monitoring answers to these four questions in order to help determine when and how the transition between phases takes place:
1. Is the rate of disease spread across the city and surrounding counties decreasing?
2. Does the city have the testing and contact-tracing capacity to track the disease and limit spread?
3. Are there enough support systems in place for vulnerable residents?
4. Can the healthcare system handle a potential future surge (including beds,
ventilators and PPE)?
“While our goal is to get as many people back to work as quickly and safely as possible, we will keep data and science as the north stars of this work, as we have throughout the COVID- 19 pandemic,” said Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, Allison Arwady, M.D. “We also recognize that some populations and families are suffering more than others in this crisis, and we are taking that into consideration as we prepare for reopening as well.”
A set of epidemiological factors has been established to guide the next transition from phase two (Stay-at-Home) to phase three (Cautiously Reopen), including:
• COVID-19 Case Rate (over 14 days, as a rolling average):
o Declining rate of new cases, based on incidence and/or percent positivity
• Severe Outcome Rate (over 14 days, as a rolling average):
o Stable or declining rates of cases resulting in hospitalization, ICU admission, and/or death
• Hospital Capacity Citywide (over 14 days, as a rolling average):
o Hospital beds: <1800 COVID patients o ICU beds: <600 COVID patients
o Ventilators: <450 COVID patients
• Testing Capacity:
o Test at least 5% of Chicago residents per month
• Testing Percent Positivity Rates (over 14 days, as a rolling average):
o Congregate: <30% positive tests
o Community: <15% positive tests
• Syndromic Surveillance (over 14 days, as a rolling average):
o Declining emergency department visits for influenza-like illness and/or
COVID-like illness
• Case Investigation & Contact Tracing:
o Expanded system in place for congregate and community investigations and contact tracing
The specific health criteria for transition between the latter phases will be established and released over the coming weeks to ensure the City is open and responsive to new data and information as it arises. In addition to determining the health-based metrics to move from one phase to the next, the City is actively determining the appropriate sequencing of reopening businesses and public services – taking into consideration both economic enablers such as transportation and childcare concerns, as well as keeping an eye towards economically disadvantaged populations.
Those guidelines for moving forward are different than the governor’s plan. Should be interesting to hear what he says at his own presser today.
…Adding… From the presser…
"distance even as we gradually open up and come back together? How do we take care of and safeguard our most vulnerable residents?"
Friday, May 8, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
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The increase in patients means a greater need for dialysis services, and some of those affected may need assistance getting to their appointments. During the commute, patients and transportation providers should take all necessary precautions – washing hands, wearing masks and sanitizing commonly used surfaces, including car seats and door handles. Individuals should also maintain and practice social distancing as much as possible during these rides.
IKCA urges dialysis patients to stay safe during these unprecedented times. To learn more about the Coalition, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or visit our website.
Across all of these states, most of the decline in these economic indicators occurred before official closure orders.
Even states that never put in a statewide stay-at-home order, like Iowa, South Dakota and Utah, saw significant drops in consumer spending and employment, as well as in the share of small businesses open.
This basic pattern is visible in other corners of the economy: Well before shutdown orders, restaurant reservations were plummeting. Electricity usage, which falls when office buildings and factories empty out, was dropping, too. Public transit in many cities was in free fall. So was the number of air travel passengers passing through T.S.A. checkpoints.
Such data, combined with opinion polling today, suggests that Americans who were turning off the economy on their own may not readily reopen it soon — even if officials say it’s OK to.
* Related…
* Trump administration pushed use of remdesivir, but unequal rollout angers doctors - Introduction of the first coronavirus treatment is marked by lack of transparency and incomplete medical data, physicians say
But Harmon defended his letter [to the Illinois delegation] pointing out the request for pension relief was only a part of the aid he was asking for. He said Illinois state tax revenues will be much reduced as a result of the economic slowdown caused by efforts to control the pandemic and the federal government is best positioned to help.
