Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Belleville News-Democrat: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker outlines ‘massive’ statewide contact tracing program
Gov. J.B. Pritzker outlined a plan Friday to build a “massive” statewide contact-tracing program in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Contact tracing was used successfully in countries such as South Korea to control the spread of COVID-19. It’s the process of following up with people who have had contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus, said Dr. Wayne Duffus, the state’s new acting chief epidemiologist who spoke at the governor’s daily news briefing in Chicago.
Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago area companies getting COVID-19 loans include railcar maker that paid CEO $2.1M
Faced with the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump quickly rolled out the Paycheck Protection Program, aiming to keep workers on the payroll at small businesses as business dwindled because of the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot warns partygoers they face citations, arrest as state reports 105 new coronavirus deaths
A visibly angered Mayor Lori Lightfoot scolded partygoers for their “foolish, reckless behavior” during her appearance Saturday on a West Side block where authorities had learned of a planned party — one of six that had been tipped off to police.
Those tips came after Chicago police shut down numerous parties Friday night, some with as many as 150 attendees.
Belleville News-Democrat: Belleville News-Democrat:
Illinois’ COVID-19 confirmed case count grew by nearly 2,500 again Saturday as a sustained increase in testing continues to drive the number upward.
“It really is a function of doing more testing,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said of the increased positive case count at his daily briefing on the virus Saturday.
Chicago Tribune: ‘We are never getting out of this,’ if residents keep having house parties, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Saturday warned “we are never getting out of this” if residents continue flouting stay-at-home orders by having house parties.
Lightfoot made the comments in an impassioned speech on a West Side street corner near the site of a house party officials said was planned for Saturday night near Springfield Avenue and Adams Street, in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.