The Illinois Education Association (IEA) called for the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to identify verified COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. The announcement comes after ProPublica Illinois revealed in a story published today that while Illinois public health officials have identified COVID-19 outbreaks in at least 44 school buildings, they won’t disclose where those buildings are and that they may not know the full picture of how the virus has spread.
At least 105 students and 73 staff have been affected, according IDPH. However, state numbers show that between Aug. 15, when schools started to reopen around the state, and Oct. 2, when ProPublica ended its inquiry, nearly 8,700 children in Illinois between the ages of 5 and 17 tested positive – about 180 kids per day – more than double the amount being infected prior to schools reopening, which averaged 72.
“From the start, we have said schools should only open if they can do so safely – with all the appropriate safety precautions in place – and knowledge of an outbreak in a school building absolutely meets that criteria,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. “The number one goal of everyone should be the health and safety of students and those who educate and care for them.”
IDPH defines an outbreak as two or more confirmed cases within 14 days of the start of symptoms in people who do not share a household and did not have close contact in another setting.
“We know there are districts in our state that are being very good about notifying public health officials, staff and families when there are cases and that keeps communities safe,” Griffin said. “But we also know there are districts that aren’t. And, when those cases are kept in the dark, the appropriate people can’t quarantine. The infection spreads. Students, staff and communities are put in harm’s way. Everyone is struggling on how to handle this, but transparency is key.”
According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s map, which was last updated on Sept. 21, 685,000 Illinois students are attending school in person, at least part time, in 69 percent of the state’s school districts. The other 31 percent of districts account for 1.2 million students who continue to learn remotely. Though, many districts are contemplating returning to the classroom in the coming weeks.
“How is a community supposed to decide whether to return to the classroom if they don’t know the true impact this is having across the state? Health officials inform communities when nursing homes or jails have outbreaks because it impacts those who live and work there. Certainly, communities are entitled to know about outbreaks at schools. It shouldn’t even be a question,” Griffin said.
In all, 8,668 Illinois children ages 5 to 17 have tested positive for the virus from Aug. 15, when schools started to reopen, to Oct. 2, state health officials said. That amounts to about 180 new infections among children each day, on average, since school returned. Between March and early August, there were 11,953 confirmed COVID-19 cases among children, an average of about 72 a day. Fewer than five school-aged children have died of the disease, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Even as parents, school leaders and others in the state have pushed for more transparency about cases related to schools, the state health department said this week that it continues to weigh whether to publish data on school-driven outbreaks and has no timeline to decide whether to do so.
IDPH spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said health officials are concerned that publishing COVID-19 data tied to schools could identify students and staff and violate their privacy. The department publishes case counts for other facilities, including nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals. It also specifies the number of cases in people younger than 20 in each county.
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade:
–Fitch anticipates Illinois will actively manage fiscal challenges in the near term with nonrecurring measures such as growth in accounts payable. A downgrade could be triggered by the lack of a credible path to reversing those measures quickly, once an economic recovery finally takes hold, or by a reliance on short-term measures that materially compound the state’s long-term challenges such as its pension liability burden. Specifically, Fitch will assess the implications of the graduated income tax vote, the likelihood of additional federal aid that could mitigate the state’s fiscal challenges and the effectiveness of the budget reduction plans the governor has directed state agencies to develop for the current and next fiscal years.
–A return to economic contraction in the U.S., consistent with Fitch’s coronavirus downside scenario, which could trigger greater than anticipated, sustained and deep revenue declines and materially erodes the state’s gap-closing capacity. Fitch’s assessment of the state’s long-term economic growth prospects could also be fundamentally weakened from an already modest level. This would pressure all aspects of the state’s credit profile. […]
Illinois has managed short-term liquidity pressure with no interruption in timely payments for key operating expenses, including debt service, and Fitch anticipates that will remain the case. […]
As Fitch anticipated, with additional federal aid having yet to materialize, the state is revisiting its spending plan and not relying simply on the non-recurring measures noted above. In September, the Governor directed state agencies to develop budget contingencies that could reduce fiscal 2021 spending at least 5% from appropriated levels. GOMB will assess agency plans before estimating the savings that could be generated from the reductions (some of which may require legislative action in a November session to be effective). Further, the governor directed agencies to prepare for deeper reductions of 10% in fiscal 2022. Even with such reductions, Fitch anticipates the state still will likely need to take substantial additional budget actions beyond this fiscal year.
