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Lightfoot, suburban mayors raise red flags about releasing jail detainees over COVID-19
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a coalition of suburban mayors penned a letter to Chief Criminal Court Judge Leroy Martin Monday in response to his decision to review of thousands of criminal cases with a goal of reducing the number of inmates in jail in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Most hearings will be held remotely using online conferencing apps to minimize contact among lawyers, judges and court staff, Martin said. Judges will review lists of defendants who defense attorneys and prosecutors determine do not to pose a threat to public safety, and full hearings would take place in cases where defense attorneys seek to have someone released despite objections from prosecutors.
Martin’s order came the day after the Cook County Sheriff’s Department announced that a correctional officer who worked in the jail’s Cermak medical facility tested positive for COVID-19.
In the letter dated Monday, Lightfoot asked the judge to “consider implementing certain protocols to ensure that detainees residing in a facility where a known case has been detected are asymptomatic for a reasonable time prior to release in order to safeguard them and the public.“
The letter asks if detainees will be screened prior to release for symptoms that may indicate a possible COVID-19 infection, and whether detainees will be provided with information on how to protect themselves from contracting the virus.
Lightfoot expresses particular concern for “detainees who are eligible to be released on electronic monitoring but remain in jail ‘because they have ‘no place to stay,’” suggesting that, upon their release, they may be at risk of homelessness.
“As you surely know, our homeless population are among our most vulnerable and many of us have taken a number of steps to shore up this population,” Lightfoot writes. “We have great concerns about a release where the detainees are not otherwise connected with appropriate social service organizations so that there is a warm and supportive transition in support of this category of detainees in particular.”
On Monday, the YMCA announced it would open some shuttered facilities in Chicago to relieve crowded shelters in accordance with recommended social distancing practices.
“We have resources to support these individuals, but we cannot be on the sidelines,” the letter concludes. “Public health considerations post-release are also relevant in this time of crisis, and must inform the individualized release determinations. We would be happy to partner with you to create protocols and appropriate screening pre-release to safeguard the health of all.”
The letter was co-signed by mayors from Hillside, Morton Grove, Riverside, Palos Hills and Robbins.
9:48 a.m. Coronavirus, colds, allergies, strep or flu? Here’s how to tell the difference
It’s allergy season and we haven’t exactly cleared flu season yet, but that hasn’t stopped the new coronavirus from spreading throughout the nation and creating a new normal for Americans who are now stuck at home.
Symptoms of the coronavirus include a fever, dry cough and shortness of breath, but those symptoms closely resemble other illnesses, as well. So, how do you know if you have coronavirus or something else?
Dr. Maria Granzotti, chief medical officer at Ascension Texas, breaks down the differences between allergies, cold, strep, flu and COVID-19 to put your mind more at ease before going to the doctor.
Read the full story here. Our essential COVID-19 content is free for all suntimes.com visitors.
8:48 a.m. How to apply for unemployment benefits if you are out of work during Illinois’ COVID-19 shutdown
Tens of thousands of workers across Illinois have been temporarily out of work since the outbreak began forcing businesses to close. Last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered all bars and restaurants to stop serving dine-in customers, and on Saturday, he issued a stay-at-home order leaving just “essential” businesses in operation.
The result is countless people are now out of work and being forced into the state’s unemployment system. Illinois alone saw more than 64,000 new claims for unemployment benefits from March 16-18.
To handle this massive influx of new applications, IDES announced it recently adopted emergency rules for who qualifies for unemployment insurance.
The amount residents can receive depends on their usual pay rate with benefits ranging from $51 to $580 per week. Those approved can receive up to 26 weeks of benefits in a 12-month period.
Read our comprehensive guide to applying for and receiving unemployment insurance.
8:08 a.m. Tokyo Olympics officially postponed to 2021
The Tokyo Olympics have been officially postponed until 2021.
The International Olympic Committee along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and local organizers have decided that the Tokyo Games cannot go ahead as scheduled this year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The IOC says the games will be held “not later than summer 2021” but they will still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
7:55 a.m. US, Europe account for 85% of new COVID-19 infections, deaths
Spain started storing bodies in an ice rink converted to a makeshift morgue Tuesday, as coronavirus deaths mounted there and around the world, with the World Health Organization warning the pandemic was still in a nascent stage with infections expected to increase “considerably.”
Some 85% of new infections came from Europe and the United States, according to the WHO, with Spain registering a record daily increase of 6,584 new infections and a leap of 500 in the death toll to 2,696.
More than 387,000 people worldwide have been infected by the new coronavirus and more than 16,700 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Click here to read the full story.
5:10 a.m. Rebates on CTA passes, subsidies for Pace and Divvy rides offered to help residents cope with coronavirus crisis
Chicago-area transit agencies are taking steps to help commuters through the COVID-19 crisis.
Through at least April 7, Ventra riders will receive prorated credit for unused passes.
There also will be free bus rides on Pace for some customers, and prices of Divvy bike passes will be reduced significantly, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
5:00 a.m. Distillery retools in coronavirus crisis to make desperately needed hand sanitizers
To address the emergency need for hand sanitizers, on March 18, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau — the agency regulating distilled spirits makers — issued an emergency order allowing companies already holding permits to “immediately” start producing hand sanitizers through June 30. “These measures are generally authorized … in disaster situations,” the agency said.
The only condition was the manufacturers had to follow the recipe provided by the World Health Organization: Hand sanitizers had to be made of specific amounts of denatured or undenatured ethanol, glycerol and hydrogen peroxide.
So Eric Falberg, co-owner of the 28 Mile Distilling Co. in Highwood, and his partners, his brother Gregg and Matt Greif, the head distiller, decided to jump into the hand sanitizer business. And so the 28 Mile Hand Sanitizer was born, financed with about $50,000 from the partners.
Read the full story from the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet.
New cases
9:32 p.m. Feds vow to send Illinois ventilators, masks after Pritzker and Trump talk things through
After a string of national TV appearances in which Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic — and a couple of Twitter tirades — the White House on Monday has vowed to send Illinois 300 ventilators and 250,000 masks.
According to the governor’s office, that assurance came from a White House aide on Monday afternoon after Pritzker and Trump spoke directly on the phone at about noon. It also came some 24 hours after Pritzker complained “the only way to get the president of the United States to pay attention is to go on national television and make noise about it.”
Pritzker’s office said Illinois is expected to get 300 ventilators and 250,000 N95 masks.
Read the full story from reporter Tina Sfondeles.
7:01 p.m. Illinois should move state tax filing deadline to July 15 so it matches the feds’
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that the federal government will move the tax deadline to July 15 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That puts the ball in Illinois’ court to find a way to do the same.
We urge the state to move quickly to resolve this. It’s clearly doable.
We get that the sudden loss of the usual influx of cash in April can leave the state scratching its head about how to pay its bills, including the paychecks for state workers.
But we hope the Pritzker administration is also fully taking into account that no matter what the state decides, the distinction between federal and state filing dates will be lost on many tax filers.
6:33 p.m. Adding insult to isolation? No shame in being dubbed a ‘non-essential’ worker
Most everyone would probably like to believe they are essential in at least some small way or another to the endeavors to which they devote themselves — and therefore essential to the larger society.
With that in mind, I asked my Facebook friends if their jobs have been deemed essential or non-essential — and how they are feeling about that.
Many of them reminded me that even though they are “non-essential,” they are working at home and happy to be doing so.
And many of those with “essential jobs” are of a mixed mind about it, glad to be working and continuing to make a contribution but concerned about their personal safety.
