Latest
7:23 a.m. A fifth of state at COVID-19 ‘warning level’ due to bare faces, failure to social distance — and indifference: ‘What’s in it for me?’
As public health officials announced nearly a fifth of all Illinois counties are at a coronavirus “warning level,” the state on Friday reported 2,208 new cases of COVID-19 — the fifth time in the last two weeks that Illinois has amassed 2,000 cases or more in a single day.
Illinois hadn’t seen such a cluster of high coronavirus caseloads since its initial peak month of May — and it follows a 33-day stretch from June to July in which Illinois never surpassed more than a thousand new diagnoses in a day.
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. That’s as the state has averaged more than 1,800 new cases per day over the last two weeks, almost triple the state’s running rate at the end of June.
Still, Illinois’ latest cases were confirmed among 51,736 tests submitted to the state, marking a third straight day of record-high testing numbers for the state and lowering the statewide testing positivity rate over the last week to 4.3%.
But positivity rates have increased in seven of the state’s 11 regions over the last week, including the downstate Metro East region which is now at 9.4% positivity — after Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s health team forced officials there to scale back capacities and operating hours at bars and restaurants.
Read the full story from Mitchell Armentrout here.
News
7:27 a.m. Craft distillers see sales evaporate amid pandemic
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For five months, no rum has flowed for visitors at Jaime Windon’s distillery in Maryland, drying up a crucial part of her revenue stream. Windon’s tasting room remains shuttered by the coronavirus, another victim of the pandemic’s devastating impact on the world economy.
Like other craft distillers, Windon Distilling relied heavily on sales from people who ventured in to learn a bit about making spirits, sample the products and take home a bottle or two. But small, independent producers — who have carved out a sizable niche in the country’s spirits sector — have been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a new study.
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States found that nationally, craft distillers will see an estimated 41% of their sales — worth more than $700 million — evaporate because of the pandemic.
The distillers furloughed nearly one-third of their employees, its study estimated.
New Cases
- Health officials announce Friday nearly a fifth of Illinois is at a “warning level” after 2,208 new COVID-19 cases are reported.
- 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.