The November election will have direct fiscal consequences given the vote on the graduated income tax amendment (estimated to generate $1.3 billion in additional revenue in fiscal 2021 and roughly double that in future full fiscal years, if approved), and indirect consequences if changes at the federal level alter the likelihood of additional federal aid. Illinois’ legislative session after the November elections could be particularly consequential this fiscal year. […]
In Fitch’s coronavirus baseline and downside scenarios, the [Fitch Analytical Stress Test] model indicates Illinois’ revenue decline could be among the most severe for U.S. states over the three-year scenario period, as Fitch anticipates the state’s tax revenues will rebound more slowly than in most other states. This will likely constrain Illinois’ ability to restore its limited financial resilience. In the current baseline scenario Illinois’ revenues decline 15% in year one, followed by a 6% increase in year two and cumulative result over the three-year scenario of a 8% decline. This compares with the state median decline of 14% in the first year and negative 3% over the three-year scenario. In the downside scenario, Illinois’ first-year decline would be 16%, followed by a further 5% decline in the second year. The cumulative three-year decline of 17% under Fitch’s downside scenario is weaker than the median 12% decline for all states reflecting the state’s greater historical susceptibility to national economic downturns and more muted recovery during expansions. Fitch anticipates this higher downside scenario exposure could make it even more difficult for the state to maintain an investment-grade credit profile.
Illinois’ budget management during the long period of economic expansion preceding the pandemic was exceptionally weak. Recent revenue gains stabilized the state’s credit profile over the near term, but long-term trends remain a significant credit concern.
First-time claims for unemployment benefits totaled 840,000 last week, higher than expected in another sign that the spike in job growth over the summer has cooled heading into Election Day.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 825,000 new claims.
Though the total was a bit worse than Wall Street expected, it still represented a modest decline from the upwardly revised 849,000 from a week earlier. It also was the lowest level of claims since the virus-induced shutdown in mid-March. […]
Claims have been above 800,000 every week since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, leading to the shutdown of the U.S. economy.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 36,036 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Sept. 28 in Illinois, according to the DOL’s weekly claims report released Thursday. […]
There were 29,390 new unemployment claims were filed across the state last week, the week of Sept. 21.
IDES reported 27,384 new unemployment claims across the state during the week of Sept. 7.
Amazon unveiled its first all-electric delivery van on Thursday. The vehicle, built by EV startup Rivian, will come with state-of-the-art technology, like sensing equipment and an advanced driver-assist system. The e-commerce giant says it expects to have 10,000 vans on the road making deliveries “as early as 2022,” with a total fleet of 100,000 vehicles expected by 2030.
“When we set out to create our first customized electric delivery vehicle with Rivian, we knew that it needed to far surpass any other delivery vehicle. We wanted drivers to love using it and customers to feel excited when they saw it driving through their neighborhood and pulling up to their home,” said Ross Rachey, director of Amazon’s global fleet and products, in a statement. “We combined Rivian’s technology with our delivery logistics knowledge, and the result is what you see here — the future of last mile delivery.”
* Illinois has topped 1,700 hospitalizations just once since mid-June and has topped 390 ICU patients only one other time since late June. Brace yourselves…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 3,059 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 32 additional confirmed deaths.
Adams County: 1 male 90s
Champaign County: 1 male 30s, 1 female 90s
Clark County: 1 female 80s
Clay County: 1 male 70s
Coles County: 1 female 80s
Cook County: 1 male 50s, 2 female 60s, 3 female 80s
DuPage County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
Fayette County: 1 female 70s
Greene County: 1 female 80s
Kane County: 2 males 70s, 1 female 80s
Livingston County: 1 male 50s
McLean County: 1 male 80s
Montgomery County: 1 female 80s
Saline County: 1 male 60s
Sangamon County: 1 male 50s
Shelby County: 1 female 90s
St. Clair County: 1 male 50s
Tazewell County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
Vermilion County: 1 male 70s
Will County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
Winnebago County: 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 310,700 cases, including 8,910 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from October 1 – October 7 is 3.7%. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 72,491 specimens for a total of 6,105,780. As of last night, 1,755 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 392 patients were in the ICU and 163 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting separately both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin’s reelection campaign is releasing a new television advertisement highlighting Durbin’s efforts to provide rural fire and emergency medical services (EMS) agencies the critical funding they need to serve their communities.
Durbin’s legislation, the SIREN Act, authorized new funding for a federal grant program that supports rural EMS agencies in training and recruiting staff and purchasing equipment—for everything from opioid overdose treatment drug Naloxone and first aid kits, to power stretchers and new ambulances. The bipartisan bill was enacted into law as part of the 2018 Farm Bill.
“Now more than ever, we’ve got to stand up and support our first responders–and make sure our emergency services in rural Illinois have the resources they need,” said Durbin. “The SIREN Act helps firefighters and EMTs–who are struggling to keep up with COVID but also other issues like the opioid epidemic and the aging population in rural America. I’m proud to continue the fight to strengthen rural healthcare and emergency response.”
