COVID-19 in Illinois updates: here’s what’s going to happen on Monday

The death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. reached 500,000 on Monday, an unimaginably tragic number. This total represents more than the populations of Aurora, Naperville and Joliet combined.

There were more than 22,000 COVID-19 deaths in Illinois, the seventh largest of any state. California, New York, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have more. Illinois has a higher per capita rate than those states, with the exception of New York and New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Illinois administered 59,748 doses of coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, reaching a total of 2,211,700, health officials said on Monday. In the past seven days, the state has averaged 55,499 vaccines administered daily, compared to 66,320 a week ago.

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

In Illinois, that total represents more than the populations of Aurora, Naperville and Joliet combined, the state’s three largest cities after Chicago. If 500,000 people lined up 6 feet away, the line would extend from Chicago to Atlanta.

There were more than 22,000 coronavirus deaths in Illinois, the seventh largest than any state. California, New York, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have more. Illinois has a higher per capita rate than those states, with the exception of New York and New Jersey.

The death toll of COVID-19 in the U.S. reached 500,000 on Monday, almost equaling the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined.

The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are almost equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and larger than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; or Omaha, Nebraska.

And despite the launch of vaccines since mid-December, a model from the University of Washington, which is being closely monitored, projects more than 589,000 dead as of June 1.

The number of victims in the United States is by far the highest reported in the world, and the actual numbers are believed to be significantly higher, in part because of the many cases that were overlooked, especially at the beginning of the outbreak.

When the enclosure operators’ aid package became law in late 2020, the business owners of the arts industry saw it as a long-delayed means of survival: $ 15 billion in donations to music venues, cinemas and live theaters and museums and zoos that had closed or operated with limited capacity since the beginning of the pandemic.

But it is now late February and organizations – many of whom are dying of anger and the kindness of their owners – are becoming concerned that they are still unable to apply for scholarships.

“I still can’t sign up for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant,” wrote Donnie Biggins, owner of the Tonic Room concert hall in Lincoln Park, in a Twitter thread on Sunday. “Waiting for the chance to sign up for SVOG is crushing the live music industry even more.”

Democratic leaders have powerful momentum on their side as Congress prepares for its first votes on the party’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill: Some Democrats would dare cast the vote that stands in the way of the initial initiative of new president Joe Biden?

The slim majority of 10-vote Democrats in the House leaves little room for defections in the face of strong Republican opposition, and they have none in a 50-50 Senate that they control only with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaker vote. Internal Democratic disputes persist on issues such as raising the minimum wage, how much aid should be channeled to struggling state and local governments and whether emergency unemployment insurance should be extended for another month.

Still, with the House Budget Committee planning to approve the 591-page package on Monday, Democrats across the party’s spectrum show little indication that they are willing to embarrass Biden with a high-profile defeat a month after his presidency.

The difficulty in securing vaccination appointments continues, compounded by last week’s delay in federal vaccine shipments caused by extreme cold and winter weather.

The authorities also reported 37,361 new tests in the past 24 hours. The statewide seven-day continuous positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 2.8% for the period ending on Sunday.

A former Gap manager has lost his job for almost 20 years and becomes a welder.

A restaurant waiter loses hers and starts working at a cannabis dispensary.

A personal trainer, who has worked in finance, begins to look for a role in supply chain management.

In Chicago, the job market is tight as the ongoing health crisis continues to affect parts of the United States’ economy, forcing workers in some of the most affected sectors to change careers. Some are learning new skills through certification programs at local colleges, while others turn to workforce development programs in hopes of getting a job.

Cook County Council President Toni Preckwinkle and Evanston Hagerty Mayor were scheduled to visit an emerging coronavirus vaccine clinic in an elderly housing complex in Evanston, according to authorities.

The clinic at the Victor Walchirk Apartments is part of the county’s effort to vaccinate people in phase 1b vaccination, including those aged 65 and over.

Preckwinkle and Hagerty were scheduled to visit the clinic and meet the residents of the complex who are receiving vaccines.

Check again for updates. –Chicago Tribune team

In search of a COVID-19 vaccine for his father, Amber Dow was reaching a dead end after another.

Then, she received a private message on Facebook from a stranger: Go to the Jewel-Osco website right now. Place your postal code. It’s in the Palatine.

She immediately followed the instructions and got one of the last open spots in the supermarket that day. Her father, Duane Dow, 80, had his first chance on Wednesday.

The tip came from the Chicago Vaccine Hunters website on Facebook, a group of more than 11,000 members who collect and share information about where to get vaccinated in real time as new locations and times emerge.

With the COVID-19 vaccine missing, more local people are turning to social media for help as they scour the Internet for available immunizations.

Mardi Gras arrived, left and left a Palatine bakery with a problem: too many ingredients for paczki, the traditional Polish donuts that Americans eat on Fat Tuesday, and insufficient customers.

Paczki Day usually helps Spunky Dunkers Donuts sales for a full month or two, and customers often buy dozens of paczki to take to the office. But during a pandemic, when many are working from home and after consecutive snowstorms, “it seemed a little scary,” said owner Jan Daczewitz.

Daczewitz, who said he was not the most tech-savvy, asked some employees to make a Facebook call on Thursday afternoon.

“So, really talk. We need your help ”, began posting the bakery, which was shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook and enjoyed more than 6,000 times on Instagram. The effect was almost immediate.

Lines formed around the store. The bakery doubled its cooking shifts from two to four, said Daczewitz. She called in as many employees as she could, even former employees, about six to ten of whom came to help. Some employees remained working overtime.

Since Thursday, the store has sold about 10,000 bakery products in three days, she estimated, until the basic donut stock ran out.

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