The Latest
Illinois officials hope testing can control coronavirus on campus
University of Illinois officials expect confirmed cases of the coronavirus to rise as classes begin Monday in Champaign-Urbana but they hope routine testing and other precautions can keep spread of the virus under control on campus.
Models developed by the university predict a few hundred confirmed cases of COVID-19 cases during the first weeks of the fall semester, officials said in a statement this week.
Saliva testing developed at the school has already been used to test 60,000 staff and students since July.
News
7:15 a.m. St. Rita switches to remote learning after 2 students test positive for COVID-19
St. Rita of Cascia High School on the Southwest Side made it only a few days before it was forced to temporarily shift classes online after two students tested positive for the coronavirus.
After classes started Monday, St. Rita administrators sent an email Thursday informing families that two students had contracted the contagious respiratory virus, and several others had been in close contact with them outside of school.
School officials said they don’t think the virus was contracted on campus, and that exposure would’ve been minimal due to the safety precautions set in place. They’ll revert to e-learning until at least Sept. 8.
“As we move on we will continue to adjust to make this the safest and most productive experience possible,” officials said in the email. “Our teachers have worked hard throughout the summer to improve the quality of our remote learning.”
St. Rita is thought to be the first Catholic school in Chicago to switch solely to online learning.
Read the full story by Madeline Kenney here.
7 a.m. College students demand tuition cuts amid plans to keep classes virtual
As more universities abandon plans to reopen and decide instead to keep classes online this fall, it’s leading to conflict between students who say they deserve tuition discounts and college leaders who insist remote learning is worth the full cost.
Disputes are flaring both at colleges that announced weeks ago they would stick with virtual instruction and at those that only recently lost hope of reopening their campuses. Among the latest schools facing pressure to lower tuition are Michigan State University and Ithaca College, which scrapped plans to reopen after seeing other colleges struggle to contain coronavirus outbreaks.
The scourge has killed more than 175,000 people in the United States. Worldwide, the confirmed death toll hit 800,000 on Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, and cases were nearing 23 million.
In petitions started at dozens of universities, students arguing for reduced tuition say online classes fail to deliver the same experience they get on campus. Video lectures are stilted and awkward, they say, and there’s little personal connection with professors or classmates.
New Cases
- 2,356 new Illinois coronavirus cases after record testing day on Saturday.
- Health officials announce Friday nearly a fifth of Illinois is at a “warning level” after 2,208 new COVID-19 cases are reported.
- Chicago Fire player tests positive for COVID-19
- More than 37,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus over the first three weeks of August, compared to 22,925 in all of June.
- Five Notre Dame football players test positive for COVID-19.
Analysis & Commentary
7:29 a.m. Fun and flavor of political conventions fade amid pandemic
It’s no longer a circus.
The big top is different, not gone. But the traditional political grub fests once held outside our national political conventions have disappeared, jettisoned by a pandemic.
What fun they were … if the pickings were good.
Outside the political wigwam was the juicy steak of journalism: private venues feeding a press hungry for news not available under the convention tent. Party havens for hustlers, glad handers, gadflies, lugubrious leakers, hustlers and hucksters — they were delicious.
These coveted private, invitation-only “after-parties,” tossed by celebs, charities, pols, major firms, and media groups, once buzzed with deals and appeals — where drinks flowed and handshakes were under the table or in a quiet corner of the room.
To a journalist, an invite to an after-party was creme; a place where scoops were netted, scores were settled; and new sources formed.
No more. For now.
Read more of Michael Sneed’s pre-pandemic convention memories.
