Illinois public health officials on Wednesday announced 1,941 newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and 35 more deaths. That raises the statewide known case tally to 266,151 throughout the course of the pandemic. The state reported death toll is now 8,367. The statewide seven-day rolling positivity rate stands at 3.7%.
The region that includes Will and Kankakee counties, which had harsher rules imposed by the state after it surpassed a positivity rate of 8% for three consecutive days, stood at 6.4% as of Wednesday, below the threshold that would restore rules in place statewide under the fourth phase of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten announced Wednesday that football will resume this fall, declaring a unanimous vote and a plan to play eight regular-season games in eight weeks beginning the weekend of Oct. 23-24. The schedule has not been released, but teams will play all six division opponents and two crossover games.
However, Pritzker slammed the door on the possibility that Illinois’ high school athletes might join their college counterparts, saying football and other contact sports are still too risky in the midst of the pandemic.
COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on key metrics in your area
COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood
Illinois’ new COVID-19 plan: How the state will manage any outbreaks, in 3 charts
Illinois coronavirus graphs: The latest data on deaths, confirmed cases, tests and more
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7 p.m. (update): Trump contradicts top US health officials after CDC director estimates COVID-19 vaccine won’t be widely available until middle of 2021
Openly contradicting the government’s top health experts, President Donald Trump predicted on Wednesday that a safe and effective vaccine against the coronavirus could be ready as early as next month and in mass distribution soon after, undermining the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and calling him “confused” in projecting a longer time frame.
Trump also disagreed with Dr. Robert Redfield about the effectiveness of protective masks — which the president recommends but almost never wears — and said he’d telephoned Redfield to tell him so.
Earlier in the day, the CDC sent all 50 states a “playbook” for distribution of a vaccine to all Americans free of cost when one is proven safe and effective — which is not yet the case. Redfield told a congressional hearing that health care workers, first responders and others at high risk would get the vaccine first, perhaps in January or even late this year, but it was unlikely to be available more broadly, again assuming approval, before late spring or summer.
After Trump’s comments, CDC officials said Wednesday night that the director had thought he was answering a question about when vaccination of all Americans might be completed.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6:25 p.m.: Citing pandemic’s ‘unprecedented’ impact on November vote, Pritzker asks election officials to put federal funds behind drop boxes, election judge recruitment
Anticipating “the most logistically challenging election of our lifetimes,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday asked state election officials to redirect at least $4 million in federal funding to expand the availability of mail-in ballot drop boxes and to assist with recruiting election judges.
“This election cycle, where the presidential contest may not be decided on election night while vote by mail ballots are tabulated, will test the limits of our democracy and the faith of our people in it,” Pritzker wrote in a letter to State Board of Elections Executive Director Steve Sandvoss. “These unprecedented times require unprecedented involvement and action by the State Board of Elections.”
The $4 million would come from the $27.1 million the elections board received in federal election security grants through the Help America Vote Act for 2018 and 2020. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has issued guidance authorizing such uses.
Read more here. —Dan Petrella
5:20 p.m.: Chicago health commissioner looks ahead to building vaccine trust, eventual distribution
Chicago’s health commissioner on Wednesday said the coronavirus fight in 2021 could shift to convincing people to get the vaccine and then figuring out how to safely administer it to huge numbers of residents.
In her latest update to aldermen, Dr. Allison Arwady said it’s tough to predict whether the city will see its healthcare facilities heavily taxed by the combination of COVID-19 and flu cases this winter.
The flu season has been light this year in parts of the southern hemisphere, she said, possibly because people are wearing masks and distancing because of the coronavirus. “It’s very clear we’re still learning about this virus,” Arwady said.
Looking ahead, Arwady told the City Council Health Committee that while a vaccine might be medically available before the end of 2020, it still would need more testing before the huge task of distributing it could begin.
Then, when it does become widely available, how to get it to people? Arwady said the city is thinking about different ways to administer this year’s flu vaccines as a precursor to the coronavirus effort.
Read more here. —John Byrne
5 p.m.: GOP shrugs off President Trump’s call for ‘higher’ offer on coronavirus aid
President Donald Trump parachuted into the coronavirus aid debate Wednesday, upbraiding his Republican allies for proposing too small of a relief package and encouraging both parties to go for a bigger one that would include his priority of $1,200 stimulus checks for most Americans.
