Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what happened Jan. 26 with COVID-19 in the Chicago area - Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Teachers’ League is preparing to continue their

, If Chicago public schools lock them out of their online teaching platform because they refuse to comply with the district’s reopening plan, be prepared to participate in demonstrations.

In this regard, CPS said yes

At least on Wednesday, for students who have returned but still intend to reach an agreement, the elementary school students will be brought back to school on Monday.

Also on Tuesday, Chicago

Produced by teachers who inadvertently signed with codes suitable for medical staff, it has caused confusion as educators face increasing anxiety in trying to ensure vaccinations.

At the same time, Illinois health officials announced on Tuesday

Since the start of the pandemic, the total number of known infections in Illinois has reached 1,108,430, and the statewide death toll has reached 18,883.

For a long time, Brian Harris, the principal of the 220 District of Barrington School District, reviewed the situation almost implicitly on Tuesday in the pre-pandemic era, when he announced that the snow was a stressful and important decision. .

Harris said: “When you do snow, not only do you cancel the school, but also cancel all activities, such as games and band concerts.” Nevertheless, more than a dozen controversial debates in the community about reopening the school took place on the front lines. Months later, Harris felt relieved and saved another fight this week.

Students eager to fall asleep and spending a day with friends on the nearby sled hill were greatly annoyed. School buildings in the area were closed on Tuesday, but Harris did not announce an official snow day.

Harris said: "After 10 months of COVID distance learning, we are fully prepared, and in today's inclement weather, everyone is ready to attend class or at home."

Since the epidemic last March, the epidemic has stolen countless precious school traditions, from high school rugby games and senior prom to chorus competitions and kindergarten graduation ceremonies.

It is assumed that these traditions will reappear after the pandemic is over.

However, as many suburban Chicago school districts have reopened for face-to-face teaching, they cleverly switched to distance learning on Tuesday, which raised the question: Does this mean the death of a traditional snowy day?

Lane Abrell, principal of Plainfield School District 202, said: "There is a feeling of nostalgia for the days when the students snowed, but with the COVID distance learning, the brilliance disappeared.

.

As Illinois ramps up its first week of COVID-19 immunization efforts to include elderly residents and "essential" workers, state officials were told Tuesday that vaccine shipments are expected to be welcomed.

Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abdayye said in a statement that the Biden administration said in a phone call with governors including Governor JB Pritzker that it will increase the number of services to all 50 states starting next week. Vaccine transportation.

She said the state expects to receive specific information on how many doses of vaccine it will receive in the coming days.

The Biden administration also told national leaders that it will purchase an additional 200 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines when delivered in the summer.

Biden later publicly announced an increase in vaccine shipments, and his government stated that, together with existing orders, it would be enough to manage two doses for 300 million people.

A study released by the University of Illinois on Tuesday found that the tax losses in Illinois due to the pandemic were much lower than the forecasts of the spring experts who first convened COVID-19 that year, but "huge uncertainty" continues.

According to a report from the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Studies, the pandemic hit state tax revenues severely after the widespread restrictions on family accommodation took effect last spring, but most of the early losses were made up in the following months. Affairs.

The study found that the first batch of federal coronavirus relief programs approved by Congress in the spring through stimulus checks on individuals and compensation checks for businesses to protect the program loans, injected billions of dollars into the Illinois economy, which is "increasing spending. catalyst".

Based on an analysis of state tax revenues as of November, the study found that people "started to adapt to their behavior" to accommodate behaviors allowed during the pandemic, and "as soon as retail locations and restaurants start to curb pickup services, sales start to rise."

"In April and May, expenditures in most categories dropped sharply, and then returned to levels before COVID-19. Expenditures have not fully recovered, but they are close to the levels when there was no COVID-19," the author wrote.

Despite optimistic conclusions, the authors of the study warned that “there are still many uncertainties” due to the possibility of a future coronavirus surge and the schedule of vaccine distribution.

The Chicago Teachers’ League is preparing for a second strike in less than two years, and if Chicago public schools shut them out to refuse to comply with the area’s reopening plan, prepare to join the picket.

In response, CPS stated that it will suspend face-to-face teaching for students who have returned at least on Wednesday, but still aims to reach an agreement to bring elementary students back to school on Monday.

The union wrote: "So here it comes." "Some recently changed short-term measures, *all* CTU members will start working remotely tomorrow... If CPS retaliates against members for exercising their right to a safe workplace, then *All* CTU members will stop working on Thursday and establish a cordon for their school."

When union leaders told members to stay focused, CPS officials issued a warning.

