Chicago public schools are planning daily personal classes this fall and are giving schools $ 225 million more than last year in an effort to meet students’ academic, social and emotional needs after more than a year of coronavirus.
CPS also plans to continue a distance option in the fall, issuing a statement that it will “engage families in the coming weeks to help develop specific plans for the coming school year.”
As the virus has grown since it unveiled the plan last month, officials said the restrictions will remain until the transmission is controlled.
In addition, a number of hospitals in northwestern and central Illinois are filling up – and at least one has run out of intensive care unit beds – amid the latest wave of COVID-19.
The seven-day average of total hospitalizations is 2,142, the highest since an average of 2,156 was recorded on February 10.
Illinois public health officials on Wednesday reported 2,765 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 28 additional deaths. This brings the state total to 1,309,552 cases and 21,722 deaths. There were 140,712 doses of vaccine given on Tuesday. The seven-day average daily dose is 122,842.
Here’s what happens Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:
14:11: CPS plans for daily in-person classes, a distance learning option and higher school budgets next fall
Chicago’s public schools are planning daily personal classes this fall and are giving schools $ 225 million more than last year in an effort to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of students after more than a year of pandemic. coronavirus.
Individual budgets will increase by about 94 percent of the district’s 513 schools, CPS said on Wednesday. In combination with the operating budget that has not yet been released, officials said they will be able to support plans to have schools open for daily in-person classes in the fall.
CPS also plans to continue a distance option in the fall, issuing a statement that it will “engage families in the coming weeks to help develop specific plans for the coming school year.”
13:36: Half of Illinois residents 16 and older have now received at least one COVID-19 shot, but restrictions will not go away yet
An additional 140,712 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Illinois, bringing the state’s total to 8,342,542, public health officials said Wednesday.
The latest figure includes doses administered by Walgreens on Monday, which had not been part of Tuesday’s report due to technical issues, officials said.
As of Wednesday, 50.42% of residents over the age of 16 had received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, reaching a benchmark in Governor JB Pritzker’s reopening plan that would lift all coronavirus restrictions – if the virus spreads. stable or decreasing. As the virus has grown since the plan was unveiled last month, officials said the restrictions will remain until transmission is controlled.
12:13 pm: 2,765 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 28 additional reported deaths
Illinois health officials on Wednesday announced 2,765 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 28 additional deaths, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,309,552 and the number of deaths nationwide to 21,722 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 81,133 new tests in the past 24 hours. The national positivity rate for cases is 3.8%.
The daily average of 7 days of vaccine doses administered is 122,842, with 140,712 doses administered on Tuesday. Officials also say a total of 8,342,542 vaccines have been given.
11:55 a.m.: Chicago City Council returns to personal meeting, approves Lightfoot affordable housing plan
At their first personal meeting since the start of the pandemic, Chicago councilors on Wednesday approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s much-promised changes to the city’s affordable housing requirements.
Following a city council working group that studied how to improve the city’s status, which was first introduced more than a decade ago, the council adopted the mayor’s ordinance with a 42-8 vote.
Under the mayor’s rewrite, developers looking for zoning changes in neighborhoods that are rapidly gentrifying or where there are currently few accessible units will have to make 20% of the units in their buildings accessible. This has increased from 10% in most parts of the city.
11:49: White House offers new last-minute tax credit to motivate more Americans to get vaccinated
The White House is trying to overcome the declining demand for COVID-19 photos, giving companies a tax incentive to give employees paid leave to get vaccinated. The move comes at a time when the United States will meet President Joe Biden’s goal of administering 200 million doses of coronavirus in his first 100 days in office.
With more than 50% of adults at least partially vaccinated and about 28 million doses of vaccine given each week, demand has overshadowed supply as a constraint on vaccinations in much of the country.
In the last week, the pace of inoculation in the US has slowed slightly. This is partly a reflection of the interruptions in the “break” in the administration of Johnson & Johnson’s photography for a review of safety, but also of the interest in reducing vaccines in many places, even if eligibility was open to all over 16 years.
As the vaccination program progresses, the administration believes it will become more difficult just to keep up with the current pace of about 3 million photos a day. About 130 million Americans have not yet received a dose.
In a White House speech on Wednesday, Biden will discuss efforts to expand vaccine distribution and access in his first three months in office and outline his administration’s latest plans to motivate more Americans to be shot.
11:30 a.m .: Matteson, COVID-19 mass vaccination sites in Tinley Park begin accepting walk-ins
Two suburban COVID-19 mass vaccination sites in Cook County will accept departure appointments starting Wednesday as shooting demand drops.
Mass vaccination sites Matteson and Tinley Park open access this week as part of a pilot to see if removing the barrier to making an appointment online or over the phone will expand the county’s effort to obtain gunfire, Cook County CEO Israel A said Rocha Jr. at a news conference at Provident Hospital.
The change comes as vaccine demand, which has been acute in the Chicago area for the first few months, has wiped out even more eligible populations in suburban Cook County – about one in two – got at least the first dose, he said. Rock. Tuesday’s release of appointments at the county’s mass vaccination sites took several hours to a few minutes, which lasted a week earlier, Rocha said.
11:30: In Rush’s new advanced molecular laboratory, where scientists track and track COVID-19 variants
Amid a global race between COVID-19 vaccinations and emerging virus variants, Chicago has a new advanced molecular laboratory dedicated to tracking and tracing these new disturbing coronavirus disorders.
Rush University Medical Center opened the Innovative Public Health Regional Laboratory earlier this month under a $ 3.5 million contract with the Chicago Department of Public Health to monitor COVID-19 variants at the city level. The purpose of this surveillance is to help public health officials better allocate resources, prevent outbreaks and break the transmission chains of these often more infectious strains.
Rush began collecting random samples of COVID-19 from about half a dozen local hospitals. The lab uses molecular biology tools, such as whole-genome sequencing, to analyze specimens for viral mutations, to better understand how many variants circulate and where they spread.
“We are at a critical juncture,” said Stefan Green, co-chief laboratory investigator and director of Rush’s Basic Genomics and Microbiome Facility. “It’s a race against time. If we get enough vaccinated people, it reduces the likelihood of a new variant that can get rid of the vaccine. ”
The Biden administration last week announced a $ 1.7 billion investment to combat variants by stepping up genome sequencing efforts nationwide – the kind of work already underway at the new Rush lab. Just over $ 2.3 million of this federal funding was allocated to Chicago and another $ 6.4 million to the rest of the state.
5am: Hinsdale Central Muslim Students Association maintains high spirits despite virtual majority Ramadan
Ramadan began on April 13 and members of the Association of Muslim Students (MSA) at Hinsdale Central High School do not allow the most virtual school year to stand in the way of community gathering and the true essence of the Islamic holy month.
Every day for 30 days, able-bodied Muslims will begin fasting before sunrise with a morning meal called suhoor and fast break with a meal at sunset known as iftar. Fasting can last from 10 to 21 hours, depending on where you live in the world, but in most parts of the United States it is about 15 to 16 hours. During the experience of loss and discomfort, the focus is on the renewal of faith and a deeper immersion in spirituality.
Previous pre-pandemic Ramadan was different in all ways that make Ramadan what it is. Large family gatherings, communal prayer, iftar parties – and for MSA high school students, the chance to share the moon with their non-Muslim counterparts.
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