But his top GOP allies — who worked for weeks with the White House to construct the very aid package Trump criticized — shrugged off the president’s mid-morning tweet. They also weighed in against a $1.5 trillion aid package backed by moderates in both parties that earned praise from the White House.
Read more here. —Associated Press
3:55 p.m.: Student in Hinsdale South High School football camp has positive COVID test
Hinsdale High School District 86 has not started in-person classes yet, but the second case of coronavirus was reported.
A student who was participating in a football camp at Hinsdale South High School tested positive for COVID-19, the principal Arwen Pokorny Lyp said in a Sept. 14 letter to families with students attending the camp.
All football-related activities have been suspended for 14 days and all students and staff who were at the camp have to quarantine until Sept. 24, Pokorny Lyp said.
Illinois postponed the high school football season until the spring, but is allowing sports, such as football, wrestling and competitive cheerleading, to hold up to 20 days of no-contact practice this fall. South’s football camp started Sept. 8 and was scheduled to run until Oct. 2.
Read more here. —Kimberly Fornek
3:50 p.m.: Neighborhood shops used to think it wasn’t worth the hassle to sell online. Now they can’t afford to ignore it.
Two years ago, Esther Fishman shut down her Lincoln Park-area clothing and gifts shop’s online store.
Art Effect’s bricks-and-mortar business was strong, and selling online seemed like more trouble than it was worth.
It seemed like the right call until this spring.
When the coronavirus pandemic forced all but essential retail stores to close, Art Effect rushed to get its online store back in business. Fishman has since hired a company to build a new, easier-to-use site.
Small neighborhood retailers used to compete with Amazon by catering to local shoppers who enjoy browsing in person. That’s still true — but in the six months since the pandemic began, a growing number are venturing onto Amazon’s turf.
Most say online sales are a long way from making up for sluggish in-store sales, and some struggled to shift businesses built for in-person shoppers online. Others say it’s a service they can no longer afford to avoid, especially if a surge in cases forces stores to shut down again
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
2:08 p.m.: Chicago Public Schools reports 258 coronavirus cases and eight deaths since March
Since schools closed to students in March, at least 258 Chicago Public Schools and charter school employees or vendors have tested positive for COVID-19, and eight have died, according to the district.
The number, through Sept. 9, includes both staff working remotely and those who the district has been requiring to report to work at school buildings.
Only a small number of those have been tied to a cluster in a specific schools, officials said.
Read more here. —Hannah Leone
1:20 p.m.: Stefani group seeks court order to stop Navy Pier from evicting Riva and The Crystal Gardens amid rent dispute
Adjacent to an ongoing rent battle between the Stefani properties and Navy Pier, the restaurateur is seeking a court order that would prevent Navy Pier from removing its properties from the lakefront venue.
After Navy Pier allegedly terminated the two Stefani leases and restricted access to its properties, Stefani’s Pier Front Inc. filed for a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief Monday. If granted, the order would temporarily halt any efforts to remove the Stefani businesses from Navy Pier.
Read more here. —Grace Wong
12:31 p.m.: Will and Kankakee counties could soon see bars and indoor dining reopen; statewide eviction moratorium extended
Will and Kankakee counties could soon see bars and indoor dining reopen if the trend of a declining coronavirus test positivity rate holds.
The region including those two counties saw its positivity rate drop to 6.4%, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday, the first time the region has dipped below the state-set threshold of 6.5% since the state instituted stricter rules aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. If the region stays under 6.5% for three consecutive days, the region will join most of the rest of the state in Phase 4 of Pritzker’s reopening plan.
Pritzker also announced Wednesday he would extend the statewide eviction moratorium for another 30 days.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
12:06 p.m.: 1,941 new known COVID-19 cases and 35 more deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Wednesday announced 1,941 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 additional fatalities. The Illinois Department of Public Health is now reporting a total of 266,151 cases, including 8,367 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the start of the coronavirus’ spread.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate is 3.7%. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 52,311 new tests, according to the IDPH.
1,565 people in Illinois are in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 345 patients were in the ICU and 143 patients are on ventilators, according to state health officials.
—Chicago Tribune staff
11:26 a.m.: Big Ten football is coming back in October with at least 8 games in 9 weeks — and ‘significant medical protocols’
For a while there, it looked as if Big Ten football would produce only one score this fall: 11-3.
