Today's #COVID19 update

Here are today's count of coronavirus cases 461 with 8 deaths. The current totals so far is 5057 cases with 73 deaths. Via Chicago Tribune

According to a press release from the Illinois Dept of Public Health four of those 8 deaths announced earlier today is from Cook county

Also noted in the Tribune:

At his daily press briefing, Pritzker also announced that a COVID-19 field hospital at McCormick Place will have 500 beds available by the end of the week. The alternate care facility will hold 3,000 beds for patients, mostly with mild symptoms who do not require intensive care, the governor said. Construction began on the sprawling convention center over the weekend.

Additionally, Chicago Public Schools’ hundreds of thousands of students will receive daily learning activities as part of a new remote learning plan that is due to start on April 13, the Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Monday. Officials have laid out a goal of delivering 100,000 electronic devices to its neediest students.

While I know it could be a while before we can be clear of this pandemic, I was rather hoping the executive order enacted earlier this month could be lifted. Unfortunately as with many things during these difficult times an extension is possible according to NBC Chicago:

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday it's something he's considering.

"It is something that we need to consider, whether to extend and if we did, how long," he said during his daily briefing, though he did not indicate when a decision would be made.

Pritzker's press secretary said Sunday the governor "can only do disaster proclamations 30 days at a time."

"I think he's mentioned that he'll follow the experts on extending them," Jordan Abudayyeh said.

Bear in mind it was announced by President Donald Trump over the weekend that federal social distancing guidelines will be continued through the end of April. It's expected that we will hit the peak nationally next month. 

And as always be safe out there.

 

CBS 2: Chicago School Teacher Keeps Students Moving At Home With 'Bean Bag Boogie' #Ward09

[VIDEO] While the lady you see above isn't currently a CPS teacher I think it was necessary to show this story that aired on CBS 2 over the weekend. Denise King of St. John de la Salle School located in the Rosemoor community is keeping her students moving with her YouTube channel.

I'm sure that just as with the Chicago Public Schools whose students are out of school until April 21, 2020 due to the coronavirus, it's probably just as easily a hardship for those students who attend a private school. I celebrate the efforts of Ms. King to use her platform to continue helping our students during this difficult time.

I think this is good news we can use while we keep an eye on all the numbers of infections in this state. And of course we look forward to our young people eventually finishing the current school year strong once this is all over.

As always be careful out there.

Gov. Pritzker #COVID19 briefing with reports of new cases.

[VIDEO] I wanted to place this at the top and then share the numbers CapFax received from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health. Here's Gov. Pritzker's press conference from the NBC News YouTube channel.

Meanwhile I hoped the 673 new cases on Thurday was the peak with the new cases reported on Friday (488) and Saturday (465). On Sunday, 1,105 new cases of infectios with 18 deaths from coronavirus. If you click through from CapFax as the actually IDPH press released has yet to be released we see where these deaths are located with 11 of those 18 deaths from Cook County.

1,105 new cases, 18 new deaths https://t.co/rasi5iVzai

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 29, 2020

Also note that in Illinois we now have Bond, Knox, Menard, and Montgomery counties are reported cases. Now its 47 of Illinois' 102 counties reporting new coronavirus infections.

4,596 cases of coronavirus infections and a total in Illinois of 65 deaths.

Saturday #COVID-19 update

465 new cases of infections announced today and 13 more deaths. Said to be the most since the state has been keeping track of coronavirus cases as of Jan. 21, 2020. Of those deaths announced today one of them is of an infant younger than 1 years of age. Awful.

Also noted 85% of coronavirus deaths are of individuals over the age of 60. Carrol, Fayette, and Macon counties are now reporting coronavirus cases and that makes 43 of Illinois's 102 counties.

465 new cases, 13 new deaths https://t.co/gx643IHvJx

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 28, 2020

The tally so far in Illinois is 3,491 cases with 47 deaths. And again I contrast the today's number infections (465) with Thursday's (673) & Friday's (488) numbers. I hope the number of deaths peaks at 13, and I hope the peak of infections will be the numbers from Thursday.

