Illinois still short of COVID-19 testing goal of 10,000 people a day — and even that might be less than what’s needed
More than three weeks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state needed to process 10,000 coronavirus tests each day to get ahead of the outbreak gripping Illinois, average daily testing numbers are still 40 percent short of that goal. While Pritzker and the federal government...
Fourth of July fireworks may be the next victim of coronavirus
Booms accompanied by ooohs and ahhhs. They are Fourth of July fireworks traditions that might be considerably muted this year as coronavirus concerns have led several suburbs to cancel patriotic pyrotechnic displays in what could prove to be a growing trend in the coming days...
‘We Should be Concerned:’ Possibility of Wave of COVID-19 in Fall Could Cause Serious Issues
With state officials still trying to figure out when Illinois will hit its peak of coronavirus cases this spring, there is also concern that another wave of the disease in the fall could once again tax healthcare systems and workers. On Tuesday, Dr. Ngozi Ezike,...
Illinois’ Stay-at-Home Order Could Be Extended Into June, Chicago’s Mayor Says
Illinois’ stay-at-home order could be extended well into May and possibly even June, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday. “April 30 is no longer, I think, a viable date,” Lightfoot said on a conference call with reporters. “I would expect an extension of the stay-at-home...
Fraudulent, deceptive COVID-19 tests appearing across Texas, Austin leaders warn
AUSTIN (KXAN) — While Austin-Travis County’s Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott says COVID-19 testing in Texas will be more “plentiful” in the next sixty days, he’s also concerned that fraudulent and deceptive COVID-19 testing is being carried out in the region. At Austin City...
DuPage County plans to help tenants facing eviction during COVID-19 crisis
The number of residential eviction cases in DuPage County is expected to climb as a result of the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, but a judge is looking to help some renters stay in their homes. Judge James McCluskey, who is assigned to eviction court,...
Pritzker suggests extending stay-at-home order as death toll rises by 119
Gov. J.B. Pritzker suggested at his daily coronavirus briefing Tuesday that Illinois’ stay-at-home order will be extended through May. The governor said the number of cases isn’t expected to peak in the state until mid-May. After the peak, he said, people should continue to practice...
Trump Vows to ‘suspend Immigration’ to US Because of Virus
An administration official familiar with the plans, however, said the order will apply to foreigners seeking employment-based green cards and relatives of green card holders who are not citizens. Americans wishing to bring immediate family will still be able to do so, according to the...
California Recommends Virus Tests for Some With No Symptoms
California public health officials say local authorities should test people for the coronavirus in “high risk settings” even if they don’t have symptoms, a change aimed at health care workers, prisoners and the homeless. State officials believe the new guidelines are the first in the...
Conservative groups boost anti-quarantine protests in the US
The scene in front of the Pennsylvania statehouse Monday was anything but social distanced. Hundreds of protesters gathered on the steps of the Capitol building in Harrisburg as police barricades blocked people from advancing closer to the doors. One green rig with the words “Jesus...
Coronavirus latest: While parts of Europe reopen, Germany cancels Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest folk festival which draws millions of visitors from around the world each year, has been cancelled. The major cultural event in Bavaria, Germany, was scheduled to run from Saturday 19 September to Sunday 4 October, but was called off by officials...
US oil prices turn negative as demand dries up
The price of US oil has turned negative for the first time in history. That means oil producers are paying buyers to take the commodity off their hands over fears that storage capacity could run out in May. Demand for oil has all but dried...
Overwhelmed Brooklyn care home tolls 55 dead
As residents at a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, began dying in late February from a coronavirus outbreak that would eventually take 43 lives, there was little sign of trouble at the Cobble Hill Health Center, a 360-bed facility in an upscale section of Brooklyn....
US faced with protests amid pressure to reopen
Protesters have taken to the streets in states across the US, demanding that governors reopen economies shut by the coronavirus pandemic. Rallies took place on Sunday in Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Washington state, following earlier protests in other states. Most of the crowds numbered in...
Trump plays clip of ‘supportive’ New York governor
US President Donald Trump used his White House briefing yesterday to continue his feud with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Reporters saw clips selected by the White House, including one in which the governor praised the federal government’s “extraordinary efforts”. In another, Cuomo said that...
