Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 4,062 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 additional deaths.
The numbers come a day after the state announced a record 6,161 known cases and 63 deaths. That brings the state’s total to 374,256 known infections and 9,505 fatalities.
There were 72,097 tests reported in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate remained at 6.1% for a second straight day.
On Friday, the Illinois health department placed half of the state’s 102 counties on a warning list for a resurgence of COVID-19.
The county warning list, which the state Department of Public Health issues weekly, includes Kane, McHenry and Will counties, which all came under stricter state regulations Friday aimed at slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, days after threatening to roll back restrictions on Chicago businesses if COVID-19 cases continue to spike, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday imposed a 10 p.m. curfew on all nonessential city businesses.
In addition, the city is again prohibiting indoor service at traditional taverns and brewery taprooms that don’t have food licenses, and asked residents to cap any social gatherings at six people starting Friday.
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Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
4,062 newly confirmed cases and 24 addition deaths reported Sunday
Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 4,062 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24 additional deaths.
The numbers come a day after the state announced a record 6,161 known cases. That brings the state’s total to 374,256 known infections and 9,505 fatalities.
There were 72,097 tests reported in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate remained at 6.1% for a second straight day.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s not giving up on COVID-19 relief before election
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s not giving up on passing another coronavirus relief economic package before the Nov. 3 election.
At issue is a huge virus relief bill that would send another $1,200 direct payment to most Americans, restart bonus unemployment benefits, fund additional testing and vaccines, provide aid to schools and allocate money to state and local governments, a Democratic priority.
Read more here. —Associated Press
Saturday
Pelosi, Mnuchin trade blame as likelihood for COVID-19 package is ‘very, very slim’
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House traded blame for the latest stall in negotiations on a new coronavirus stimulus as pessimism built at the Capitol that anything could be accomplished before Election Day.
Pelosi said the burden is on President Donald Trump to push forward on stimulus talks and get reluctant Republicans to go along with any eventual deal reached with the White House on a nearly $2 trillion aid package.
“We could do that before the election, if the president wants to,” Pelosi said Friday in an interview on MSNBC.
Read more here. —Bloomberg News
Concern over holiday exposure to COVID-19 prompts Chicago Archdiocese switch to remote learning for 2 weeks in January
The Chicago Archdiocese has decided to move to remote learning for 14 days after winter break, worried students may be at risk of COVID-19 exposure at family gatherings, according to a statement released Friday.
Archdiocese officials asked that families consider traveling to their gatherings before Jan. 4, 2021, when virtual learning is scheduled to begin. Schools have mostly been open since the fall session began.
Read more here. —Deanese Williams-Harris
6,161 new known COVID-19 cases and 63 additional deaths reported; positivity rate climbs to 6.1%
The 6,161 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 announced by the state Saturday is a new daily record high, topping a daily total of 5,368 from early September when the state cleared a backlog of results.
The surge pushed the state’s positivity rate from 5.6% to 6.1% and set a new high mark for seven-day rolling average with 4,341. During the height of the first surge in April and May, the seven-day average of daily cases did not top 2,600.
Trailing indicators that signal the seriousness of the outbreak like deaths and hospitalizations also are showing increases.
Saturday saw 63 new deaths from COVID-19 announced. That number is not nearly as high as the spring, when daily deaths topped 100 for nearly three weeks in May. However, the last time the state saw daily death totals of higher than 60 was in June.
The steep increase in daily cases in October has also seen a slight increase in hospitalizations related to the coronavirus. On Oct. 1, there were 37.9% of the state’s ICU beds open. On Friday, the most recent data, there were 33.7% ICU beds available. While none of the state’s 11 regions are below the benchmark 20% of available medical/surgical or ICU beds, Chicago, suburban Cook County, DuPage and Kane counties, Will and Kankakee counties, and the Metro-east region that includes East St. Louis are within 10 percentage points.
The state continues to process a massive number of tests daily with 83,517 results announced Saturday, a total more than four times what was announced in the spring and summer.
Cumulatively, Illinois now has recorded 370,194 cases, 9,481 deaths and 7.2 million test results.
—Jonathan Berlin
University of Dayton student from La Grange dies after contracting COVID-19
A University of Dayton student from LaGrange has died after contracting the COVID-19 virus, according to university officials.
Michael Lang, 18, died on Thursday following a “lengthy hospitalization,” according to a message sent to the student body from the university’s president, Eric F. Spina, and other officials.
Lang was a first-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences, the message said. He had returned home to the western suburb on Sept. 13 for remote learning.
Read more here. —Madeline Buckley
Confused about outdoor dining? Here’s a breakdown of the rules and safety guidelines.
After a flurry of news this week surrounding outdoor dining, restaurants and customers alike are playing catch-up on what they are allowed and not allowed to do. And as the weather gets colder, these questions become even more pressing as business owners make decisions on what elements they want to invest in and customers figure out if outdoor dining is even safe at all.
We answer some of your questions here, but if there’s something else you’re unsure about, reach out to us.
Read more here. —Grace Wong
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