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COVID-19 roundup

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Twenty-two residents and one staff member at Symphony of Joliet nursing home have died of COVID-19, a spokeswoman for the facility said Wednesday.

The number of deaths at Symphony has risen sharply since early last week, when it reported a total of three deaths, including the staff member.

Nursing homes nationwide have become epicenters and “accelerators” of the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nursing homes and other places which are already following the rules might want to look at a study which found that increasing the humidity in enclosed places to 40-60 percent could help slow the spread.

* One way insurance companies make money is by not paying claims…

Erik Baylis’ eight Chicago bars and restaurants have been closed since Illinois barred in-person dining starting on St. Patrick’s Day, smack in the middle of what he says is typically the most lucrative month of the year.

Baylis, who furloughed his 450-plus employees, assumed an insurance policy would cover some of his losses during the coronavirus shutdown, which is causing him to miss out on $5 million to $6 million in revenue each month.

He was shocked when he received a letter from his insurance company saying it would not. […]

Baylis is among a growing contingent of business owners across the country who are suing insurance companies for denying claims for business interruption insurance as revenues take a nosedive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the money, some say they may not be able to reopen or hire back laid-off employees.

You also gotta figure they’ll be hugely reluctant to pay claims if the “reopen now” people get their way and people catch the virus because a business owner didn’t take proper precautions.

* And you also gotta figure this is coming…

Illinois students likely won’t be returning to classrooms for the remainder of the school year.

Illinois Deputy Gov. Jesse Ruiz suggested Wednesday that the suspension of in-person instruction for all schools, which began March 17, could be extended through the end of the school year. An official announcement is expected by the week’s end.

“We’ve applied and received a federal waiver to exempt all students from accountability assessments for one year, as soon as it became clear that suspension of in-person instruction would extend beyond the initial two-week announcement and most likely again through the end of the school year,” Ruiz said.

* Headlines from the Tribune’s live blog…

ACLU voices concern about checkpoints being set up by Chicago police across the city

U of I sets up a coronavirus emergency fund for affected students’ tuition and housing

Cook County Jail inmates begin refusing food over COVID-19, sheriff forwards their petition for better treatment to judge

Sens. Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth named to congressional task force to advise Trump on reopening economy

$349 billion federal small-business aid fund runs dry; some in Chicago area were lucky but others are left in the lurch

Chicago-area mail carriers navigate coronavirus challenges: Customers eager to chat, the pain of postage-due notices and Postal Service’s financial collapse.

Chicago Park District pushes back summer camp sign-up

The military won’t say how many coronavirus cases are on the Naval Station Great Lakes base

What if back to normal is never? Entertainment companies and cultural nonprofits are feeling increasingly pessimistic.

* Sun-Times live blog…

What contact tracing in Illinois might look like

As coronavirus cases rise, public health experts race to reach Latinos

WHO says there’s no need to disinfect your mail

Lightfoot extends reprieve for motorists, businesses until June 1

Coronavirus has hit the federal jail, so R. Kelly is asking for release — again

City offers free mental health resources for medical personnel and first responders

Public health expert: ‘Marshall Plan’ needed to redress coronavirus race disparities

* More…

* Bank of America CEO to Trump: Focus on virus first, not return to normalcy

* Chicago Transit Agencies Brace For Future Without Another Bailout

* How the Public Health Crisis is Hurting Illinois’ Livestock Farmers

* Coronavirus shouldn’t keep people from worship, a southwestern Illinois sheriff says

* Lake County committee recommends freezing pay over some objections

* Farmers’ markets, festivals adjust amid coronavirus concerns in Rockford region

* Infectious disease doctor: Take off the gloves, wash your hands instead

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 16, 20 @ 2:21 pm

Comments

The next legal cottage industry is going to be litigating business interruption policies. I’d venture most of them have definitions which limit payouts to physical damage to the property (fire, water, grandma drives through the front door, tornado, etc.) Whether a pandemic is considered physical damage will be the question. Some legislators around the country want to retroactively require these policies to cover COVID-19, but the insurers will scream bloody murder because they will say we never intended to cover this, and even more importantly we didn’t collect premium for it to pay claims. They have a point with the ex post facto thing. Unless some kind of backstop fund is set up, some insurers could go under.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Apr 16, 20 @ 2:37 pm
If you want business interruption to protect you against a pandemic you need to by one that covers a pandemic. Wimbledon did - they get paid. Others did not.

As it’s said on here - read the bill or read the policy.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Apr 16, 20 @ 2:49 pm
The issue of business interruption insurance got a lot of attention following 9/11 and there was a lot of initial energy around forcing insurers to pick the risk up as a matter of public policy. But once that fades and the courts view this strictly as a contracts issue, the result tends to be the same.

But in the same way that 9/11 gave us the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, COVID-19 might be the impetus for a federal pandemic insurance backstop.

Comment by Pundent Thursday, Apr 16, 20 @ 2:57 pm
Having worked in public health I second the comment about gloves which are contaminated as easily as hands. Clean hands are better than gloves.

Comment by Washingtonian Thursday, Apr 16, 20 @ 4:50 pm