Illinois’ neighbor to the north was bumped down from the most severe “red” designation under Chicago’s travel order to “orange,” effective Friday, according to the city’s travel order website. But 10 other states moved up from orange to red, which mandates a 10-day quarantine for travelers returning to Chicago from those states.
Additionally, Chicago’s public health commissioner received the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning at Malcolm X College as part of a wave of non-hospital health care workers now eligible for the shot.
Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
4:50 p.m.: COVID-19 Q&A: Am I eligible to get the vaccine if I’m out of state? When will vaccine testing begin for those 16 and younger? Coronavirus questions answered.
I am in the high-risk category for COVID-19. I’m an Illinois resident but out of state for the next six months. Am I eligible to receive the vaccine in the state I am visiting?
According to Dr. Kevin Most, a board-certified physician in family medicine and chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, the issue is going to hinge on whether the reader has a physician who will identify her as being high risk.
”We’re getting to this 1B, 1C rollout, where we’re starting to take care of people over the age of 75 — that’s easily done with a driver’s license,” he said. “Those between the ages of 16 and 64 in that 2B (rollout) with complications or vulnerabilities — that certainly is going to take a physician to identify you as having diabetes or COPD. We’re making sure we vaccinate people in the right stratification regardless of where they’re at. I can’t speak for whatever state she’s in, but you would hope that if she has proof that she falls into what would be the 1C category, that they would honor that. When she’s back here, the vaccine should be out to the general public.”
Read more questions and answers here. – Darcel Rockett
3:41 p.m.: About 2,000 CPS staff members due back at school Monday asked for COVID-19 accommodations. Most were denied.
Seven thousand teachers and staff are due to report to Chicago Public Schools buildings Monday, but the district has denied accommodations or leave to the majority of educators who applied — particularly those who said a household member is vulnerable to COVID-19.
A CPS spokeswoman Tuesday said the district will provide weekly COVID-19 testing for those who live with high-risk household members and is working to provide exemptions to employees who serve as primary caregivers for individuals with a medical condition.
But a lawyer for the Chicago Teachers Union, which has repeatedly criticized the district’s reopening plan and threatened “collective action,” said the numbers show that many educators are being forced to choose between their safety and livelihood and that many cannot afford to sacrifice their jobs. Most of those permitted to take leave are doing so without pay, CTU Deputy General Counsel Thad Goodchild said.
”CPS has denied about 60% of the leave and accommodations requests of our members to which they responded, even as CPS has a back-load of hundreds of requests to which they’ve failed to respond,” he said in a written statement. Read more here. — Elyssa Cherney
3:03 p.m.: Tribune critic Phil Vettel reflects on a terrible year for Chicago restaurants — and the inspired ways some adapted to survive
If one had deliberately set out to destroy the region’s restaurant industry, one could hardly have done more damage than the events of 2020 managed to accomplish.
An indoor-dining ban in the spring forced Chicago restaurants to adapt to a carryout and delivery model, taking on the expense of purchasing disposable containers and surrendering a big chunk of their profits to third-party delivery services. Outdoor dining returned in the summer, followed by indoor dining — at 25% capacity. Then, in fall, indoor dining was banned yet again.
I’m not about to argue that these measures, intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, were at all unnecessary. But the restrictions resulted in hundreds of layoffs, and federal/state assistance proved to be meager at best as far as restaurants were concerned.
The wonder is not how many restaurants we lost in 2020; it’s that any restaurants are left. Read more here. — Phil Vettel
2:08 p.m.: ‘It just took her so fast,’ says mom of Lincoln-Way East senior who died from COVID-19 infection
Just days before Christmas, 18-year-old Sarah Simental, a senior at Lincoln-Way East High School, complained to her mom of suffering from a mild headache and congestion.
“We thought it was a cold,” her mom, Deborah Simental, said Tuesday.
This past Sunday, surrounded by her family, the Tinley Park teen who loved animals and volunteered at a pet rescue died at the University of Chicago Medical Center, with COVID-19 having brought on respiratory failure.
2 p.m.: Coronavirus at Illinois long-term care facilities: 62,600 confirmed cases and 7,910 deaths
The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois. The data shows outbreaks have occurred at 1,473 long-term care facilities in 94 counties. Of those, 1,001 facilities have an “active” outbreak, defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days. In all, 62,600 confirmed cases can be tied to long-term care facilities, with 7,910 deaths, as of Dec. 25.
12:09 p.m.: 5,644 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 106 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 5,644 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 105 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 948,006 and the statewide death toll to 16,179 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 66,786 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 7.4% for the period ending Monday.
11:31 a.m.: Wisconsin removed from ‘red’ tier states in Chicago travel order, negative COVID-19 test needed to avoid quarantine
Travelers heading to Chicago from Wisconsin can now bypass the 10-day quarantine by receiving a negative COVID-19 test result before coming into the city.
Illinois’ neighbor to the north was bumped down from the most severe “red” designation under Chicago’s travel order to “orange,” effective Friday, according to the city’s travel order website. But 10 other states moved up from orange to red, which mandates a 10-day quarantine for travelers returning to Chicago from those states.