While I've shared a link to Rich Miller's blog as he continues to keep an eye on news regarding the coronavirus and it's effect on this state. We can look to the Illinois Channel and today's press conference with Gov. Pritzker - about 30 minutes - as he announced the death of the infant and a state employee with the Dept. of Human Services as among the 13 deaths from coronavirus. [VIDEO]

As always be careful out there! 

#COVID19 update

Announced on Friday 488 new cases with 8 new deaths. Also Bureau, Henry, and Iroquois counties are now reporting cases. That makes 40 of Illinois' 102 counties. As far as the 8 new deaths no information on their location was given and as of Friday we have 3,026 cases with 34 deaths statewide.

488 new cases, 8 new deaths https://t.co/GMv3EslxG8

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 27, 2020

I'm contrasting this with the 673 new cases reported on Thursday.

Rush hospital preparing for influx of #COVID19 patients

[VIDEO] This is the type of news I hope many of you would appreciate hearing about the coronavirus and the trends so far as you might hear in the video above and will also share the text with you:

The virus’s trend line has improved.

“It looked like we were on a similar trajectory as New York City. Over the last couple days, we’ve seen cautiously optimistic that maybe we will avoid that scenario. In Illinois the social distancing kicked in in just enough time. In the last few days we’ve seen the flattening of that curve, but we’re not taking our foot off the gas pedal. That’s why we’re opening up spaces like this,” Rumuro said.

This includes adding computer terminal stations and adding space in unconventional ways, a feature from when the building was designed 15 years ago.

But today while some trend lines are promising, there are others less comforting.

“What’s been interesting over the last 48 hours is the number of very sick people that are coming in,” said Rumuro. “We hope we don’t peak. The idea here with the social distancing is to flatten that curve out and not seeing a peak. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Gov. JB Pritzker has been out front about the seriousness of this disease and I would put him up there with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and since NY was brought up.

At the time of Cuomo’s press briefing, he said that 37,000 in New York state had tested positive for coronavirus, an increase of 6,400 from the previous day. Around 18,000 tests had been administered in the last 24 hours.

Cuomo said that while the number of cases continued to go up each day, the slower rate in growth was encouraging. “'We're looking for a reduction in the rate of increase as opposed to the number of absolute cases, that's what we're looking for.”

Here's hoping that both in Illinois and NY the curve is beginning to flatten. The stay at home order is scheduled to expire on April 7, 2020. Let's hope it did the trick.

I've done a lot of focus on the state's coronavirus numbers, but not much emphasis on Cook County and Chicago''s numbers.

• As of March 26, 2020 there have been 1,149 cases of coronavirus in the city according to the Chicago Dept. of Public Health with 9 reported deaths in the city.
• As of March 26, 2020 there have been 743 cases of coronavirus in suburban Cook County according to the county's Dept of Public Health.
• As of March 26, 2020 there have been 2,538 cases of coronavirus in the state according to the IL Department of Public Health with 26 reported deaths throughout the state.

BTW, the numbers listed by the County are said to be provisional numbers and Cook is listing the numbers in Chicago at 1,161 cases of coronavirus. If you click the map from the state's Dept. of Public Health they list the same number from Cook County while the city itself lists the lower number. What gives?

As far as Cook County and Chicago they both list 9 deaths. So are there 9 deaths in suburban Cook County and 9 deaths in Chicago from coronavirus? Or does this mean there are 9 total deaths in Cook County which includes whatever stats there are in the city?

Today's coronavirus updates #COVID19

Today's report on coronavirus cases 673 new cases and now the statewide total is 2,528 cases with 7 more deaths reported and this time no information as far as location. If you click through the below link to CapFax we see a breakdown as far as ethnicity. I won't characterize this as very important, however, it's very interesting the percentage of those cases marked as "left blank".

673 new cases, 7 new deaths https://t.co/3inQeCB6mP

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 26, 2020

Anyway cases are now being reported in 37 of Illinois' 102 counties with Franklin and Tazewell now reporting coronavirus cases.

