Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area
Illinois health officials Monday announced 1,231 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 18 additional deaths. It was the sixth straight day with more than 1,200 new cases. That brings the state total to 172,655 cases and 7,416 deaths.
The announcement came as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said people who have spent more than 24 hours in Wisconsin will soon be required to self-quarantine for 14 days upon entering city. Wisconsin becomes the 19th state from which travelers are being told to self-quarantine due to concerns over high coronavirus case rates.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday appeared with officials in two downstate counties that have seen coronavirus outbreaks. The governor joined local officials in downtown Quincy in Adams County — one of four counties placed on a “warning level” for COVID-19 last week — and hinted the state would take action if infection rates worsen.
Here’s what’s happening Tuesday regarding COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:20 a.m.: CTA giving away Ventra cards, healthy travel kits during food distribution event at South Side grocery store
A food distribution event at a Gresham neighborhood grocery store midday Tuesday will include the giveaway of 5,000 Ventra cards and healthy travel kits, according to the mayor’s office.
The food distribution at the parking lot of the Save-A-Lot grocery store, 7908 S. Halsted St., is sponsored by the city’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, which Chicago officials set up to work to address racial inequities made more apparent by the high rates of COVID-19 in communities of color.
The food distribution event was scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the mayor’s office.
The CTA Ventra card giveaway is sponsored by Butcher Boy Cooking Oils, a Chicago-area business, according to the release. — Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: ‘Pandemic pods’ and ‘micro-schools’: How parents are finding ways to help their kids — and themselves — manage schooling at home
After spending months keeping her 6-year-old daughter occupied with nature hikes, scavenger hunts and virtual play dates, Julia Devetski was hoping she could finally return to work full time again once the energetic rising first grader was back in the classroom this fall at her school in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
But as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage — and after learning that her daughter and her Chicago Public Schools classmates will be doing remote learning at home at least part of the time when the new school year starts in September — Devetski joined the soaring ranks of parents who are counting on “pandemic pods” or “micro-schools” as a solution to their dilemma.
Equal parts traditional home schooling and Mary Poppins-style nurturing — with a COVID-19 sheltering-in-place twist — these new arrangements are beckoning parents who desperately need support as they juggle working from home with keeping tabs on their kids’ education.
Generally, the idea of pandemic pods, sometimes called micro-schools, Safe Centers for Online Learning or SCOLs, is to supplement or oversee remote learning, rather that replace it, for parents who have the resources.
The cry for help, which includes legions of parents daunted by the prospect of their kids returning to school and potentially catching the virus, has also spawned a burgeoning network of providers ranging from posh private tutoring centers to retired public school teachers and recent college grads, all of whom are offering to organize and supervise in-home instruction for groups of roughly three to five children. Read more here. — Karen Ann Cullotta
Here are five things that happened Monday regarding COVID-19.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot added Wisconsin to the city’s quarantine list, asking anyone who has spent more than 24 hours there to self-isolate for 14 days upon coming to the city.
Northwestern Medicine announced it is searching for 5,000 Chicago adults to partake in clinical trials aimed at understanding COVID-19 prevention, including potential vaccines.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker visited downstate counties hit with COVID-19 outbreaks, saying “what’s happening here ... is alarming.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday announced that $33 million in funding from the federal coronavirus relief bill will go toward housing grants, including mortgage and rental assistance for city residents.
There will be a Lollapalooza of sorts after all, festival organizers said, a virtual event on YouTube, with old and new content, even a social justice bent.
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