As in, 11 schools voted to postpone fall sports and three (Ohio State, Nebraska and Iowa) dissented.
But after weeks of criticism and cajoling from the likes of Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, Iowa football parents, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and President Donald Trump, the Big Ten crossed the 1-yard line — as Trump alluded to in a tweet.
The conference announced its restart Wednesday, declaring a unanimous vote to start playing Oct. 23-24 with a slate of at least eight games in nine weeks and a conference title game Dec. 19.
Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
10:58 a.m.: US outlines sweeping plan to provide free COVID-19 vaccines in two doses — 21 to 28 days apart
The federal government outlined a sweeping plan Wednesday to make vaccines for COVID-19 available for free to all Americans, assuming a safe and effective shot is established and widely accepted though polls show skepticism remains across America.
In a report to Congress and an accompanying “playbook” for states and localities, federal health agencies and the Defense Department sketched out complex plans for a vaccination campaign to begin gradually in January or even later this year, eventually ramping up to reach any American who wants a shot. The Pentagon is involved with the distribution of vaccines, but civilian health workers would be the ones giving shots.
Read more here. —Associated Press
10:54 a.m.: Wisconsin Dells’ Tommy Bartlett water ski show, closed by coronavirus, is shutting down for good
The coronavirus pandemic has forced an iconic Wisconsin Dells-area water ski show to shut down forever.
Tom Diehl, president and co-owner of the Tommy Bartlett Show in Lake Delton, said Wednesday that the show can’t recover from the loss of revenue this summer. The show was preparing for its 70th season when the pandemic happened, forcing Diehl to cancel the season. He said investing in a 2021 season would have been too risky given the uncertainty surrounding the virus and its dampening effect on travel.
Read more here. —Associated Press
10:48 a.m.: Chicago’s architectural biennial keeps the city at the forefront of design. But will it be held in 2021?
Will there be a Chicago Architecture Biennial next year at this time? Even if you’ve never attended the biennial, which bills itself as North America’s largest survey of contemporary architecture, you have a stake in the answer.
By showcasing rising stars in Chicago’s architecture firmament and introducing Chicagoans to global design talents like Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao, the biennial brings Chicago to the world and the world to Chicago.
Read more here. —Blair Kamin
9:48 a.m.: Kohl’s to cut 15% of office jobs due to coronavirus-related slump
Department store chain Kohl’s, whose sales have been hurt by the pandemic, said Tuesday that it will cut 15% of its office workers to save money.
The company declined to say how many people will lose their jobs. The layoffs will be at its headquarters in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, as well as offices in New York and Milpitas, California.
In recent months, other major retailers including Levi’s and Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands have also announced job cuts for corporate staff.
Read more here. —Associated Press
9:23 a.m.: U-46 officials watching COVID-19 cases as plans to return to in-person classes being made for October
More than 200 School District U-46 students and staff have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in March, Superintendent Tony Sanders told the school board this week.
The case count was discussed Monday as part of pending plans to move from all remote-learning program to a hybrid model in which students will do a mix of in-person classes and e-learning, possibly starting in early October.
Initial plans call for the Elgin-based district’s youngest students and those in special education to make the transition first.
According to district data, there have been 217 coronavirus cases among students, staff and their family members in the last six months based on information provided by the Kane, Cook and DuPage county health departments. The case breakdown is 58 student cases, 107 staff cases and 52 involving people who live with students or staff.
Between Sept. 5 and 11, five students and 10 staff members tested positive, data shows.
Read more here. —Rafael Guerrero
8:13 a.m.: Italian restaurant Nonnina faced closing until it struck a creative partnership with the landlord
Chef/owner Tony Priolo was blunt about the prospects of Nonnina, one of his three restaurants (Piccolo Sogno and Maillard Tavern are the others).
“We were overextended, and about to lose Nonnina,” he said. “But then Friedman Properties stepped in and said, ‘Let’s figure out a way to save it.”
Thus began a creative joint venture between Priolo’s company and his landlord, Friedman Properties (which has extensive River North holdings). As a result, Nonnina not only remains open, but also has been able to retool and revamp in a way to increase its chances of long-term survival.
Read more here. —Phil Vettel
7:25 a.m.: East Moline Correctional Center has COVID-19 outbreak and inmate alleges protocols aren’t being followed
Olegario Banuelos started feeling sick Sept. 6. It began with body aches, fever and a headache.
