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Good morning, Chicago. Here’s the coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
Illinois officials announced 1,545 new known cases of the coronavirus and 146 additional deaths, bringing the statewide totals to 98,030 cases and 4,379 deaths since the pandemic began
The U.S. has recorded 1.5 million confirmed infections and nearly 92,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday
About 4.9 million people worldwide have been confirmed infected by the virus, and about 323,000 deaths have been recorded, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker preaches patience, expresses optimism as Illinois coronavirus metrics improve
While the state’s testing rate for COVID-19 is greatly improved and hospitalizations are at their lowest point this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker continued to preach patience Tuesday as Illinois residents look forward to moving on to a new phase in the reopening plan at the end of the month.
“We’re all itching to move ahead. So why can’t we just do it now?” Pritzker said. “Well, there’s no doubt this is hard, but public health means that each of is working to protect all of us. It’s about our collective impact on each other.”
The Illinois General Assembly returns to Springfield on Wednesday for the first time in nearly 11 weeks, meeting in a special session that figures to be driven by pandemic-heightened divides between Democrats and Republicans, and urban and rural splits over how to move the state forward in the new world of the coronavirus.
Lawmakers are scheduled to meet for just three days to try to put together a spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1, a coronavirus response package that covers employment, education, health care and the courts, an enhanced vote-by-mail program for November, and a program to provide funding for safety-net hospitals that care for the poor.
Rent relief in Illinois could be on its way, as state legislators rush to pass bills during three-day session
A new but seemingly simple idea is emerging as a possible solution for colleges that want to bring students back to campus in the fall: starting classes sooner.
In recent days, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Marquette University in Milwaukee announced they will begin the fall semester earlier than usual and finish in-person classes by Thanksgiving. The goal, the schools say, is to limit student travel ahead of any potential resurgence of coronavirus infections anticipated for the winter.
As pandemic upends 2020 census, group turns to StreetWise vendors to reach undercounted community
The COVID-19 outbreak and stay-at-home orders caused the U.S. Census Bureau to push back its timeline for the decennial count. The agency was going to work with local service organizations to count the homeless during a three-day operation in late March. It’s now uncertain when that will happen in Chicago.
With a few exceptions, the public’s insatiable appetite for food halls looked like it would never end. For developers, the format was an easy way to attract crowds to downtown projects. And for restaurateurs, whether aspiring or established, it was an affordable way to test new ideas. But with all Illinois restaurant dining rooms closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the idea of stuffing hundreds of people together in one room sounding unsafe, will food halls be able to survive?
