The latest
Nursing homes account for 48% of all Illinois COVID-19 deaths
More than 50 Illinois nursing homes have eclipsed double-digit coronavirus deaths as several facilities reported spikes in their number of cases and deaths in the past week, according to data released Friday by state health officials.
In all, 3,910 new cases were reported this week along with 472 new deaths, according to a count by the Chicago Sun-Times. That brings state nursing home cases to 11,437 and deaths to 1,553. Last week, the state saw one-week increases of 3,229 cases and 456 deaths.
Long-term care facilities now account for 48% of Illinois’ 3,241 COVID-19 deaths, records show.
As was the case last week, the numbers, reported weekly, have inconsistencies from week to week and, because of lags in reporting, appear to be lower than the real-time toll the virus is taking on those facilities. Some homes, for example, reported fewer cases or deaths this week than last, an issue officials have attributed in part to further investigation revealing non-COVID health issues.
This week, 18 more homes reached double-digit deaths, bringing that total to 51 facilities across the state. Twenty-two have reported more than 100 total cases, with two homes over 200.
Read the full report from Nader Issa here.
News
11:47 a.m. New coronavirus outbreaks in Germany, South Korea show the risks in easing up
ROME — South Korea’s capital closed down more than 2,100 bars and other nightspots Saturday because of a new cluster of coronavirus infections, Germany scrambled to contain fresh outbreaks at slaughterhouses, and Italian authorities worried that people were getting too friendly at cocktail hour during the country’s first weekend of eased restrictions.
The new outbreaks — and the fears of a second wave of contagion — underscored the dangers authorities face as they try to reopen their economies.
Around the world, the U.S. and other hard-hit countries are wrestling with how to ease curbs on business and public activity without causing the virus to come surging back.
10:37 a.m. ICYMI: Admiral Theatre sues over PPP loan delay, alleges regulations violate First Amendment
Chicago’s Admiral Theatre is suing the Small Business Administration, alleging the strip club’s First Amendment rights were violated when a ruling on its loan application has been stalled by regulations that discriminate against adult businesses.
The suit filed Friday in U.S. District Court names the SBA and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as defendants.
The lawsuit claims the SBA is taking too long to rule on the North Side strip club’s Paycheck Protection Program application, which provides forgivable loans to businesses which have fewer than 500 workers.
The delay is due to SBA regulations which prohibit funding for businesses that “present live performances of a prurient sexual nature,” the lawsuit states.
However, the suit continues: “All of the entertainment provided by the admiral is non-obscene (and thus cannot be deemed prurient),” the suit states. “No entertainer performing at the Admiral has even been charged with, let alone convicted of, the crime of obscenity.”
Read the full story from Emmanuel Camarillo here.
8:45 a.m. Sky owner hopeful WNBA will salvage 2020 season, but at least one player thinks it’s not worth risk
Sky forward Jantel Lavender said what a lot of people were thinking, as hard as it might be to accept:
She doesn’t think it’s feasible for the WNBA to have a 2020 season.
“For me, I just can’t see it happening, only because there’s no [coronavirus] vaccine,” Lavender said. “To think about having a season where everybody’s in one location and we play in one place, I don’t know, it’s just unrealistic, and I think it would make more sense to wait it out and just see where we go from here.”
The season originally was scheduled to start May 15, but it has been postponed indefinitely amid the pandemic as league officials continue to plan for different scenarios.
Although players such as Lavender are skeptical, Sky owner Michael Alter remains hopeful the season will go on in some capacity. One thing he’s sure of, he said, is that if the league does get a green light from public health officials, fans will not be in attendance, which would have a major affect on the revenue for a league already in financial distress.
Read the full story from Madeline Kenney here.
7:45 a.m. Chicago postal worker dies of COVID-19
A Chicago U.S. Postal Service letter carrier has died of COVID-19.
Unique L. Clay, 31, was pronounced dead at 8:47 a.m. May 5, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She lived in Englewood.
Clay, a mother of three who had just given birth a week earlier, is the first active letter carrier in Chicago to die of the virus, according to a statement from the National Association of Letter Carriers. She worked for the postal service for two years.
An autopsy found Clay died of a novel coronavirus infection and ruled her death natural, the medical examiner’s office said.
More than 30 letter carriers in the city have tested positive for COVID-19, the union said.
Union representatives and employees at the Irving Park Post Office, 3319 N. Cicero Ave., will hold a balloon release in Clay’s honor on Saturday morning while wearing masks and practicing social distancing, according to the union.
7:15 a.m. Nonprofits distribute thousands of pounds of food, PPE in Bronzeville
Representatives from community groups, advocacy organizations and churches gathered in Bronzeville Friday afternoon to collect their share of thousands of pounds of food and personal protective equipment intended to ease the burden for those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s no question that the amount of pain that this virus has caused is incredible, but at the same time we have to recognize that a lot of the pain that’s being caused is because of a lack of information, because of a lack of access to resources,” said Todd Belcore, executive director of the nonprofit Social Change, one of the groups organizing the distribution.
“We have to respond to that and we also have to respond to the fact that people are terrified,” he added. “Not just terrified by the prospect of getting the virus but also terrified by the fact that they won’t have food to eat.”
Read the full story by Sam Charles here.
New cases
Analysis & Commentary
7:15 a.m. If you reopen for business early and somebody dies, don’t expect your insurance company to bail you out
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has repeatedly said he’s delegating enforcement of his stay-at-home order to local governments.
That stance has frustrated some folks who want him to get tougher with violators (although he’d undoubtedly risk making martyrs out of them if he did crack down hard). And the governor’s position seems to have emboldened some local officials to defy the governor’s executive order and open up their economies on their own.
But when local governments refuse to enforce the governor’s order, it appears that trial lawyers might step in and insurance companies might take a walk.
A growing number of Downstate sheriffs, state’s attorneys and other officials have declared they won’t be enforcing the governor’s stay-at-home order. The Woodford County state’s attorney has said he won’t prosecute violators, as has the White County state’s attorney. Johnson County’s sheriff is one of several who’ve said he also wouldn’t arrest anyone for violating the order.
East Peoria’s mayor has gone beyond even that, officially allowing the “opening” of several businesses in his city on May 1 that were ordered closed by the governor’s executive order, including hair salons, spas, gyms and indoor recreational facilities. On May 15, bars and restaurants will be allowed to reopen at 50 percent capacity, and churches and theaters also will be allowed to reopen on that date.
But the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association has a message for those renegade municipalities and businesses preparing to throw open their doors: Watch out for lawsuits.