“Whenever there is an economic crisis in this country Congress is quick on the draw to dole millions of dollars out to Wall Street and big corporate interests,” Harmon said. “I am not at all bashful about speaking up for the state of Illinois, for our first responders, for our public employees, for our retirees, and for the people that we serve. The letter was a broad request to Congress for relief from the profound economic consequences of the pandemic.” […]
“State governments and local governments are going to need help from the federal government, the only government that can successfully deficit finance an episode like this,” Harmon said.
Harmon said his request for pension relief was taken out of the context.
“The request I made for support for pension funding was not in any way a bail out,” Harmon said. “It’s a recognition that our revenues are going to be squeezed. . . I asked for many things. I asked for block grant funding to help us patch the general hole in our revenue stream. I asked for support for the unemployment trust fund that could easily run dry with all the claims for unemployment.”
A judge on Thursday sided against an Illinois organization that claimed restrictions implemented to combat the novel coronavirus made it impossible to gather the necessary signatures to place a constitutional amendment on November’s general election ballot.
The official order was expected to be released sometime Thursday, a court clerk said.
The Committee for the Illinois Democracy Amendment is advocating for a constitutional change that would obligate the General Assembly to take roll call votes on bills proposing “stronger ethical standards for Illinois public officials.”
It would also allow residents to propose related bills by submitting a petition with at least 100,000 signatures.
The committee’s attorneys argued in a court document that social distancing and stay-at-home restrictions “forced” voters to weigh their health against their First Amendment rights.
Read the rest and you’ll see that former Gov. Pat Quinn is one of the attorneys in the case.
*** UPDATE *** Local 150 of the Operating Engineers has filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago to have the state constitution’s revision provisions declared unconstitutional, enjoined and/or modified. The union is pushing a state constitutional amendment that would outlaw “right to work” laws…
This is an action to declare unconstitutional, enjoin and/or modify the requirement contained in Article XIV, Section 2, of the Illinois Constitution which requires that proposed amendments to the Illinois Constitution be passed by the legislature at least six months prior to the next general election. This case is an emergency in light of the current public health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, which resulted in the Governor’s emergency orders effectively shutting down the State. Consequently, the General Assembly cancelled sessions in both the House and the Senate from March 18, 2020, through at least May 3, 2020.
Governor, I know you’ve said the regional breakdowns for your reopening plan are based on EMS regions. But why are counties like Grundy, Kankakee and Kendall being grouped with Cook County, which will be the last county in the state to be able to open? If the numbers are vastly different for those counties compared to Cook, could their businesses be able to reopen quicker?
So first I would say that there’s probably no way to draw these lines that would satisfy everybody.
But I’d also say that people who live in counties that are within a region where people feel like ‘Well, hey nobody in my village or my town or my city has gotten it, or I don’t know anybody who has,’ remember that many of the people in outlying counties around Cook County, around the collar counties travel in and out frequently sometimes for their job to those locations. And so that is one of the reasons why those counties are where they are. It has in part to do with the radius from from the collar counties, which have significant numbers of cases.
Not to mention that people in Cook County might very well venture forth into Kankakee, Grundy and Kendall counties.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is taking “under serious consideration” a request to leave Kankakee County and surrounding areas out of the Chicago region in his plan to reopen the state, Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst said Thursday.
Parkhurst, a Republican representative of the 79th District, said Pritzker called her Wednesday evening in response to a letter she wrote explaining her disagreements with the plan.
She said the plan “blindsided” legislators, as they were not consulted regarding their regions.
Parkhurst argued in her letter that Kankakee and Grundy counties and Peotone in southeastern Will County represent significantly fewer COVID-19 cases (less than 1 percent of the state’s total) than Chicago and its surrounding suburbs (92 percent of the state’s total).
* Some suburban mayors are also arguing that they shouldn’t be in the same region as Chicago and Cook County…
Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso said by combining the city of Chicago and Cook County with the collar counties, Pritzker’s plan will prevent DuPage towns from advancing to phases with fewer restrictions.