I also want to note that the city in a press conference today and no doubt you likely got an alert on your smartphones - iPhone and Android - that the Mayor has ordered the lakefront closed. The emphasis is on social distancing and avoid being in large groups and keep at least 6 feet away. [VIDEO]

3.3 million file for unemployment #COVID19

Due to the stay-at-home order a number of businesses were closed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus aka COVID-19. That also means there are a lot of workers who are filing for unemployment if they're not currently working right now.

Check out this post at CapFax

Nearly 3.3 million applied for unemployment benefits last week alone https://t.co/fAUmlsFtIW

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 26, 2020

Have any questions check out the Illinois Deparment of Employment Security.

How many of us depend upon the Dan Ryan?

[VIDEO] Well it's no big statement to say that the Dan Ryan Expressway is a major highway through Chicago's south side. Sometimes I wish we could have the traffic that currently runs on the expressway even during normal times.

We see artistmac doesn't see much dimished traffic on the expressway and notes some damage done on 47th by careless drivers.

Coronavirus updates #COVID19

I don't want to share too many stats with you on this. We already get daily updates if you follow the news especially from the federal and state gov't. We now have 330 new cases of coronavirus the statewide total is now 1,865 across 35 of Illinois' 102 counties.

EDIT: According to the IL Dept. of Public Health there are now 19 deaths from the coronavirus which should include the the three other deaths reported today. Among the three deaths one was in Cook County.

Three more counties reportedly have coronavirus cases this time Douglas, Marshall, and Morgan counties.

330 new cases, 3 new deaths and it’s now in Stateville https://t.co/NhgYCb9tM4

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 25, 2020

Also noted that two correction officers and one inmate at Stateville has tested positive for coronavirus. We got a lot of people out there still working and their not just in retail or medicine. I'm referring to our first responders especially the police and fire. There was news that someone walked into a police station here in the city and coughed, that's a very petty and irresponsible prank if there was one. I'm glad he was arrested for his trouble.

CapitolFax: Today's #COVID19 numbers

Announced earlier today 250 news cases and four more deaths to the coronavirus. Of the four deaths one was in the city, one in DuPage and the other two in Cook County. In the state total are 1535 in 32 of Illinois' 102 counties, reportedly Grundy County is reporting a coronavirus case. There are a total of 16 deaths to the coronavirus as reported by the Illinois Dept. of Public Health.

Here's a graph of state coronavirus cases to date as you see at CapFax

CapFax: #COVID19 - 236 more cases, 3 new deaths

Keep in mind those COVID19 resources from the city, county, state and federal. Keep yourself updated on the numbers & information as far as this coronavirus infections and deaths. I sincerely hope we'll bounce back from this soon and get back to normal.

Meanwhile Rich Miller's CapFax blog has done an excellent job updated us day to day as far as what the coronavirus numbers in this state. Yesterday the public learned that there are  - currently as of the time Miller posted - 236 new cases for a total in Illinois of 1,285 cases across 31 of Illinois' 102 counties.

There were also three more deaths from the coronavirus all of them in Cook County.

236 new cases, 3 new deaths https://t.co/DsEK1uvGGL

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 23, 2020

Another thing you will see at CapFax is coverage of the state's response as it was reported that the state has acquired personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical professions who are tending to those who are ill with the coronavirus.

Be well and be careful out there!

CTA cleaning procedures #COVID19

[VIDEO] I already shared a tweet by CTA on March 12, 2020 with regards to their response to the coronavirus. At that point things haven't gotten bad enough where businesses and schools were closed and no stay-at-home order. I also noted that there were personnel at 95th Street where I'd get on the train who will work to wipe down some of the surfaces (seats and handrails) on the train with sanitizer.

I hate to note this but over the weekend it was in the news that a CTA bus driver had tested positive for the coronavirus. For those who do have to work to keep our public transit system running I hope that they will be very careful out there. Especially for those of us who work in essential businesses and depend upon the services provided by CTA.

For those of you who do depend on public transit, do you believe CTA is working dilligently to keep their vehicles and facilities clean for the general public? What do you think the CTA could do better to keep their vehicles and facilities clean?

