Coronavirus live blog, July 18, 2020: 1,276 new Illinois coronavirus cases, 18 more deaths

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A record-breaking batch of 46,099 test results received by the Illinois, lowering the state’s testing positivity rate over the last week to 2.9%, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Concerns still remains about the slight “uptick” in cases, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot warns everyone to stay vigilant by washing your hands, practicing social distancing and wearing masks.

Here’s what happened today in the fight against the coronavirus in Chicago, the state and the nation.

News

8 p.m. 1,276 new Illinois coronavirus cases, 18 more deaths

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Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Public health officials announced Saturday another 1,276 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Illinois, as another 18 deaths were attributed to COVID-19. 

That marked the state’s fourth straight day with a four-digit daily coronavirus caseload, the longest such stretch since the end of a peak month of May. 

But the new cases were also detected among the latest record-breaking batch of 46,099 test results received by the state, lowering the state’s testing positivity rate over the last week to 2.9%, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Read the full story by Mitchell Armentrout here.

7 p.m. Next year’s Cubs Convention canceled due to coronavirus-related uncertainty

The 2021 Cubs Convention is kaput, the latest event to be canceled because of the coronavirus.

It was to be held Jan. 15-17 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. Those dates get wiped away like so many others throughout the sports world have been.

“Pain and torture,” Cubs vice president of communications Julian Green said.

That was a reference to the one-thing-after-another experience lately of being a fan who can’t go to a game at Wrigley Field, can’t look forward to convention tickets going on sale in August, can’t enjoy their team as usual.

Read the full story by Steve Greenberg here.

5:30 p.m. Stimulus checks for kids? Country Time launches bailout fund for lemonade stands closed due to COVID-19

Here’s another “business” struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic: kids’ lemonade stands.

According to lemonade brand Country Time, the popular summertime fixtures in neighborhoods across the nation are closed “due to social distancing guidelines.”

So, Country Time has launched the “Littlest Bailout Relief Fund” to help put a “little juice back into the economy.” 

The brand owned by Kraft Heinz announced in a news release that it will send stimulus checks to kids who can’t operate their lemonade stands this summer.

Read more about the promotion here.

1:53 p.m. ‘A dangerous environment’: As churches reopen, coronavirus outbreaks are sprouting and some are keeping doors shut

At a church in Sacramento, California, that has been closed for in-person services since March, congregants occasionally still stop by to pray outside and try to capture a sense of fellowship they dearly miss.

In Nashville, Tennessee, the pastor of an Anglican church has been handing out Communion in the parking lot for weeks.

South of Atlanta, the animated pastor of a 3,000-member congregation tries to summon every ounce of enthusiasm in his body to deliver a lively, music-filled service in front of a live audience of no one, hoping his message and spirit come through on various technology platforms.

None of those are ideal options, but they beat becoming the source of an outbreak of COVID-19.

Almost 40 places of worship and religious events have been linked to more than 650 U.S. cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began, according to tracking by the New York Times. Along with the nationwide surge in infections that has followed the loosening of restrictions aimed at combating the virus, outbreaks connected to churches have sprouted at several spots.

Read the full report from USA Today here.

12:50 p.m. Coronavirus patients swamp emergency rooms in some US states

A fast-rising rising tide of new coronavirus cases is flooding emergency rooms in parts of the United States, with some patients moved into hallways and nurses working extra shifts to keep up with the surge.

Patients struggling to breathe are being placed on ventilators in emergency wards since intensive care units are full, officials say, and the near-constant care they require is overtaxing workers who also are treating more typical ER cases like chest pains, infections, and fractures.

In Texas, Dr. Alison Haddock of the Baylor College of Medicine said the current situation is worse than after Hurricane Harvey, which swamped Houston with floodwaters in 2017. The state reported a new daily record for virus deaths Friday and more than 10,000 confirmed cases for the fourth consecutive day.

“I’ve never seen anything like this COVID surge,” said Haddock, who has worked in emergency rooms since 2007. “We’re doing our best, but we’re not an ICU.”