“We can follow the plan and be successful, but we will still have to wait for Chicago and Cook County,” where the majority of coronavirus cases in Illinois have been reported, Grasso said. “He has taken our hope away.”
* Not everyone is unhappy with their regions, though…
Sangamon County falls in the central region with counties like Macon and Champaign counties.
“I know the administrators were all dealing with our own issues but also talking about the re-opening and what’s going on in our region. Those conversations have just started,” said Gail O’Neill, the Director of the Sangamon County Health Department.
Looking at data from the Illinois Department of Public Health from May 1-6, the central region had an average of 47% ICU bed availability and a COVID-19 positivity rate under the 20% threshold.
Barring a major uptick, Springfield is moving to the next phase on May 29.
* The president says states should decide when to reopen. In some states, counties that want to reopen even faster say they should decide. In some counties, mayors who that want to reopen faster say they should decide and not counties or states. And in some towns, individuals who think they should be allowed to reopen are doing so in defiance of their city, county and state. Here’s Phil Luciano…
A Peoria businessman is suing Gov. JB Prtizker, alleging the state’s stay-at-home order is unconstitutional and therefore does not apply to his business.
Further, Adam White, owner of RC Outfitters (formerly Running Central) is requesting a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the order at his business. Meanwhile, in defiance of the stay-at-home order, White has reopened the store, 311 SW Water St. […]
The Attorney General’s Office is requesting a change of venue from Peoria County to Sangamon County, the seat of which is Springfield. Its claim: because the governor’s office is in Springfield, the case should be heard there.
White’s attorney, Drew Cassidy of Peoria, counters the case should proceed in Peoria, where White’s business has suffered financial harm because of the order.
Mayor Jim Edwards says Goodfield is open for business.
Edwards on Thursday announced guidelines “to be followed by any business either when a business decides to open or when the governor’s shelter-in-place order is lifted.”
The village, which has about 860 residents, is in Woodford County.
“Look on this as a fragile opportunity and treat it as such, because nothing could be worse than to see a dramatic surge in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths,” Edwards said. “None of us are bullet-proof, so let’s all be cautious out there.”
Restaurants can open starting May 15 to 50 percent of the posted building capacity. They can open June 1 at 75 percent capacity.
Clark County, in southeastern Illinois, is about to implement the same sort of plan. Click here.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau has called for his community to reopen faster than is outlined as part of Governor JB Pritzker’s plan.
He says it just can’t wait. […]
Mayor Pekau posted video on social media Thursday. The village said that it may lose $2.7 million this year in sales tax revenue because of COVID-19 restrictions, so it has laid out its own plan to reopen businesses at a faster pace.
East Peoria appears to be bucking the Illinois governor in allowing some businesses to reopen before statewide coronavirus-inspired restrictions are lifted.
For now, at least, it appears Peoria won’t be joining its eastern neighbor.
City legal representatives suggest municipal officials can’t override Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said earlier this week.
“Even though the community has done a good job and our hospital capacity is in a decent place, we want to be respectful of the governor,” Ardis said. “He’s the governor, right?
“In a nutshell, that’s why we haven’t done anything. We don’t see we have the authority to do that.”
* And it’s being fueled in part by the behavior of surrounding states. For instance, this is from the Quad City Times…
Friday marks the reopening of parts of the economy in Scott and Muscatine counties. It doubles as a sign of hope for business owners in the Iowa Quad-Cities.
“Finally there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not through it completely, but there’s some hope to get back to a new sense of normal,” said Amy DeFauw, owner of Katsch Boutique.
DeFauw is reopening her Davenport boutique store, 5619 Utica Ridge, at 10 a.m. Friday, while the Geneseo location remains closed for the time being. Eight stores at North Park Mall, such as Von Maur, also plan to reopen to in-store customers Friday.
Scott County is right across the river from Rock Island County. Whether or not you agree with them, it’s gotta be hugely tough for Illinois business owners to see that happening just a bridge away.