"Despite the actions taken by CTU, according to our prior notice, we hope that all kindergarten, kindergarten programs, and kindergarten through 8th grade faculty and staff will report in-person work at their school on January 27, unless they are granted remote work." , CPS email to all employees.

At the same time, the school district requires students who have returned to study in person to stay home on Wednesday, and CTU members are expected to do the same at that time.

The City of Chicago canceled vaccines appointed by an unspecified number of teachers who inadvertently used the code for health care workers to register. This caused confusion because of the growing tension between the union and the school district. Workers are increasingly worried about trying to ensure vaccination back to the classroom.

During the question-and-answer session on Tuesday, Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady was asked about reports of cancellation of teacher vaccination. She replied that there was a problem with the city’s immunization point during the weekend, and that the immunization point is currently only available to non-hospital medical staff in stage 1a.

To register, employers in these medical institutions must register codes to provide to their employees. Arwady said that the use of a code for home health workers resulted in "tens of thousands" of people signing the agreement than expected. She pointed out that the unqualified people were real and stated on the form that they were not health care workers.

"First of all, I really want to say that we are happy that people want to be vaccinated, and I am happy that people are honest when filling out forms," ​​Arwady said. "I know everyone is very eager to get a vaccine, but the truth of the matter is that if we share code in a way beyond what it should be, then we won't be able to vaccinate those people."

The Biden administration is increasing its purchases of coronavirus vaccines to provide enough services to protect 300 million Americans by the end of the summer, because after complaining of shortages and unstable supplies, it has increased to states in the next three weeks. Delivery.

President Joe Biden announced a surge in shipments to states on Tuesday, and news that the federal government will purchase two other approved coronavirus vaccines, each with 100 million doses. The White House hopes that through existing purchases, it can provide states with enough two-dose programs to vaccinate 300 million people.

Biden said: "This vaccine is enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans before the end of summer and early fall." His call for increased supply is a "wartime effort."

The Biden administration is trying to improve vaccine production and the ability of states to inject them into weapons, buying products from pharmaceutical manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna. If federal scientists approve Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, more vaccines may be available, and emergency authorization is expected to be sought in the next few weeks.

Biden also announced that in the next few weeks, the state’s vaccine shipments will increase by about 16%. This is because people complain about the shortage, so that some vaccination sites across the United States have to cancel thousands of appointments for initial vaccinations. People.

The detailed data released on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday showed that the government plans to provide about 10.1 million doses of the first and second doses next week, up from the 8.6 million allocated this week. These numbers represent the doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It is not clear how long the dose surge can last.

After temporarily closing his restaurant in Niles in November last year, Tom Konstantopoulos was flooded with calls from customers who wanted to know when his door could reopen.

"We have received thousands of calls; we may receive 100 calls every day," said Konstantopoulos, owner of Omega Restaurant.

On Monday, Konstantopoulos was finally able to tell customers what he couldn't say for nearly two months: Omega was open.

As the governor banned indoor dining, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and closed on November 29. The ban was lifted on January 23. Restaurants and bars in the suburbs of Chicago and Cook County allowed indoor dining for the first time since late October, but their capacity was limited to 25%.

Pillar Community Health will be vaccinated against COVID-19 at its health center in La Grange.

Pillar Chair Angela Curran said that the organization has completed the necessary registrations with the state and county health departments to become a vaccination site.

On Monday, the La Grange Village Committee unanimously approved Pillars to open a temporary vaccine clinic on the first floor of its Building 27 Calendar Calendar Ave.

"Your reputation will benefit you," village board member Beth Augustin told pillar officials at the board's Zoom meeting. Augustine called this non-profit organization "a fantastic organization." "We are grateful for everything you bring to the community."

Kuran said that the pillar will open up to four vaccine stations at a time, which means that staff will be able to vaccinate about 12 people per hour. Vaccinations can only be booked within four hours a day from Monday to Saturday. The time will depend on when staff and vaccine doses are available.

. -Kim Funak

According to Tuesday’s update, travelers coming to Chicago from any state other than Hawaii will continue to be restricted by the city’s travel order.

The list of states will remain unchanged this week, which means that 48 states as well as Washington DC and Puerto Rico are subject to the following regulations: Travellers from these locations must undergo negative COVID-19 testing within 72 hours before arriving in Chicago or quarantining. 10 days. These states and territories constitute the "orange" level of the urban travel order, including all regions, with an average of more than 15 daily cases per 100,000 residents.

The lonely "yellow" country Hawaii is below this threshold, and there are no restrictions other than conventional social isolation measures.