Local communities in Illinois are already taking advantage of the new grant program. The Ambulance & Fire Protection District of Amboy, Illinois was recently awarded $120,000 in funding, which they will use to train new EMTs and paramedics, and train their existing staff on telehealth for opioid care. The agency provides EMS services for a 200 square mile area in Lee County.
Darrel Hickox, a member of the Jasper County Board, disputed the numbers from state public health officials, contending that “nobody” in Jasper County has died from the coronavirus.
He said that members of the media who report on the pandemic are “socialists, liberals and communists.”
“There has been some coronavirus here, but they was dying anyway,” Hickox said.
…Adding… OneMan points out in comments that using just a 40 percent “herd immunity” (which is on the extreme low end of projections) would result in 57,591 additional deaths [updated number].
Proponents of the Tax Hike Amendment are out with another false and misleading ad attempting to convince voters that Springfield Politicians didn’t mean what they said when they put taxing retirement income on the table if their amendment passes. However, we know their claims ring hollow because other insiders have made clear their support for taxing retirement income. Additionally, every state across the country with a graduated tax structure also taxes retirement income.
State Treasurer Michael Frerichs let the cat out of the bag in June when he admitted that a graduated tax system would “make clear you can have graduated rates when you are taxing retirement income,” adding that it was worth a discussion.
Now, a report has surfaced showing that in 2018 Illinois’ now Deputy Governor and Director of Revenue also supported taxing retirement income if a graduated tax was instituted.
“Every state with a graduated income tax also taxes retirement income, which is further proof we simply cannot trust Springfield Politicians with the new power this Tax Hike Amendment gives them,” said Lissa Druss, Spokeswoman for The Coalition to Stop the Tax Hike Amendment. “They are desperately trying to backtrack what they’ve already said they support – which is taxing retirement income if their Tax Hike Amendment is approved,” added Druss.
The billionaires are spending a fortune to try and scare us. They want to keep getting away without paying their fair share. I did my research and here are the facts. The Fair Tax will not tax retirement income. You heard that right. The fair tax will not tax retirement income. As a matter of fact, 97% of Illinois will get a tax cut, including seniors like me. It’s time for change. Vote yes for fairness.
Jim Nowlan, a former Republican state representative, is chairing the committee trying to oust Kilbride. He said they hope to leave the Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 between Republicans and Democrats, if his group is successful in getting Kilbride removed.
“That way when Mike Madigan comes out with his (redistricting) map, we can have a judge – from outside Cook County – rule its unconstitutional and the supreme court will be deadlocked and unable to reach a majority to overturn the decision.
He presumes the high court would also be deadlocked in picking a replacement for Kilbride. And he also presumes that a judge will be found who is willing to rule a map – which hasn’t even been drawn yet – is unconstitutional. And he presumes the high court would vote in a partisan manner on a redistricting case.
There are a lot of presumptions there.
No kidding. Nowlan just assumes that the most historically bipartisan institution in the state will suddenly become extremely partisan and the result, like magic, will be great for Illinois.
Anybody remember the last person who fervently believed that hyperpartisan gridlock would magically result in reform? Does the name Bruce Rauner ring a bell?
But these kinds of political machinations are not why the drafters of the Illinois Constitution allowed for voters to decide whether a judge should be retained. While few drafters of the 1970 constitution are still alive, I spoke with one of them, Springfield lawyer Mary Lee Leahy, ten years ago about this topic. She died two years later in 2012.
Here is what she had to say: “Nobody ever dreamed that retention would be used in this way. The idea was to give voters a chance to get rid of bad judges – ones who made sloppy decisions or were rude to lawyers or who behaved in an erratic way. It was never intended to be used to punish judges for voting a particular way. The judiciary has to remain independent and act without fear of retaliation of an interest group.”
In other words the way Kilbride is being targeted is an abuse of the process.
The possibility for high school students to play all fall sports is again at a standstill.
On Thursday, a DuPage County judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order against the Illinois High School Association that could have allowed more fall sports to be played.
The class action lawsuit, brought on by a group of student-athletes and their parents, was dismissed Monday morning.
Orland Park has dropped a federal lawsuit against Gov. J.B. Pritzker challenging restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court filings.
The village and other plaintiffs in the case had initially filed the complaint in mid-June, and last month told the judge overseeing the case it planned to file an amended lawsuit by this Thursday.
The short document filed Tuesday did not give an explanation why the village decided to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit.
Three more DeKalb County restaurant owners are joining in on a lawsuit filed against Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health alleging “unfair” regional mitigations due to COVID-19 resurgences.
Karlsbad Tavern & Grill, 413 W. Main St. in Genoa, Uncle Milty’s Pizza Place, 131 W. Market St. in Somonauk, and Rambo’s Bar & Grill, 140 W. Market St. in Somonauk joined seven other businesses owners across the county suing the the governor and IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike, according to their lawyer, Bradley Melzer, of Sycamore-based Cronauer Law Thursday.