[Edgar] told the governor that, from his own experience in responding to the first days and weeks of a crisis, “what you’ve been through is kind of the easy part. Now’s the tough part — you know you’ve got to decide how to open up. If you do it too soon, you’ll kill people. If you do it too long, people go broke and they’re all going to get to grumbling, and that’s just going to happen anyway.” […]
“Listen to scientists, you’ve got to listen to the experts — and you may have to realize you might have to take a few chances,” Edgar told The Spin, noting that some of the states that are now opening up their economies will be a good barometer of how to proceed.
“When I was governor, one of the things I always said was, ‘I never wanted to be first on anything other than on election night,’” he said with a laugh. He said it underscored his approach in the office: When solving a problem or planning a new initiative, look at how other states handled something similar.
“But you know in the end you have to do what’s right, but you’ve got to … have public support to make it work, too,” Edgar said. “My definition of leadership is convincing folks to go where they don’t want to go. You can’t sit around and wait for polls — you’ve got to act but you’ve got to make sure you’re bringing the folks along with you as you do this.”
The head of a Chicago not-for-profit organization fraudulently converted or misappropriated at least $200,000 in State of Illinois grants intended to develop suburban commercial properties and fund a job training program, according to a 15-count federal indictment.
YESSE YEHUDAH operated the not-for-profit organization Fulfilling Our Responsibilities Unto Mankind, also known as FORUM. From 2013 to 2016, Yehudah, on behalf of FORUM, applied for and received three grants totaling approximately $575,000 from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Two of the grants were intended to develop commercial properties in south suburban Dolton, while the third was meant for FORUM to operate a weatherization jobs training program. The indictment alleges that Yehudah fraudulently converted substantial quantities of the grant funds by making materially false statements and submitting false documents to the DCEO. The indictment describes several of the alleged false statements, including when Yehudah represented to the DCEO that FORUM had spent almost all of a $100,000 grant on construction work, when, in fact, no actual construction work had begun. […]
In addition to the alleged fraud in obtaining the DCEO grants, the indictment accuses Yehudah of scheming to defraud a bank. After FORUM received similar development grants from the DCEO and other federal and local agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Yehudah issued checks from FORUM and another entity he controlled to various subcontractors, the indictment states. Yehudah then forged the subcontractors’ signatures – without their knowledge – to endorse the checks over to himself, the indictment alleges.
The indictment is here. It’s the first political-related indictment since the pandemic kicked into high gear.
In 2002, Yehudah was named in a lawsuit filed by then-Attorney General Jim Ryan after the Chicago Sun-Times reported accusations of misspent agency funds that also involved Yehudah’s FORUM charity. The lawsuit accused Yehudah and David Noffs of improperly spending charity money on an alleged kickback scheme. Noffs was a friend of then-Illinois First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan.
Reached by telephone on Thursday, Yehudah acknowledged that the FBI had questioned him about FORUM’s Dolton projects but said he didn’t know anything about any misappropriated funds.
He declined further comment, saying he was unaware that criminal charges had been filed and had yet to retain an attorney.
As the leader of FORUM, Yehudah has long had ties to South Side politicians and legislators in Springfield, using his connections to win taxpayer-funded grants for everything from youth violence prevention to computer-literacy programs.
Just about everybody who is anybody on the South Side knows Yehudah. We’ll see if this goes anywhere else.
Under Pritzker’s order, “The earliest we’d be able to open is on June 26,” Illinois Restaurant Assn. President Sam Toia said. Those restaurants initially shut in early March. “I don’t know any business that can go 16 weeks with 80 percent or more reduce income and stay viable.”
Toia urged Pritzker to move restaurants from phase four to phase three, which sets lesser standards for testing, et al. Restaurants should have to require staff to wear masks and other personal protective gear and at least initially limit capacity, as has happened in some other states, Toia said. But moving restaurants to phase three would allow some to reopen by Memorial Day weekend.
* Toia, who came to the table and bargained with the governor over his minimum wage plan and then did not stand in the proposal’s way, has kept up the public pressure on this topic…
Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said the announcement caught him, and other industry leaders, flatfooted.