Read the full report from the Associated Press here.

8 a.m. CPS parents have a mixed reaction to a part-time return to classroom

After months of debate and guesses, Chicago Public Schools families learned Friday what school would look like in the fall — and they had mixed reactions.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS officials announced their tentative plan to put most students back in classrooms two days a week with remote learning the other three days. High school juniors and seniors will keep learning at home full-time. All families can opt out of in-person learning for any reason.

Estrella Cedeno, a 36-year-old mother of five and West Rogers Park resident, has three children in CPS. She said she thinks it’s too soon to bring students back to school, and plans to keep her kids at home even if the two-day-a-week format moves forward.

“How do they know [the kids] are not in contact with someone with COVID when they’re not in school?” she asked.

Read the full report from Jade Yan here.

7:45 a.m. Illinois sees biggest daily COVID-19 caseload in six weeks — travel quarantine order extended to suburban Cook County

Public health officials on Friday announced another 1,384 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Illinois, the highest daily total reported by the state in more than six weeks.

But those new cases were detected among the latest record-high batch of 43,692 coronavirus test results reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health, lowering the state’s testing positivity rate over the last week to 3%.

That rate is still up from just 2.5% last week, a “mild uptick” that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said worries him that Illinois could be on the brink of a case surge such as those seen in dozens of other states.

Officials on Friday also announced the latest 22 deaths attributed to COVID-19, raising the state’s death toll to 7,272. And the health department tweaked its estimated numbers of “probable” but untested cases of COVID-19: an additional 193 deaths and 1,175 nonfatal infections.

Read the full story by Mitchell Armentrout here.

7 a.m. Home Depot will require masks for shoppers amid coronavirus resurgence

Another retailing heavyweight is weighing in on the national mask-wearing issue: Home Depot will now require all shoppers wear them.

The home improvement retailer said Friday that customers must wear masks inside all U.S. stores beginning July 22. However, small children and those who have a valid medical condition will not have to wear them. Customers not wearing masks because of a medical condition are asked to speak with an associate before entering the store, the company says.

Home Depot joins a slew of retailers including Walmart, Target, CVS, and Walgreens set to mandate masks at stores nationwide as cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, continue to rise in the U.S.

Read the full report from USA Today here.


New cases


Analysis & Commentary

4 p.m. Growing my own food in the times of COVID

The garden hoe, hoe, hoe . . .

Raspberries in the time of COVID.

Yum.

Sprouting from the sun belt in my backyard garden, a five-foot tall patch of blood-red raspberries was proof I’d dug a safe anti-virus haven for myself.

But as the purple irises, pink climbing roses and Virginia bluebells gave way to pastel pink astilbes, buzzing bee balm and God knows whatever else I obsessively tossed into my crazy lady backyard, the call of the wild whispered in my ear.

It spit: “Forget the flowers, toots!”

It asked: “What about the climbing cucumber, acidic home-grown tomato, slender green bean and splendid baby zucchini?”

It advised: “Get a grip! Grow what you eat!”

Read the full column by Michael Sneed here.

7:30 a.m. Pandemic shows the need for an American manufacturing revival that Chicago could lead

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of U.S. manufacturing — and shown how digital technology can pave the way for its revival. A few local demonstrations:

  • mHUB, a Chicago product startup incubator, teamed with 700 Illinois businesses to produce critical medical supplies as part of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s essential equipment task force. The accomplishments included designing and building hospital ventilators that cost just $350, made from off-the-shelf parts.
  • Azul 3D, a startup founded by three Northwestern University researchers, used its high-speed 3D printer to make face shield parts. It developed a prototype in 24 hours and produced enough components in 48 hours to make 1,000 shields per printer per day.
  • Fusion OEM, a Burr Ridge systems integrator specializing in robots that operate alongside humans to perform repetitive tasks, is working with two medical equipment manufacturers and a food-processing company to install more robots to meet pandemic-related spikes in demand.

Read more from columnist Ed Zotti’s City at the Crossroads column here.

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