Chicago’s public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said this New Year’s Eve, people should avoid gatherings and nonessential travel — and that it’s not too late to change plans to accommodate a COVID-safe holiday.
”This is not a year for gathering,” Arwady said during a news conference. “The bottom line is that still COVID is absolutely surging across the U.S., and you should delay travel if at all possible.”
As of Friday, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia and will be added to the red tier. Alaska, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming and will move down to the orange designation. Only Vermont and Hawaii will not be under any additional restrictions.
11:14 a.m.: With ‘no hesitation,’ Chicago’s health commissioner gets Pfizer shot at new Malcolm X College mass vaccination site for non-hospital health care workers
Chicago’s public health commissioner received the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning at Malcolm X College as part of a wave of non-hospital health care workers now eligible for the shot.
Dr. Allison Arwady, who heads Chicago’s public health department, rolled up her sleeve for the Pfizer vaccine at the Near West Side campus, where the city has set up a makeshift mass vaccination site for health care workers. Wearing a black “Protect Chicago” mask, Arwady sat down and said she was ready for her first dose of the vaccine.
After the shot in her left arm, Arwady waited in the chair for about 15 minutes in order to monitor any side effects. But she said she felt invigorated that after almost a year of serving as Chicago’s authoritative voice on all things COVID-19, she was able to publicly be part of the vaccination effort that will be crucial in bringing the city back to normal.
“I’m wonderful,” Arwady said when asked whether she felt OK. “Honestly, can’t even feel it. I’m so pleased right now.”
10:29 a.m.: Fate of $2,000 payments now rests with GOP’s Senate, which meets today
President Donald Trump’s push for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks now rests with the Senate after the House voted overwhelmingly to meet the president’s demand to increase the $600 stipends, but Republicans have shown little interest in boosting spending.
The outcome is highly uncertain heading into Tuesday’s session. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has declined to publicly address how he plans to handle the issue. But Democrats, sharing a rare priority with Trump, have seized on the opportunity to force Republicans into a difficult vote of either backing or defying the outgoing president.
After bipartisan approval by the House, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warned, “There is no good reason for Senate Republicans to stand in the way.”
6 a.m.: After outbreak of COVID-19 in the spring, changes at Ludeman Center in Park Forest kept resurgence numbers down, officials say
What began as a health emergency at a state-operated development center in Park Forest has become a managed situation, according to two state legislators.
Although still serious, cases of COVID-19 at the Ludeman Center are down significantly from their peak in April, said state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, 21% of staff and 77% of residents at the Ludeman Center had confirmed cases of the virus, according to state data.
Intervention and assistance from state health agencies helped get the situation under control, according to DeLuca, who said shortly before Christmas, 12 residents and 20 staff of the Ludeman Center had COVID-19.
“There’s one resident who’s in the hospital, but I’m told she has underlying health conditions,” DeLuca said. “As of now, there are no issues with staffing and no issues with PPE.”
5 a.m.: Donnie Kirksey, Chicago basketball legend, dies at 57 of complications related to COVID-19
To many Chicagoans who knew him, Donnie Kirksey was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word.
He was officially recognized as such through accolades in the Chicago Public League, the Illinois Basketball Coach/es Association and in many basketball circles in the state. But the title also extended to a personal level for many of the coaches, students and friends who knew him.
Hyde Park Academy head coach Donnie Kirksey in 2010. (Scott Strazzante / Chicago Tribune)
“He’s legendary, but he’s a Hall-of-Fame person and human being,” said Tom Kleinschmidt, 47, head basketball coach at DePaul College Prep who was friends with Kirksey for more than 30 years.
Kirksey, 57, died Monday of complications related to COVID-19, which he had been battling for a few weeks. He was the dean of students and head basketball coach at his alma mater Chicago Vocational Career Academy, but friends say his legacy extended far beyond his most recent position.
Illinois’ largest rodents are in city lagoons, rivers and streams. Now, they’re on Instagram and TikTok, thanks to pandemic-weary Chicagoans.
Among the more humble recipients of our longer walks and affinity for nature during the pandemic: beavers.
On recent mornings, shortly before and after sunrise, small groups of people have traveled to a bridge on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston. Some leave willow branches. For the beavers.
“They’ve got this whole following,” said Tamar Selch, who stops by regularly with her husband, Zach. “They’re very cute. And how often do you really get to see beavers out there?”
Illinois’ largest rodents are in city lagoons, rivers and streams. They’re on Instagram and TikTok. Sometimes a nuisance, and at other times a welcomed presence, beavers have found respite all over the state, a switch from when they were wiped out by hunters by the early 1900s — and a sign that water quality and habitat possibilities have long been on the upswing. Now they’re making their last push as the cold sets in to shore up their lodges and stock up on food.
And offering another reminder of what we notice when we spend more time outdoors.
Here are some recent stories related to COVID-19:
Source by www.chicagotribune.com