“The state did not really collaborate with us,” Toia said, “and we’re the largest private-sector employer in the state of Illinois. We’re having some communication now, but the plans are already out there.” […]
“Even if it’s slowly,” he said. “Let restaurants open June 1 at 25 percent capacity, then 50 percent by June 28. Some states are already open — Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee. So we’re going to see in another 10 days if there’s a spike in cases. If there is, OK, but if not, why can’t we look at June 1?”
“And when he’s saying the earliest date is the 26th, he’s not saying which region this is,” Toia said. (Pritzker’s plan divides the state into four regions.) “Is it the South? Does that mean Northeast (which includes Chicago) waits even longer?”
The Illinois Restaurant Association is hoping to persuade Pritzker to follow models in other states, where restaurants are allowed to partially reopen at a quarter or half of their capacity.
“We’re not opening till June 26 and we’re not even sure what the occupancy will be at that time,” Toia said. “We know that it’s 50 people or less. But a restaurant with 3,000 square feet is different than a restaurant with 30,000 square feet.”
It’s something he said Illinois restaurants would be willing to try, he said.
“Chicago is an independent restaurant town,” Toia said. “That’s what makes it such a great restaurant city. But independents need cash flow, and the governments want their taxes paid. But if something doesn’t change, we’ll lose at least 25% of our businesses, some say it could be 50%. And then what?”
Then Chicago will look like DeKalb, or Bloomington, or most any other Midwest town off the interstate: with a Walgreens on one corner, a Chili’s on the next, and don’t forget that Asian crunch salad at Applebee’s, or is that TGI Fridays?
Stay tuned. Mayor Lightfoot is set to unveil the city’s “reopening framework” today at 1:30. She abruptly canceled the unveiling yesterday, claiming a scheduling conflict. Should be interesting to see if Toia is there today.
*** UPDATE *** The mayor just told the city council that Toia will be at her event.
Circuit Court Judge Ken Deihl gave a groom the signal to kiss the bride in a wedding on Friday. Days later, she tested positive for COVID-19.
Macoupin County Public Health Director Christy Blank said her staff interviewed the woman after the lab results showed she had tested positive. Blank would not confirm the identity of the infected patient, and declined to comment when asked about the wedding ceremony.
In the process of contact tracing, public health staff reviewed video footage at the courthouse that revealed the infected patient had come into close contact with several people while on the premises.
Health officials abruptly closed the courthouse to the public in order to conduct a deep cleaning on Thursday. Anxious staff who were on site for the ceremony are now undergoing testing. In lieu of a honeymoon, the newlyweds were ordered into a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
“Three employees at the Macoupin County Courthouse in Carlinville were exposed to and came in close contact with a person who has since tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19),” the county public health department confirmed in a press release on Thursday afternoon. Those three employees have not tested positive at this time, but are also now under a 14-day quarantine.
Deihl is a Democrat and I’m told is generally respected. But this was a really stupid thing to do…
There was some confusion/disagreement at the local level over whether marriages were allowed. Apparently, the 7th Circuit allows each county to pass its own administrative rules. While every other county put weddings off, Macoupin rules allow weddings with a two-guest limit. pic.twitter.com/EPoNbusupZ
Is the nation’s largest shopping mall owner, Simon Property Group, planning to open malls soon regardless of government orders that most stores stay shut? Emphatically not, Simon said late Thursday, shooting down media reports.
The Indianapolis-based company said it had publicly posted instructions to tenants about preparing for a possible reopening. Spokeswoman Ali Slocum said those instructions were interpreted as announcing mall reopenings. They have been pulled from Simon’s website.
Orland Park Patch carried a story that said Simon’s Chicago-area malls would be back in business May 31. No such decision has been made, Slocum said. “Simon will comply with all state and local orders and only reopen properties when permitted to do so,” she said.
The Patch story linked to company announcements that have been taken down. Similarly, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News in upstate New York said Simon had announced, then retracted, plans of reopenings. It was all a “kerfuffle,” Slocum said.