Officials said the order was to educate residents, not strictly enforce it. Officials say that no matter where travelers are from orange or yellow states, no matter where they are from, they should follow the public health guidelines established since the pandemic. Although Chicago reopened its indoor restaurants this weekend in accordance with the state's COVID-19 mitigation plan, other restrictions were relaxed.

Illinois health officials announced on Tuesday that there have been 3,667 newly confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 87 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,108,430 and the statewide death toll to 18,883.

Officials also reported 69,285 new tests conducted in the past 24 hours. As of Monday, the state’s seven-day cases accounted for 4.6% of the total test.

City officials find Chicago bars and restaurants "highly compliant"

, But closed the West Side business because of a party that violated social evacuation restrictions.

A statement from the Chicago Department of Business Affairs stated that Drip G (5529 Chicago Avenue), licensed as an art museum, was ordered to suspend production and production after allowing 79 people to eat and drink indoors without eating. And consumer protection.

BACP said that the company does not have a license to retail food, liquor or public entertainment venues, and held an event with a surcharge and DJ, DJ "drinking (and) dancing on site is crowded."

According to current laws and regulations, as long as seated customers eat and drink and maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between the tables, they can resume activities of 25% of their capacity (that is, 25 people).

BACP said this was the only violation of COVID-19 restrictions found in 69 investigations on Saturday and Sunday.

State public health officials announced on Tuesday that under Governor JB Pritzker's COVID-19 reopening plan, indoor dining is now allowed in four suburban counties.

After the region reached the national COVID-19 benchmark, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties all raised their restriction levels on Tuesday.

Food establishments are allowed to provide indoor services, and the turnover is limited to 25% of the room capacity or a total of 25 people (whichever is smaller). The state guidelines also require that the space between tables should be six feet, and all bar and restaurant customers should sit on the table-it is forbidden to sit, stand or order at the bar.

Loose restrictions also allow events, including weddings and funerals, to occur, limited to 25% of the number or the smaller of 25 people.

The president of the Elgin Teachers Association told the U-46 District Education Committee on Monday that teachers are still worried about returning to the classroom and want to release detailed information about COVID-19 safety measures to them.

Among the requirements of Barbara Bettis on behalf of the union included contract tracking data, the exact number of students enrolled in each school's mixed plan, and evidence that the classrooms were sufficiently clean.

Betis said: "There is currently no clear definition and communication about this, which intensifies distrust of the current security situation." "This also increases the pressure on teachers in the building, and teachers believe that the safety plan is incomplete."

She said that teachers are also worried that some families have not completed the self-certification process, during which they check their children for coronavirus symptoms before sending them to school.

The Wisconsin State Senate plans to vote on Tuesday to abolish Governor Tony Evers’s statewide mask mission, but it is unclear whether Congress will revoke the order as required.

Joint resolution

The Legislative Yuan has been approved by the Senate. This is the only item on the Senate’s agenda on Tuesday.

Congressional Republican leaders have not yet indicated whether the resolution to abolish the mask order will be voted on in the chamber. It must pass both the Senate and Congress to abolish Evers’ public health emergency and the mask mission scheduled for March 20 in connection with the order.

Since August, Wisconsin has been conducting mask inspections across the state. If the state's order is repealed, local orders in many densely populated areas of the state will remain in effect, including Milwaukee and Madison.

Tuesday's conference

Passed by the Senate backed by Evers. The General Assembly is expected to amend the bill and then send it back to the Senate.

The DuPage County Health Department announced that due to heavy snow, COVID-19 testing sites near its Wheaton County Farm and Manchester Highway will be closed on Tuesday. The department’s test site at the Odeum Expo Center is located at Villa Park N. Villa Ave. 1033 N and will be open from 10 am to 6 pm on Tuesday.

The Wheaton plant is scheduled to reopen at 7 am on Wednesday.

Although plans to reopen at New Trier High School were launched this week, officials said they expect the attendance of students who come to the scene to fall below the 50% threshold allowed by the new COVID-19 hybrid plan .

The start of New Trier’s 50% hybrid model (expected to start on Tuesday, the first day of the second semester) will allow students with surnames starting with AK to attend face-to-face classes every Tuesday and Wednesday, and those officials said the surname starts with LZ Of people will go to school in person this Thursday and Friday.

Among the many students, one of the many reasons why the attendance rate is lower than the 25% capacity limit of the monorail mode is that some students who signed the hybrid mode decided to take classes online without going through the formal process of declaring themselves as remote, New Trier spoke Said Nicky Dizon.

Di Zong said that the lower than expected attendance rate is also due to the self-isolation of some students after their winter vacation.

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