COVID-19 in Illinois is being updated: here’s what’s happening Monday

The death toll from COVID-19 in the US hit 500,000 on Monday, an unimaginably tragic number. The total represents more than the population of Aurora, Naperville and Joliet combined.

There are more than 22,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in Illinois, the seventh most of any state. California, New York, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have more. Illinois has a higher per capita rate than those states, with the exception of New York and New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Illinois administered 59,748 doses of coronavirus vaccine and reached a total of 2,211,700, health officials reported Monday. Over the past seven days, the state has administered an average of 55,499 vaccines per day, up from 66,320 a week ago.

Here’s what’s happening to COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois on Monday:

In Illinois, the total represents more than the population of Aurora, Naperville and Joliet combined, the three largest cities of the state after Chicago. If 500,000 people were to stand 6 feet apart, the line would stretch from Chicago to Atlanta.

There were more than 22,000 coronavirus deaths in Illinois, the seventh most in any state. California, New York, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have more. Illinois has a higher per capita rate than those states, with the exception of New York and New Jersey.

The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. drew 500,000 on Monday, excluding the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined.

The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are approximately equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and greater than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; of Omaha, Nebraska.

And despite the deployment of vaccines since mid-December, a meticulous model from the University of Washington projects more than 589,000 deaths by June 1.

The U.S. toll is by far the highest reported in the world, and the true numbers are likely to increase significantly, in part due to the many cases overlooked, especially early in the outbreak.

When the Shuttered Venue Operators’ assistance package became law in late 2020, art industry business owners saw it as a long-term delay in surviving: $ 15 billion in grants earmarked for music venues, movie and live theaters, and museums and zoos. since the beginning of the pandemic has been closed or working with limited capacity.

But now it’s the end of February and the organizations – many of which are running on steam and the friendliness of their landlords – are getting anxious about the fact that they can not even apply for the grants yet.

“I still cannot apply for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant,” Donnie Biggins, owner of the Lincoln Park music venue Tonic Room, wrote in a Twitter thread on Sunday. “Still waiting for the chance to apply for SVOG shatters the live music industry even worse.”

Democratic leaders have a powerful dynamic on their side as Congress prepares its first votes on the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 legal aid bill: Would any Democrat risk the vote leading the new President Joe Biden’s initiative?

The Democratic House majority with ten votes and ten votes leaves little room for deviations in the face of a solid Republican opposition, and they have no one in a 50-50 Senate controlling them, only with Vice-vote Kamala Harris’ decisive voice. Internal democratic disputes remain over issues such as raising the minimum wage, how much aid can be drawn from struggling state and local governments and whether emergency benefits should be extended for an extra month.

But because the House Budget Committee was planning to approve the 591-page package Monday, Democrats across the spectrum show little indication that they are willing to embarrass Biden with a high month-long defeat in his presidency.

The difficulty in securing vaccinations continues, exacerbated by last week’s delay in federal vaccines caused by the extreme cold and winter weather.

Officials also reported 37,361 new tests in the past 24 hours. The seven-day running positivity rate for cases as a share in total tests was 2.8% for the period ending Sunday.

A former Gap manager loses his job of nearly 20 years and becomes a welder.

A restaurant server loses hair and starts working at a cannabis pharmacy.

A personal trainer, who once worked in finance, began looking for a role in supply chain management.

Across Chicago, the labor market is tight, as the ongoing health crisis continues to plague parts of the U.S. economy, forcing workers in some of the worst industries to change careers. Some learn new skills through certification programs at local colleges, while others turn to development programs for workers in the hopes of finding work.

According to Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Council, and Hagerty, mayor of Evanston, officials would visit a pop-up coronavirus vaccination clinic.

The clinic at the Victor Walchirk Apartments is part of the province’s effort to vaccinate people in the 1b phase of vaccination, including those aged 65 or over.

Preckwinkle and Hagerty would visit the clinic and meet residents of the complex receiving vaccines.

Check back for updates. –Chicago Tribune Staff

Looking for a COVID-19 vaccine for her father, Amber Dow hit one dead end street after another.

Then she received a private Facebook message from a stranger: Go to the Jewel Osco website immediately. Enter your zip code. This is in Palatine.

She immediately followed the instructions and captured one of the last few open spots of the grocery store that day. Her father, 80-year-old Duane Dow, received his first shot on Wednesday.

The tip comes from the Facebook site Chicago Vaccine Hunters, a group of more than 11,000 members who gather information about and where they can be vaccinated in real time as new places and time slots appear.

With the shortage of COVID-19 vaccine, more residents are turning to social media for help as they search the internet for available vaccinations.

Mardi Gras came, went and left a Palestinian bakery with a problem: too many ingredients for paczki, the traditional Polish oil dumplings that Americans eat on Fat Tuesday, and not enough customers.

Paczki Day usually helps sell Spunky Dunkers Donuts for a full month or two, and customers often buy dozens of paczki to take to the office. But during a pandemic when many people were working from home and after rugby snowstorms, ‘it looked a bit scary’, said owner Jan Daczewitz.

Daczewitz, who said she is not the most technologically savvy, asked some employees to call on Facebook on Thursday afternoon.

“So, real talk. We need your help, ”begins the bakery’s post, which has been shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook and liked more than 6,000 times on Instagram. The effect was almost immediate.

Lines were formed around the store. The bakery doubled its baking shift from two to four, Daczewitz said. She called in all the employees she could, even former workers, of whom an estimated six to ten came in to help. Some employees stayed extra hours.

Since Thursday, the store has gone through as many as 10,000 pastries in ten days, according to her, until the basic donut supplies run out.

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