The update comes a week after seven business owners announced they’re suing to appeal to public health officials to designate consequences of COVID-19 resurgences on a county by county basis, not regionally. They’re arguing that the metrics used to designate mitigations — including a positivty rate threshold of 8% — is unfairly skewed because of higher rates in Winnebago and surrounding counties.
The annual Chilifest in Taylorville, which led to a positive COVID-19 case, was held against the wishes of local officials, an [Emergency Management Agency] press release said.
An employee of a company involved in the annual Taylorville Greater Chamber of Commerce Chilifest tested positive for COVID-19, health officials said. The positive test result came Tuesday, when the person completed a rapid test. […]
According to an update WAND-TV received from health officials, organizers ignored the wishes of the city of Taylorville, Christian County, the EMA and Christian County Health Department in holding Chilifest. The health department would not approve food vendors, and the EMA said Chilifest officials got around this by having a licensed kitchen make the chili, with food served individually from a refrigerated truck.
The EMA said they told organizers to enforce social distancing and masks if they were going against the wishes of local leaders, but did not see those things happening in pictures of the event.
The EMA is now calling the Chilifest positive case a “super spreader event.” Chilifest attendees are asked to monitor their health. A release from the EMA included the following statement:
I’m not sure that this yet qualifies as a super spreader event because the locals haven’t yet said if the infected person is a super spreader or someone who may not be highly contagious.
However, ignoring official public health warnings can have really lousy consequences. And even if nobody else gets sick, the negative publicity this incident has spawned ought to be a lesson for everyone involved. Also, too, victim-blaming is not a good look, cornhole company…
In America, a supposedly modern industrialized nation, people have naturally come to expect that the folks in charge are following the rules.
I called it the Pritzker/Madigan tax, but now I think it should be called the Chumbolone Tax.
Because only a chumbolone would trust Illinois politicians who promise never to use the tax change to go after the middle class. Really?
Just a few days ago, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton was sent out to publicly speak on the issue. She said if Pritzker’s “fair tax” isn’t approved by voters in November, state government will be “forced to consider” raising everyone’s taxes by 20%.
Vote for it, vote against it. That’s your business. But I’ve been saying for a long time that if you vote “No” on raising takes on upper-income earners, you’re very likely voting “Yes” to increase everyone’s taxes, including your own. And I don’t care who the governor is or who the House Speaker is. States can’t print money. They have to raise revenues or make cuts. And even Kansas Republicans eventually rejected steep cuts.
Look, nobody can credibly promise you 100 percent that rates won’t be increased on other income levels in the future (even if rates had been put into the constitutional amendment), and, despite the column above, nobody has made that ironclad promise. But it’s a pretty darned safe bet that everyone’s rates will rise if the graduated income tax doesn’t pass.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the metro-east could see loosened COVID-19 restrictions as soon as Friday if the region continues on a downward trend in its number of coronavirus cases.
The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive fell from 6.7% Tuesday to 6.3% Wednesday in the metro-east, or Region 4, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The region includes St. Clair, Madison, Bond, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph and Washington counties.
“That’s enormous progress,” Pritzker said during a news briefing in Chicago. “… Region 4 could see a return to the looser restrictions enacted in most of the state as soon as Friday, perhaps.”
The metro-east has been under extra restrictions compared to the rest of the state since Aug. 18, when it surpassed the 8% positivity rate threshold. Surpassing that metric triggered additional rules, such as a ban on indoor service and bars and restaurants.
Let’s hope the folks in that region learned how not to have to deal with this again.
The real victory for Wilson will be if he can get 5 percent of the vote, which would make his Willie Wilson Party a permanent fixture on Illinois ballots, just as the Green and Libertarian parties have.
Scoring 5+ percent does not give parties permanent ballot spots. The Green and Libertarian parties are on the ballot this year because of the coronavirus and a federal judge’s munificence.
*** UPDATE *** From the candidate…
I recently tested positive for COVID-19. Like so many of my fellow Americans, I am not immune from COVID-19. This is a disease that does not discriminate. Since the beginning of this pandemic I have distributed more than 40 million face masks to first responders, senior citizens, churches and individuals.
While we have taken precautions by wearing face masks and social distancing this disease is highly contagious. I join the ranks of the more than 7 million people in America that have tested positive for Coronavirus.
I am experiencing mild symptoms at this time. However, I am confident that we will beat COVID-19. I have begun the 10-day quarantine and will bounce back from this stronger than before. I am suspending all in person campaigning for the United States Senate the next 10 days while I quarantine. I thank God for great doctors and first responders that care for all of us.
I am praying for all of those impacted by COVID-19 in Illinois and our country at this time. I believe in America and our ability to overcome COVID-19.