SMG Chatham 14 closed #COVID19

SMG Chatham Lobby/Concessions - 2018

This is probably no surprise to you if you paid a visit to the Studio Movie Grill theaters at 210 E. 87th Street as recently as Friday that the theaters are temporarily closed as a result of the coronavirus.

This is probably industry wide as I see that AMC Theatres and Kerasotes (Showplace Icon) have for the moment closed their locations in light of this coronavirus pandemic. At least AMC was speaking of limiting admissions to their screens at 50% capacity to encourage social distancing (which is to help to stem the spread of this virus). Of course authorities around the nation were issuing guidelines limiting how many people can gather in one place right now the government is limiting groups larger than 50 people.

So either way if you enjoy movies too bad about going to the show especially up to 87th Street, however, hopefully many of you are ready to take advantage of any streaming options. Which is especially key if you have to stay-at-home through April 7, 2020.

What is terrible is that many of the people who staff these venues wherever they're employed will be temporarily out of work until Studio Movie Grill, AMC Theatres, Kerasotes, etc will eventually re-open for business. I do hope that this will happen in the near future.

If you're wondering about the Harper Theater in Hyde Park at 5238 S. Harper Ave they're also closed for the time being. You will go to their website and a message regarding COVID-19 will come up explaining their closure.

#COVID19 resources

I'm sharing some basic links to information regarding the coronavirus aka COVID-19, I encourage you to click these various links to educate yourself on this. I'm sharing federal, state, and local resources as it pertains to the whatever is available local to us.

If you have any resources, especially for health care or social services please let us know. Send an email write a comment or even hit us on our social media to make this as comprehensive as possible.

And as always we'll keep you updated on any announcements with regards to this virus.

City of Chicago Coronavirus Response Center.

BTW, as of March 22, 2020 there have been 490 coronavirus cases in the city of Chicago while there are 1,049 cases throughout the state of Illinois. You see that information on the above link from the city.

Cook County Resources and Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Also there's from the county Dept. of Public Health on Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

According the county Dept. of Public Health as of March 21, 2020 there are 548 coronavirus cases throughout the county which also includes the city of Chicago.

From the State of Illinois Dept. of Public Health Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Very comprehensive and encourage you all to check out the information on here. They note the number of cases throughout the state which as stated above under city of Chicago is 1,049 coronavirus cases. There have been nine deaths statewide and 8,374 have been tested for this virus so far. These stats were updated as of March 22, 2020.

I also want to note that the Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been consistently holding press conferences to announce any updates especially any increase in coronavirus cases and deaths from those cases. Medial professionals primarily from the state Dept. of Public Health are often on hand to talk about the state's response to these cases. Usually they will be covered by our local news stations CBS 2, NBC 5, ABC 7, WGN, FOX 32 or even WTTW. You can also check out the Illinois Channel fb page for any press conference from the Governor.

Finally from the US Government from the Centers for Disease Control on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

And again as far as the US Government response President Donald Trump has also been holding frequent press conferences with regards to the federal response to this virus.

The most recent update nationally as far as coronavirus cases as of March 20, 2020 is 15,219 reported coronavirus cases with 201 total deaths. All 50 states and 4 US territories such as Guam, Puerto Rico, Washington, DC, and the Virgin Islands are reporting cases so far.

THE CDC cases page is only updated starting at 12:00 Noon Monday through Friday.

Of course if you know of any resources we should be following to enable you all to continuing taking care of yourselves or even if you know of somewhere to be tested. We need your help with that. Please share with us any resources that you think the public should know about.

And as always be careful out there. 

Stay-at-home order in Illinois #COVID19

[VIDEO] The press conference was already held sometime after 3 PM Friday and it's old news at this point. Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a stay-at-home order to Illinois residents to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. He gave an update as far as how many cases in this state in addition to yet another death to this very contagious virus.

I want you to bear in mind individuals most vulnerable to this virus are the elderly or people with pre-existing medical conditions.  Also bear in mind this stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order doesn't mean you can't leave home for any reason such as buying groceries, picking up prescriptions, visiting a doctor, going for a run, walking a dog, etc. Basically you're not being stopped from doing those essential things that are necessary everyday.

