Illinois records 10,526 new COVID-19 cases, 148 deaths marking the state’s worst stretch of the pandemic (LIVE UPDATES)
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148 more Illinois coronavirus deaths amid state’s worst stretch of pandemic
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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
The coronavirus is killing more Illinoisans than ever before, as public health officials on Friday attributed 148 more deaths to the respiratory disease that has infected an additional 10,526 residents statewide.
COVID-19 has claimed almost 1,000 lives in the last week alone, averaging about 137 deaths per day over that span — the worst stretch the state has suffered so far throughout nine months of the pandemic.
During the worst week of the first wave in mid-May, about 117 Illinoisans were dying of COVID-19 each day.
The latest victims included 62 Chicago-area residents, a DuPage County man in his 30s and two Cook County women in their 40s.
The unprecedented surge in deaths follows the predictable pattern health officials have been laying out for months: an October spike in cases, leading to a November spike in hospitalizations and record numbers of fatalities so far in December.
The 10,526 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed among 112,634 tests to lower the state’s average positivity rate a tenth of a percentage point to 10.3%.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he’s “very hopeful” Illinois has seen the worst of its resurgence, but that’s no guarantee as his public health team braces for another uptick in cases due to super-spreading family gatherings held for Thanksgiving last week.
News
3:00 p.m. NHL could start season in mid-January
Time has all but run out on the NHL’s hope to start the season Jan. 1, with the league and NHL Players’ Association now focusing their discussions on opening play in mid-January, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press on Friday.
A mid-January start date has become more realistic given the number of issues that need to be resolved before players can begin traveling to their home cities, according to the person who spoke to The AP on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
The two sides still need to agree on a schedule, with the current working plan featuring between 52 and 56 regular-season games. There has also been talk of a buffer being worked into the schedule in the event games are postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the person said.
Without going into detail, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The AP “various similar concepts are being discussed” when asked about the 52- or 56-game schedule and mid-January start.
Also needing to be resolved is a one-time divisional realignment, with the likelihood of there being a seven-team all-Canada division due to cross-border travel restrictions, as well as an updated COVID-19 protocol for players and teams.
2:54 p.m. Cop’s family says he died of coronavirus, wants funeral honors; department delays decision
The family of a Chicago police officer says he died of the coronavirus and can’t understand why the police department hasn’t determined he’s entitled to full honors for his funeral next week.
Paramedics found Officer Titus Moore dead Nov. 24 at his home near 94th Street and South Wabash Avenue after they were asked to do a well-being check.
Moore, 46, a field training officer in the Fifth District on the Far South Side, had been quarantining at home since he called his lieutenant and said he had flu-like symptoms, according to John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police. He went on medical leave Nov. 9, Catanzara said.
Dr. Thea Moore, the officer’s sister, said she got a voicemail from the Cook County medical examiner’s office a week after her brother’s body was found and was told he was “COVID-positive” and that his remains were being released to a funeral home.
The medical examiner hasn’t issued an official cause of death, though, pending test results.
Chicago Police Department officials are waiting on the results of a toxicology exam before they determine whether Moore died in the line of duty, which would mean he’d get full honors at his funeral, a department spokeswoman said.
1:28 p.m. ‘It’s safe to keep schools open,’ pediatric infectious disease specialist says
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Sun-Times Media
Even as the region enters its worst period of the pandemic thus far, the vast majority of public and private schools in the Chicago area that have reopened in some capacity this fall have had little confirmed exposure to the coronavirus in the past month, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of state data.
A small fraction of schools have had outbreaks where virus transmission has been traced to school buildings, while high schools have shown to be more likely to experience COVID-19 scares than elementary schools, records show.
Those findings match nationwide figures showing relatively low instances of significant spread in educational settings, especially among younger students, and provide some insight into why health officials nationally and in Chicago have expressed strong confidence that schools are safer to reopen than first thought, even as the pandemic rages on.
The difference between elementary and high school infections also partially explains why Chicago Public Schools has prioritized the return of its youngest students as the district makes its third attempt in January to open its classrooms for the first time since March.
“It’s safe to keep schools open,” said Dr. Daniel Johnson, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Johnson said evidence has shown minimal spread of the virus in school buildings even as transmission rises in the surrounding community.
Read Nader Issa’s full report here.
