Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 461 known COVID-19 cases and eight more deaths, bringing state total to 5,057 known cases and 73 deaths
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and health officials announced Illinois’ known coronavirus case count climbed by 461, including another eight deaths, officials announced Monday.
The state now has recorded 5,057 known cases of COVID-19, which includes 73 deaths. This weekend, Pritzker warned that the upward curve is likely to continue for weeks.
State Journal-Register: COVID-19 cases will continue to grow exponentially Public Health director says
Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Illinois will continue to see “exponential” growth in COVID-19 cases despite a drop in new cases reported Monday.
At Gov. JB Pritzker’s daily briefing, public health officials said there were 461 new cases of coronavirus reported in the state since Sunday’s briefing, bringing the total to 5,057 cases.
Chicago Sun-Times: For Downstate Illinois, coronavirus crisis ‘is going to devastate families’
The transient slaughterhouse workers of Beardstown still fill the rooms at the Budget Inn in the small central Illinois town, but the motel owner admits, beyond that “business is very slow.”
Some 30 miles southeast in Jacksonville, a sewing supply shop has closed its doors, posting instructions on how to make protective face masks, next to a plastic bin to collect donated masks.
The Center Square: Remote learning starts Tuesday for students statewide
Remote Learning Days begin Tuesday for Illinois students.
The state’s new education plan for the coronavirus closures came in the form of an executive order by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday.
Chicago Sun-Times: CPS students unlikely to return to schools this year, alderman says after mayoral briefing
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday outlined a plan for “remote learning” — including the distribution of lap-top computers to needy students — leaving one aldermen to conclude that Chicago Public Schools students have attended their last day of in-person classes this academic year.
“They’re doing remote learning for the rest of the year . . . We have no expectation of them going back,” Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) told the Sun-Times after a conference call with the mayor.
Crain's Chicago Business: McCormick Place could get first COVID patients this week
In a news conference, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot confirmed reports: The big convention complex will have beds for 500 patients by week’s end, another 500 by next week and 2,000 more by the end of April, including 750 for patients who need intensive care.
The Center Square: Illinois’ prison system reports first COVID-19 death with ‘clusters’ in other places
Illinois’ prison system, which has a population of older inmates, reported its first death related to COVID-19 and public health officials said there were clusters in other facilities.
State officials also provided the latest details about the spread of COVID-19 in Illinois. Statewide, officials have confirmed 5,057 cases of COVID-19, including 73 deaths, in 52 of the state’s 102 counties. Clark, Crawford, Marion, Randolph, and Saline counties have now reported cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China.
The Center Square: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ends face-to-face classes for the semester
Learning will continue at the University of Illinois.
The University of Illinois has not been shut down, said Robin Kaler, associate chancellor of public affairs at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Chicago Tribune: State’s child welfare agency scrambles to protect workers as it braces for spike in child abuse reports
Illinois’ child welfare agency is undertaking a rapid, extensive revamping of how it responds to abuse reports, both to safeguard frontline workers during the coronavirus outbreak and to prepare for a potential surge in hotline calls about children isolated with abusive adults.
More than a week ago, on March 22, the Department of Children and Family Services emptied out its crowded hotline call center in Springfield that employed 100 people. Workers were issued laptops and equipped to work from their homes, and no calls were dropped, according to an agency official, outside monitors and Tribune interviews with 12 hotline call-takers and child protective investigators.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Public Schools aims to deliver 100,000 electronic devices to students at home during coronavirus shutdown, won’t rule out longer closures
Chicago Public Schools will officially begin remote learning on April 13 and aims to get tens of thousands of devices into the hands of homebound students — but leaders won’t say whether the school shutdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic will last longer than previously declared, through April 20.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, CPS and City Colleges leaders announced remote learning plans Monday and said CPS families should receive more guidance from their children’s schools by April 6.
Crain's Chicago Business: Tech supply pinch hits Chicago Public Schools
“Everyone in the country, across the world, are looking for the same devices,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson told reporters today of the computers and tablets it’s trying to order for students.
Chicago Sun-Times: $7.5M in payouts to go to former Cook County Jail detainees denied prescription drugs
Cook County is set to pay $7.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused it of failing to administer prescription drugs in a timely manner to incoming Cook County Jail detainees, according to a preliminary agreement reached in federal court.
The lawsuit said sheriff’s officials and the county had waited longer than 24 hours to provide new detainees with medication for ailments including asthma and mental health problems.