This order is in force from 5:00 PM on Saturday March 21, 2020 until April 7, 2020.

EXECUTIVE ORDER: Stay-at-home order

Here in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has closed Chicago's parks and libraries

Mayor Lightfoot address Chicago and extends CPS closure

[VIDEO] Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses Chicagoans on Thursday with regards to the coronavirus outbreak. She announced here that CPS schools will remain closed until April 20, 2020 in order to help slow the spread of the virus.

If you want to read a statement by CPS click here. Since Gov. Pritzker ordered all the state's schools closed last week CPS schools have become food distribution facilities for families with school age children. With that statement that policy will continue during the extension of the schools' closure during this very unprecedented period.

Primary election is still on

This isn't exactly breaking news, however, since Sunday and through yesterday afternoon it appears to be Gov. J.B. Pritzker's intention to allow today's primary election to continue going forward.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state officials said Monday that despite restaurants, bars and other businesses being ordered closed, the Illinois Primary will be held as planned.

“We have to have our elections continue, in my opinion. This is the right thing to do,” Pritzker said at a Springfield news conference. “Our democracy needs to go on. If we cancel these elections, when would you have an election?”

So today's polls will be open as normal.

Be safe out there and as far as taking care of yourself to avoid an infection it seems there are a good number of common sense approaches to this which includes washing yours hands, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, social distancing, etc. So I hope when you go to the polls tomorrow you will do what is necessary to protect yourself.

As the governor states our democracy must go on....

BTW, I want to also add this statement posted to CapFax from the Illinois state board of elections. They further state that the primary election today will go forward.

Gov. Pritzker shuts down all schools starting Tuesday #COVID19

[VIDEO] All K-12 schools in this state and this includes Chicago Public School have been shut down by the state of Illinois effective next Tuesday and classes are expected to resume at the end of the month March 30, 2020. Check out this statement from CPS and below is an ig post from CPS regarding this closure.

Artistmac laughing in the face of Corona...

[VIDEO] I just wanted to share this video of artistmac going to the north side to watch a movie. It was something of a hilarious video about how this concern over the coronavirus aka COVID-19 is somewhat overblown.

I posted a tweet from CTA discussing their response to the virus. And of course there are updates about it's spread and public health protocols from state government to the city. As far as day to day practices a lot of it seems like common sense for example you should wash your hands as frequently as possible.

Although to be fair, I'm looking forward to the day in the near future when this virus is no longer a major item in the news.

CTA's response to coronavirus

I've witnessed this one morning on my commute to work on the CTA Red Line a worker at least on the head car wiping down seats and hand rails. CTA is showing us their response to the coronavirus which has caused the cancellation of the downtown St. Patrick's Day parade.

Read more about CTA's response below. And I'm glad to know there will be no drastic changes to service as authorities continue to deal with the outbreak. Good for those who depend on public transit.

Our crews continue to work all hours of the day to ensure trains, buses and stations are cleaned and disinfected daily.

Learn more on what we’re doing at: https://t.co/ZiZcINrAHf pic.twitter.com/DHo6wYGiO4

— cta (@cta) March 11, 2020

In the state so far there have been 25 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois. It was in the news that a CPS employee was one of those 25 confirmed cases. I hope everyone take whatever precautions you can I've heard wash your hands the most among other things as far as avoiding this virus.

Be careful out there has been quite the operative term on this blog as of late.

Spring forward: Daylight saving time

Forgot to note this but daylight saving time is tonight. Adjust your clocks accordingly put them forward 1 hour. Thankfully Worlee Glover on his page Concerned Citizens of Chatham reminds us.

CBS 2: Homeless Shelter Shut Down After CBS 2 Exposes Disgusting Living Conditions

[VIDEO] I found this CBS2 report from this morning. A Little Bit of Heaven men's homeless shelter (11321 S. Wentworth Ave) was shut down after reports of appalling conditions for residents. It took an anonymous report to bring this to the media's attention and then ultimately the city followed up on other violations there were violations shown in this report that went back to 2018.