US oil prices drop to 21-year low as demand dries up
The price of US oil has fallen to a level not seen since 1999, as demand dries up and storage runs out. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US oil, dropped 19.3% to $14.74 a barrel on Monday....
More U.S. protests call for lifting coronavirus restrictions as governors push back
(Reuters) – Protests flared in U.S. states on Sunday over stay-at-home orders while governors disputed President Donald Trump’s claims they have enough tests for the novel coronavirus and should quickly reopen their economies. An estimated 2,500 people rallied at the Washington state capitol in Olympia...
New York to begin coronavirus antibody testing survey on Monday
New York State on Monday will begin conducting antibody tests to help determine how many New Yorkers were infected by the disease, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday. A sample of 3,000 state residents will start receiving tests from the state Department of Health to detect...
Agreement on more coronavirus financial relief is ‘close,’ Trump says
More than 2.3 million people have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus worldwide as the spread of the virus continues. The global coronavirus death toll stands at more than 165,000, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins...
81-YEAR-OLD VETERAN ANSWERS ARMY’S CALL FOR RETIRED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS TO HELP WITH CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
When the Army asked retirees to return to active duty to help with the coronavirus response effort, Colonel Arthur Wittich, an 81-year-old doctor, answered the call. “I’m ready to do whatever is necessary, that’s just the way I am,” Wittich told Newsweek. “It’s not that...
Trump Says Some Governors Have ‘Gone Too Far’ With Coronavirus Restrictions
resident Donald Trump on Sunday expressed his belief that some U.S. governors have taken coronavirus restrictions too far in their states, despite health officials’ warnings of a second wave of the disease if social distancing measures are lifted prematurely. Trump on Sunday discussed the protesters...
These are the cities and towns with the highest rates of coronavirus in Massachusetts
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began to rock Massachusetts, state officials released a breakdown of the number of coronavirus cases — and rates — by municipality Wednesday. The numbers confirmed what some hot-spot communities already knew, such as Chelsea, where its location,...
California surpasses 30,000 coronavirus cases; 1,146 deaths confirmed
Just a day after the Bay Area’s deadliest Saturday during the coronavirus pandemic, state officials confirmed California surpassed 30,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus. As the virus continued to spread and threaten the state’s 39.7 million residents, new numbers compiled by this news organization show 30,754...
Coronavirus likely to transform world far more than 1918 flu pandemic
The Black Death that struck Europe in the 14th century forced a total reordering of society, permanently rewriting rules between landowners and workers, and between the church and the faithful. The influenza pandemic that swept the globe after World War I, by contrast, left barely...
‘Not happy’: Trump blasts China’s fumbles as feds probe virus origins
President Trump said Sunday that he is “not happy” with China over the communist nation’s early fumbles in disclosing the novel coronavirus, as the U.S. government and intelligence agencies investigate the origins of the virus and whether Beijing initially concealed information about the outbreak. Mr....
Pence says the White House will work with governors despite Trump’s tweets
During an interview with Fox News Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence defended President Trump’s coronavirus response saying he believed there would soon be enough testing to reopen the country. When asked to give his opinion of the protestors and Trump’s “LIBERATE” tweets, Pence said “the...
More than 1,400 medical workers sign up to volunteer across New York City
More than 1,400 medical workers have volunteered to help nursing homes and hospitals across the city, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference today. The volunteers will be divided over 40 hospitals and 40 nursing homes, the mayor said. There...
Trump’s policies, border wall have been critical in containing coronavirus, CBP chief says: ‘Much better positioned now’
The United States would be in a much worse position to combat the coronavirus if President Trump hadn’t implemented a series of reforms surrounding immigration, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan said this week. “Look at where we’ve come because of this president,...
Students are weary of online classes. But colleges can’t say if they’ll open in fall 2020.
College students say they’ll revolt if universities put another semester of classes online to avoid spreading the coronavirus – but that’s increasingly what campus leaders are considering doing. For Ryan Sessoms, a marketing student at the University of North Florida, the transition to online classes...
U.S. CDC reports 690,714 coronavirus cases, 35,443 deaths
(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 690,714 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 29,002 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 2,394 to 35,443. The CDC reported its...