12:11 p.m. How Chicagoans plan on getting through the COVID winter we’re facing
We asked Chicagoans: What’s your plan for getting through the winter during the pandemic? What are you doing to stay occupied? Some answers have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
“Currently finishing up the third book in a series. Been at this five years. First two books on Amazon. Writing and cooking keep me busy.” — Joanie Swanson
“Basement remodeling project.” — Kevin Roecker
“We have a quarantine baby boy here, born 17 days ago, keeping us very busy.” — Pete Kurasz
“Reading, art projects, music, writing handwritten letters, meditation and baking lots for those in my neighborhood.” — Angie Mamrot
Read more reader responses here.
10:32 a.m. How Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout will work
Now that British regulators have become the first to authorize the COVID-19 vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech for emergency use, how will that country implement what potentially will be its biggest-ever immunization program? Here’s a look at what’s known about Britain’s vaccination plan:
HOW WILL THE ROLLOUT WORK?
Because the vaccine must be stored and transported at about minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit, there are clear logistical issues. Fortunately, the vaccine is stable at normal refrigerator temperatures, between 35.6 and 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit, for a few days. That means it can be stored locally ahead of being administered.
Another complication arises from doses coming in packs of 975 that cannot be divided at the moment, making it impossible to deliver vaccines to individual care homes. Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said he hoped authorities will approve a safe way of splitting up the dose packs so the jabs can get to care homes this month in the “first tranche of priorities.”
8:42 a.m. Illinois enters deadliest stretch of coronavirus pandemic so far with 192 more fatalities
Illinois has fallen into its deadliest stretch of the coronavirus pandemic so far as public health officials on Thursday announced COVID-19 has claimed 192 more lives while spreading to another 10,959 people.
The latest daily death toll is second only to the all-time high 238 coronavirus deaths reported Wednesday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
While the figures from both Wednesday and Thursday included deaths delayed in reporting from the long Thanksgiving weekend, the state has averaged 124 deaths a day since the holiday.
That tops the worst seven-day stretch of the first coronavirus wave in the spring, during which the state was losing an average of 117 residents to COVID-19 every day.
More than 3,000 Illinois deaths have been attributed to the coronavirus in the last month alone, almost double the state’s death toll over the entire summer.
7:58 a.m. Biden to call for 100 days of mask-wearing to curb COVID-19 spread
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden said Thursday that he will ask Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president, stopping just short of the nationwide mandate he’s pushed before to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The move marks a notable shift from President Donald Trump, whose own skepticism of mask-wearing has contributed to a politicization of the issue. That’s made many people reticent to embrace a practice that public health experts say is one of the easiest ways to manage the pandemic, which has killed more than 275,000 Americans.
The president-elect has frequently emphasized mask-wearing as a “patriotic duty” and during the campaign floated the idea of instituting a nationwide mask mandate, which he later acknowledged would be beyond the ability of the president to enforce.
Speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Biden said he would make the request of Americans on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.
New Cases
- Illinois has fallen into its deadliest stretch of the coronavirus pandemic so far as public health officials on Thursday announced COVID-19 has claimed 192 more lives while spreading to another 10,959 people. On Wednesday, Illinois broke its record for the highest single-day death toll attributed to the coronavirus with 238 deaths.
- A judge and 12 more employees at the Cook County chief judge’s office have tested positive for COVID-19, the judge’s office reported Tuesday. These 13 additional cases bring the total number of employees infected with COVID-19 to 180 since the start of the pandemic, the judge’s office said.
Analysis & Commentary
9:21 a.m. Why Biden, ex-presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton will take COVID-19 vaccines: Need to build trust in new drug
We’re at ground zero when it comes to the new COVID-19 vaccines awaiting federal Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization.
There are unfolding stories about how the vaccines are being distributed and cold stored and who will get the shots in the beginning since there won’t be that many doses available in the first wave.
Then there is the matter of trust, especially when the vaccines become widely available. People have to be convinced they are not lab rats.
There are many reasonable folks who just want to make sure the COVID-19 vaccine will work and they won’t suffer from awful side effects or worse.
Building trust in the midst of this pandemic will be a challenge. President Donald Trump rushing FDA scientists does not build credibility.
President-elect Joe Biden said on CNN on Thursday night he would be “happy” to get vaccinated in public. Ex-Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also have volunteered to get a COVID-19 vaccine in public — when it’s their turn.
We’re in a climate where, sadly, conspiracy theories and baseless notions get traction.