Chicago Alderman tests positive for coronavirus #Pandemic

Ald. Carrie Austin (Ward 34) revealed that she tested positive for coronavirus. It's an odd story, however, I will admit this virus is a bit tricky however the Alderman found out about it.

JUST IN: Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) has tested positive for the coronavirus — after testing negative at a different hospital on the same day. https://t.co/ZwXgFpRQSI

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) July 13, 2020

Chicago’s second-most-senior alderman has tested positive for the coronavirus — after testing negative at a different hospital on the same day.

Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) tested positive last month after what sources described as a bleeding episode that initially appeared to signal complications from the surgery she had five years ago to repair a torn aorta that nearly killed her.

Sources said the 71-year-old Austin was taken by ambulance to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where she tested negative for COVID-19. She was then transported by ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where the original surgery to repair the torn aorta had been conducted.

There, Austin was tested again. This time, the test came back positive, sources said. The veteran alderman, second in seniority only to indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14th), was then transferred to a floor at Northwestern reserved for coronavirus patients in isolation.

She apparently remained there for awhile, and has missed the last two City Council meetings, both conducted online.

The source of the bleeding was not known.

Austin could not be reached for comment. It was not known whether she remains hospitalized or is recuperating at home.

I wish Ald. Austin a speedy recovery if she is in fact ill. 

10,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Illinois #COVID19

The numbers of the past two days of confirmed coronavirus infections.

Friday - 1,209 confirmed new cases with 53 deaths

DeWitt, Effingham, and Jersey counties are reporting cases

In Cook County "1 male 30s, 1 female 50s, 4 male 50s, 4 females 60s, 6 males 60s, 1 unknown 60s, 2 females 70s, 6 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 4 females 90s, 1 female 100s". Which makes 33 new cases in Cook yesterday.

Saturday - 1,453 confirmed new cases with 33 deaths

Jasper, Lee, Mason, and Pike are now reporting cases there are now cases in 68 Illinois counties

In Cook County "1 male 20s, 1 male 30s, 1 female 40s, 2 males 40s, 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 3 females 70s, 6 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s" 23 new cases in Cook County reported today.

FORGOT TO ADD total as of today Saturday, April 4, 2020 10,357 cases of coronavirus with 243 deaths.

Yesterday we saw a press conference at McCormick Place with Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot. McCormick Place will be a field hospital. My understanding is that if you're seriously ill you will be sent to a hospital and the field hospital at McCormick will be for those who have mild symptoms . If you want to know more about what was said I'll share this story from CBS Chicago [VIDEO]

While grocery stores (Jewel, Mariano's, Whole Foods for example) and pharmacies (CVS or Walgreens for example) are making further strides to insure social distancing in their establishments. You may hear more announcements about this over the PA system. These stores aren't even going to allow you to use your reusable bags - and I do have to ask about that 7 cent bag tax. More from CBS Chicago again though it aired late last month. [VIDEO]

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! 

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?

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?

#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.