Banuelos, 45, is an inmate at the East Moline Correctional Center. In a phone call, Banuelos alleged correctional officers have not been keeping their face masks on and are not properly using PPE, including gowns and gloves. He said most officers kept masks down around their chins, leaving their mouths and noses exposed.
Prison officials disputed his charge, which came as a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility has sickened more than a quarter of inmates and 11 staff members. The number of cases has spiked in the last 10 days.
“If one of their supervisors passes by the unit, they’ll put on the mask real quick,” Banuelos said. “But if no one is around, they won’t wear it.
“The majority of (officers) don’t wear them properly. Since this started it’s been like this. We’ll get yelled at if we don’t have our masks on, but they can walk around (without masks.) They are not being cautious.”
Read more here. —The Quad City Times
5 a.m.: As other states play high school football, Pritzker says COVID-19 makes the sport still too risky for Illinois
Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared to slam the door on the possible return of high school football and other sports in Illinois this fall, saying they were still too risky in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic even though athletes in other Midwestern states have begun to play.
“Fine, if they’ve decided to endanger children and families in those states by allowing certain contact sports to take place, that’s their decision,” he said at a news conference Tuesday. “That’s not something that’s good for the families, the children of Illinois.”
The Illinois High School Association, deferring to state officials, moved high school football, boys soccer and girls volleyball — sports considered to be at medium to high risk of virus transmission — to the spring. But the organization recently sought to resume authority over its calendar after surrounding states began playing contact sports without reports of major outbreaks.
Following Pritzker’s remarks, Executive Director Craig Anderson said that effort is over.
“I think our hands are kind of tied with the governor saying we’re not going to proceed,” he said.
Read more here. —John Keilman
5 a.m.: COVID-19 cases have plummeted at Notre Dame since a two-week campus shutdown. Can that work for other universities struggling to contain the virus’s spread?
Nicole Ludford should have been in art history class on a recent morning — her only course meeting in person this semester — but instead she stayed inside her apartment near the University of Wisconsin-Madison and reflected on the school’s most sweeping attempt yet to combat rising COVID-19 cases among students.
The day before, UW-Madison announced a two-week pause on all face-to-face courses and put two predominantly freshman dorms under quarantine as total infections linked to campus topped 1,400. In-person courses were canceled and set to resume remotely on Monday.
Ludford, a senior from Chicago’s River North neighborhood, isn’t sure the strategy will work. Though cases could drop for a short time, she said she worries the actions don’t address the underlying problem: students gathering, not wearing masks and breaking the rules.
“A lot of people are wearing masks but there’s still a good majority that I look at and I’m just like, ‘You’re going to ruin this year for me,'” said Ludford, 21. “It’s a lot of money to spend on rent and on online classes to be stuck in an apartment and looking out your window.”
On Tuesday, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said more than 300 students were under investigation for misconduct and 12 face “emergency suspension” for violating COVID-19 precautions. Two dozen sorority and fraternity chapters have also been quarantined.
In announcing the two-week pause, Blank referenced “the precedent set by several other universities” that did the same, according to a Sept. 9 campus message.
While its long-term success remains to be seen, more universities are trying the two-week pause to overcome outbreaks, as opposed to the more dramatic move of permanently sending students home. That also follows recommendations from public health experts, who say turning students loose could seed new infections in the communities where they return.
Read more here. — Elyssa Cherney
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In case you missed it
Here are five things that happened Tuesday related to COVID-19:
As reports circulate that Big Ten football is returning this fall, the conference continues to leave its players and fans in suspense.
Hundreds turned out for a Barrington rally calling for an end to remote learning, the restart of student sports.
The Chicago health commissioner again sounded a warning on Wisconsin COVID-19 cases, and talked about Halloween planning in the city.
Metra launched a $1 million ad campaign to lure commuters back.
Gov. Pritzker asked state agencies to prepare for budget cuts.
![By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and DARLENE SUPERVILLE (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday said the first rule to set minimum staffing levels at federally funded nursing homes and require that a certain portion of the taxpayer dollars they receive go toward wages for care workers is a long-overdue “milestone” that […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Election_2024-Harris_89203.jpg?w=525 "By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and DARLENE SUPERVILLE (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday said the first rule to set minimum staffing levels at federally funded nursing homes and require that a certain portion of the taxpayer dollars they receive go toward wages for care workers is a long-overdue “milestone” that […]")
