Coronavirus cases may be rising again in Illinois, but it will take more than one day’s cases to see if the uptick in cases is a trend.
Here’s what else happened today in coronavirus-related news.
News
9:25 p.m. COVID-19 warnings issued as state’s progress ‘cools off’ with 2,630 new cases
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Illinois reported its largest number of new COVID-19 cases in over a month Wednesday as 2,630 more people tested positive for the deadly virus statewide.
The new cases were confirmed among 58,820 tests, raising the state’s average testing positivity rate over the last week to 3.5%.
A steady rise in Illinois’ testing capacity over the last two months has kept that number — the key gauge of how rapidly the virus is spreading — relatively low compared to neighboring states of Wisconsin and Indiana.
But the Illinois Department of Public Health also announced the virus has killed 42 more residents, the second time in a week that the state’s daily death toll has surpassed 40 — following a stretch of more than three months without exceeding that mark.
The latest victims were spread out among 23 of the state’s 102 counties, ranging in age from their 40s to 90s. Five Cook County residents died.
Reporter Mitch Armentrout has the full story.
6:30 p.m. Alderman wants playgrounds to reopen — even if it means imposing capacity limits
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The Chicago Park District would be mandated to open its playgrounds — even if it means imposing capacity limits — to give stir-crazy children studying remotely a place to let off steam, under an “order” introduced Wednesday by an influential alderman.
Lincoln Park Ald. Michele Smith (43rd), chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Government Operations, has been the City Council’s chief proponent of mask mandates.
In fact, the “order” she introduced at Wednesday’s Council meeting, would give the city’s Department of Public Health 30 days to “develop and implement a plan for uniform enforcement of the mask wearing requirement” including in its public health order, “including but not limited to” the issuance of fines.
But Smith said that does not mean Park District playgrounds can’t be safely re-opened.
“There’s really very scant evidence that kids playing on the playground with their hands cause problems. And we know that, all over the city, many parents are disregarding it. It really sends a bad message out to people,” Smith told the Sun-Times.
Read the full story by Fran Spielman here.
4:03 p.m. COVID-19 craps out state gambling tax revenue by $200 million, but sports betting off to strong start
Illinois’ three-month COVID-19 shutdown left the state $200 million in the hole in terms of gambling tax revenue, as casino profits were slashed by nearly a third compared to last year.
And while the bright lights have been flipped back on at the state’s 10 casinos and 36,000-plus video gaming terminals, it’s no sure bet those revenues will jump back to normal anytime soon, according to a report released this week by the state’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
“Even with the resumption of wagering, it is expected that the ramifications of the pandemic on public confidence will persist for some time,” state analyst Eric Noggle said in the report.
Gaming was put on hold along with thousands of other businesses statewide for the duration of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pandemic stay-at-home order from March 16 through the end of June, which also marked the end of the state’s fiscal year.
Reporter Mitch Armentrout has the full story.
2:20 p.m. Chicago joins ‘week of mourning’ for lives lost to COVID-19
Chicago activists will hold a vigil outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center Wednesday as part of a national week of mourning for victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
The tribute outside the federal facility is for incarcerated people who have died of COVID-19, and is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Event organizers will play music by Chicago artist Ric Wilson and political speeches by Chicago activists as demonstrators mourn and stand in solidarity with prisoners.
Participants in the national week of mourning are also encouraged to observe it by using pre-curated graphics from the “#WeGrieveTogether” campaign or by creating their own artwork to be used for signs, shrines and collages. Reaching all parts of the city, more than 20 banners are expected to be hung this week by lead organizers. To maintain COVID-19 precautions, individual participants can set up memorials in their homes or organize socially distanced memorials outside with their friends and neighbors.
Read Adam Mahoney’s full story here.
1:28 p.m. Once a COVID vaccine is approved, the next challenge will be distributing it
Making vaccines is complicated. And so is distributing them. Vaccine makers say they already are producing vaccine in advance of knowing whether they will win approval. But simply having ample vaccine supply doesn’t mean manufacturers will have all the needed glass bottles, syringes or injectors to ship them right away. Some experts fear that a shortage of both production-line capabilities — special facilities are needed to make vaccines under strict sterile conditions — and limited supplies could hamper distribution of an approved vaccine. Many of the vaccine candidates must be shipped and stored at super-low temperatures, adding to the complexity.
“Even if you have the vaccine, that doesn’t mean you can ship it out. There are multiple, multiple steps, and all of them have to work,” says Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania who has warned of potential shortages.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine have issued a framework for who should get priority for the initial vaccine. State and local health departments also will have a say in how supplies roll out.
Current recommendations say first in line will be health care workers and people with medical conditions that put them at highest risk if they get the virus. People living in nursing homes and other congregate settings also will be higher on the list. Further down are average healthy adults.
Read ‘5 things to know about a COVID vaccine’ here.
9:43 a.m. Biden says debate shouldn’t happen if Trump still has coronavirus
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says he and President Donald Trump “shouldn’t have a debate” as long as the president remains positive for the coronavirus.
Biden said Tuesday that he’s “looking forward to being able to debate him” but said “we’re going to have to follow very strict guidelines.” He says he doesn’t know Trump’s status since the president returned to the White House after being hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for three days after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Biden told reporters while boarding his plane back to Delaware in Hagerstown, Maryland: “I think if he still has COVID, then we shouldn’t have a debate.”
8:55 a.m. Hoosier hiatus? Chicagoans ‘strongly advised’ to avoid Indiana as Illinois adds 1,617 more coronavirus cases
As Illinois reported another set of relatively low coronavirus infection numbers Tuesday, Chicago officials urged residents to avoid visiting Indiana as cases tick up in that state.
Adding COVID-19 cases at an average rate of 17 per 100,000 residents each day, the Hoosier State is on the city’s warning list for now — but it will land on the travel quarantine list if Indiana is “unable to bring down the daily case average in the next week,” according to the city Department of Public Health.
“Chicago residents are strongly advised to not travel to Indiana,” agency officials said in a statement.
Still, Illinois has logged infections at a similar clip — 16 new cases per 100,000 residents per day — meeting the city’s own criteria for the quarantine order that currently applies to 22 “hot spot” states plus Puerto Rico.
But Chicago’s infection rates have slowed considerably compared to most of the rest of Illinois.
Reporter Mitch Armentrout has the full report.
New cases
Illinois has logged infections at a rate of 16 new cases per 100,000 residents per day, but Chicago’s infection rates have slowed considerably compared to most of the rest of Illinois.
Statewide, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced 1,617 more people were confirmed to carry the virus among the latest batch of 49,513 tests.
Analysis & Commentary
8:18 a.m. To get out of this mess, we need bold thinking. Here’s what city leaders should do
If you want to tick off a top Chicago official, try implying that the city isn’t doing all it can to control the pandemic and solve the injustices it has revealed.
But the fact is, the city isn’t. The current strategy isn’t working, and nothing suggests that’s going to change soon. A vaccine isn’t likely to have an impact for at least a year, as the CDC’s Anthony Fauci has said.
Neither the city nor the state has shown much interest in approaches that have gotten results in other countries, and that could easily be implemented in Illinois. Long-term plans for rectifying the inequalities made worse by the pandemic are grossly inadequate.
More could — and should — be done. This column discusses what the city needs to do now. The next installment describes what it must do to fix itself over the long haul.
