Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

As Illinoisans enter one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, health officials are warning people to stay home as much as possible, instead celebrating Thanksgiving with extended family by gathering online rather than in person.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week urged Americans to stay home for the holiday. The new guidance states that “the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with,” and that gathering with friends and even family members who do not live with you increases the chances of becoming infected with COVID-19 or the flu or transmitting the virus.

Meanwhile, Illinois health officials Sunday announced 10,012 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 76 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 656,298 and the statewide confirmed death toll to 11,506 since the start of the pandemic.

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Running list of Chicago-area closings and cancellations

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

7:30 a.m.: Archdiocese of Chicago and Catholic Charities raise $35 million for COVID-19 relief

The Archdiocese of Chicago and Catholic Charities have raised $35 million in a COVID-19 relief effort to address a growing need for social services in Cook and Lake counties.

Catholic Charities has raised $15 million since March, and the two organizations together raised an additional $20 million. Funds will be deployed to assist people regardless of their faith, race, ethnicity or gender, according to the archdiocese.

The money is expected to be allocated among both organizations. Catholic Charities will receive 60% of the $20 million in joint relief funds to significantly increase assistance to individuals and families in need, according to the archdiocese. Assistance includes food and housing support, burial aid for victims of COVID-19 and domestic violence support.

The archdiocese will put the remaining 40% into emergency scholarships for Catholic school students and its inmate reentry ministry, among other efforts, according to the archdiocese.

Read the full story here. — Jessica Villagomez

6 a.m.: With COVID-19 surging anew, alarms sound again for Cook County’s incarcerated

The renewed nationwide surge of COVID-19 has hit Cook County lockups with force this fall, causing officials to reevaluate the safeguards put in place earlier this year to blunt the spread of the deadly infection behind bars.

More than 20 residents of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center have tested positive in the past month, a dramatic increase over the numbers reported at the end of spring and early summer. The staff numbers are alarming as well, with more than 70 people who work at the near West Side facility now reported to have tested positive during the entire pandemic.

“It is just shocking,” Deputy Cook County Public Defender Peter Parry said Wednesday, adding that people working in and around the facility were “very concerned.”

The numbers at Cook County Jail, where thousands of adult detainees are housed, have spiked too. Over the summer, the number of positive cases were in the double digits, but as of Thursday, 153 detainees had tested positive, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. Three had been hospitalized.

The first death of a COVID-positive patient since May was reported this week when an 85-year-old detainee died after being transported to Stroger Hospital.

And the jail’s population has risen significantly since efforts in the spring to release detainees to allow for social distancing. There were 5,529 people in custody Thursday — nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

Read more here. —Annie Sweeney, Megan Crepeau

5:45 a.m.: AstraZeneca says COVID-19 vaccine ‘highly effective’ in late-stage trials with 90% success in one dosing regimen

AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed that its COVID-19 vaccine with Oxford University was up to 90% effective in preventing disease.

The results are based on interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported in those receiving the vaccine, AstraZeneca said.

The trial looked at two different dosing regimens. A half dose of the vaccine followed by a full dose at least one month apart was 90% effective. A second regimen using two full doses one month apart was 62% effective. The combined results showed an average efficacy rate of 70%.

“These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives,” Professor Andrew Pollard, chief investigator for the trial, said in a statement. “Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective.’'

AstraZeneca is the third major drug company to report late-stage results for its potential COVID-19 vaccine as public health officials around the world anxiously wait for vaccines that will end the pandemic that has killed almost 1.4 million people. Pfizer and Moderna last week reported preliminary results from late-stage trials showing their vaccines were almost 95% effective.

Yet unlike many of its rivals, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine does not have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, making it far easier to distribute in developing countries.

Read more here. —Associated Press

In case you missed it

Here are some recent stories related to COVID-19:

In-person entrance exams for Chicago’s selective high schools bring high anxiety about COVID-19 risk

Rising cases force hard family conversations, last-minute changes for holiday travel.

Can harm reduction, the philosophy that stems HIV transmission and heroin overdoses, help curb a Thanksgiving COVID-19 meltdown?

The first COVID-19 vaccines could begin on Dec. 12, says U.S. official.

The ultimate guide to winter camping in Illinois during COVID-19.

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