On Monday, the Democratic-led House voted to increase payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 by sending a new bill to the Senate. There, Republicans have the majority, but they reject more spending and are likely to defeat the effort.
Here’s what’s happening on Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago and Illinois area:
5:07 pm: The House approves Trump’s $ 2,000 exemption checks sent to the Senate led by the Republican Party
The House voted on Monday to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $ 2,000, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for higher payments and sending the bill to the Republican-controlled Senate, where the outcome is uncertain.
Democrats led the approval, 275-134, most favoring additional assistance. They had agreed to pay less than $ 600 in a pledge to Republicans over the major holiday relief bill that Trump reluctantly signed.
The vote divides Republicans, who mainly resist further spending. But many House Republicans have joined in support, despite their suspicion of upsetting the president. Senators are expected to return to the session on Tuesday to consider the measure. Read more here. – Associated Press
2:42 pm: Chicago distributes COVID-19 vaccines to long-term health care facilities, outpatient clinics
Chicago officials on Monday began distributing vaccines to long-term health care centers and outpatient clinics, marking another milestone in the city’s fight against COVID-19, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot and public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced the most recent stage in the distribution of the vaccine during a press conference at Esperanza Health Center on the Southwest Side. While highlighting the importance of the event, Lightfoot and Arwady also warned residents against becoming complacent or letting their guard down against the virus, as widespread distribution of the vaccine is still months away.
And, they said, part of the city’s Latin community continues to struggle with higher case rates.
“We cannot allow more Chicago residents, our neighbors, to get sick and die because of risky and irresponsible behavior,” said Lightfoot.
14h35: Novavax begins the final testing stage for its COVID-19 vaccine
Maryland biotechnology Novavax is starting a final clinical trial, called Phase 3, in the United States and Mexico for its experimental vaccine against coronavirus, the company announced on Monday.
The little-known company, which has never put a vaccine on the market before, received up to $ 1.6 billion from Operation Warp Speed from the federal government this summer to accelerate development. The company reported robust results in the early stages of its test, showing that the vaccine elicited strong immune responses in monkeys and people.
12:05 pm: 4,453 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 105 additional deaths reported
Authorities also reported 51,046 new tests in the past 24 hours. The statewide seven-day continuous positivity rate for cases as a share of the total tests was 7.2% for the period ending on Sunday.
11:26 am: House Democrats will vote on $ 2,000 exemption checks Trump demanded
Trump appears to have accomplished little, if anything, since the days of drama about his refusal to accept the broad bipartisan agreement. While the president’s demands for checks over $ 2,000 for pandemic relief seem destined for failure, his pressure has served as a political opportunity for Democrats, who support the biggest stipends and are forcing Trump’s Republican allies into a difficult situation.
On Monday, the Democratic-led House is expected to vote to increase payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 by submitting a new bill to the Senate. There, Republicans have the majority, but they reject more spending and are likely to defeat the effort.
10:25: With the peak of COVID-19 in the US, armed violence and murder also increased in cities large and small
In Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and even in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Milwaukee, 2020 was deadly not just because of the pandemic, but because armed violence is on the rise.
Officials and some experts say there is no clear reason for the increase. Instead, they point to the social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 virus, public sentiment towards the police after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody and a historic shortage of jobs and resources in poorer communities as factors. taxpayers. It is happening in cities large and small, led by Democrats and Republicans.
“I think the pandemic – COVID – has had a significant emotional impact on people across the country,” said Detroit police chief James Craig. “Individuals are not suing the way they manage disputes. Whether they are domestic workers, arguments, disputes over drugs, there is this speed of using a firearm illegally carried. “
Some 7,000 guns were seized by mid-December in Detroit, with more than 5,500 illegal weapon arrests. There were 2,797 similar arrests last year.
“I haven’t seen a peak like this. But when it is happening in other cities – some smaller ones – what do we all have in common? ”Craig said about the murders and shootings. “That’s when you start thinking about COVID.”
6:00 am: A nightmare year for restaurants and food suppliers in Chicago may have permanently changed how and what we eat
A hard-hitting year in the food industry is giving way to optimism that the lessons learned will contribute to a stronger 2021. Farmers and other food producers who have boosted their business models to find new revenue streams are making some of these changes permanent. Grocery stores are adapting to online food purchases by consumers. And the restaurants that have survived the wreckage of their industry are set to roar in the arms of a public desperate to leave.
Purely Meat Co., a commercial butcher in Chicago’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood that mainly supplies upscale restaurants, saw sales plummet 75% when the state banned indoor dining in March. It halted expansion plans for a 35,000-square-foot facility acquired late last year and more than double its current area, and laid off many of its 60 employees.
The company created a website to sell Purely Meat products directly to consumers and soon became an important part of the business. The company’s drivers deliver boxes of prime cuts vacuum-sealed and ready to freeze at the doors of the suburbs, rather than in the elegant restaurants in the city center. In early 2021, it plans to help restaurants sell branded products to consumers as well.
Purely Meat plans to maintain its new consumer business even as it prepares for the restoration of a restaurant in the middle of the summer, said owner Joseph Musillami. The company also introduced seasoned meats, improved worker training and figured out how to run the business more efficiently. It recovered 70% of normal sales and has 40 employees working.
Here are some recent stories related to COVID-19: