Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker confirmed 1,209 new known coronavirus cases and 53 more deaths on Friday, in the biggest jump in both cases and deaths in one day since the outbreak began. That brings the statewide total to 8,904 known infections and 210 dead.

Meanwhile, McCormick Place continued its dramatic transformation into a medical center, as Pritzker unveiled the first 500 beds finished in an anticipation of a possible crush of COVID-19 cases that could overwhelm Chicago-area hospitals. Take a look inside here.


Also on Friday, the White House said the CDC is recommending that Americans cover their faces when leaving the home, especially around other people. But President Donald Trump is calling it “voluntary” and says he himself won’t wear a mask. Says Trump: “I’m choosing not to do it.”


Here are the latest updates Friday on the new coronavirus in the Chicago area and Illinois:

8:38 p.m.: At least 10 nursing home residents among 47 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in south and southwest suburbs

At least 10 of the 47 people in the south and southwest suburbs whose recent deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 were patients in nursing homes, assisted living centers or long-term care facilities, according to a Daily Southtown analysis.

The COVID-19-related deaths in such facilities, compiled using data from the Cook County medical examiner’s office, span the Southland from Matteson to Bridgeview to Country Club Hills.

Nursing home populations are at the highest risk of being affected by COVID-19 and of developing serious illness if infected, due to their congregate nature and the fact they serve older adults who often have underlying medical conditions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Because dozens of deaths related to COVID-19 are being reported daily in Illinois and the agencies reporting them follow different guidelines for what information they share, the numbers used in the Southtown’s analysis are continuously changing and necessarily incomplete.

At this point, however, none of the facilities where the deceased residents lived has reported widespread disease outbreaks among patients and staff, or additional deaths. Read more here. —Zak Koeske

7:51 p.m.: Powdered drink maker Jel Sert shutters temporarily after six workers test positive for COVID-19

The maker of powdered drinks and foods such as Wyler’s, Hi-C and Flavor Aid has temporarily shuttered its manufacturing division in West Chicago after employees tested positive for the new coronavirus.

A Jel Sert spokeswoman said the company’s corporate and distribution divisions will continue to operate, but the manufacturing facility closed Friday and will remain shut down until April 13. Six employees of the company have confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, said Jennie Peters, Jel Sert’s spokeswoman.

After the third employee was found to have coronavirus late last month, the company closed its manufacturing facilities from March 27 through March 30 “to sanitize and deep clean all production and communal areas within production,” according to a notice on Jel Sert’s website.

The company has taken several steps recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the DuPage County Health Department to help keep employees safe, Peters said. Those steps include providing free box lunches to workers so they don’t have to stand in line for food and tripling the number of staff dedicated to cleaning and sanitizing manufacturing areas. Read more here. —Corilyn Shropshire

7:28 p.m.: Aon launches tool to help companies estimate absenteeism, medical expenses, and other coronavirus costs

Aon has launched a tool to help businesses anticipate medical costs, absenteeism, and other operational expenses they could face because of the coronavirus.

Most epidemiological models have estimated overall infections and deaths for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Aon, a global insurance and risk management giant, said it wanted to give companies a closer look at the infection rates and health care costs they could face in their own workforces.


The model the company developed relies on three key pieces of information: geographic data incorporating age, sex and location of those with the disease; the number of COVID-19 cases reported by states and the federal government; and the length of states’ stay-at-home orders. Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez

6:57 p.m.: An inside look at McCormick Place’s transformation into a Chicago coronavirus field hospital

McCormick Place continued its dramatic transformation into a medical center Friday, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled the first 500 beds finished in an anticipation of a possible crush of COVID-19 cases that could overwhelm Chicago-area hospitals.

The sprawling tent city, which is being called an alternate care facility, eventually will be able to hold 3,000 beds for patients, most of whom would have mild symptoms and not require intensive care. Officials described the site as a last resort that would become operational if Chicago and surrounding suburbs run out of hospital beds. Read more here.

6:51 p.m.: Sears closing all stores through April

All Sears stores will close through at least the end of April in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and most store employees will be furloughed. The decision affects 30 locations in Illinois including Sears Hometown, Appliance Outlets and Auto Centers. The stores will close at the end of the business day Saturday. Read more here. —Robert Channick

6:40 p.m.: Non-profit uses pooled funds to bail out dozens from Cook County Jail

Dozens of detainees at Cook County Jail were bailed out Friday by a national nonprofit group that launched an emergency response to the coronavirus, a threat spreading in U.S. cities and inside the country’s jails and prisons.


The Bail Project had already been working in Cook County for about a year, securing releases of defendants facing charges who were being held in detention because they couldn’t afford bails set by a judge.


But in the face of the outbreak, The Bail Project activated staff from various offices around the country to step up the number of releases the group could arrange. Some 60 detainees were projected to be released from the Cook County Jail on Friday, with between 500 to 1,000 targeted for release over the next couple of weeks.

Some have been inside since 2018, others just a week. The virus is so contagious that even days inside are dangerous. Read more here. —Annie Sweeney

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5:14 p.m.: Pritzker now says wearing a mask ‘a good idea’

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday called wearing a mask in public “a good idea” to prevent the spread of coronavirus, after previously discouraging people from buying up masks needed by medical workers, and as the federal government has begun advising people to wear cloth masks in public.

“The doctors all agree that this virus can be spread through droplets, like when you sneeze or cough. So blocking that by wearing a mask in public seems like a common sense way to do what’s right for everyone around you. The most important thing you can do, frankly is stay home. But when you do go outside, or when you must go to the grocery store or pharmacy wearing something to cover your face is a good idea, based upon what the science says,” Pritzker said.

The guidance given on the public wearing masks has evolved as the known cases of coronavirus across the country have risen. Pritzker on Wednesday signaled that he was considering new guidance on masks and said he wouldn’t discourage people from wearing them.

President Donald Trump said Friday the CDC was recommending Americans wear cloth masks in public. —Jamie Munks

5:13 p.m.: Provident Hospital being refitted to handle possible surge in COVID-19 patients

A small South Side community hospital run by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System is being refitted to handle a possible surge in COVID-19 patients if needed, officials announced Friday.

The emergency room at Provident Hospital will cease operations Monday so it can be renovated to better handle patients during the pandemic, according to a statement from the health system.

“We basically determined it was impossible to maintain social distancing because of the layout of the emergency room,” County Board President Toni Preckwinkle told the Tribune.

The hospital’s operating room already has been shut down because it only handled elective procedures, which are on hold during the pandemic.

The two patients in Provident’s six-bed intensive care unit have been transferred to the much larger Stroger Hospital that’s also part of the county health system, Preckwinkle said.

About 50 now-unstaffed beds at Provident will be outfitted to treat patients, if needed as COVID cases continue to increase in Chicago and the suburbs, she said. Hospital officials said the idea is to reduce pressure on Stroger Hospital, if enough medical personnel can be found to handle patients at Provident.

Other changes at Provident include reconfiguring the flow of patients, increasing space between them and creating isolation areas, health system officials said.

The extra capacity efforts at Provident come as city and state officials make plans to handle patients at McCormick Place, shuttered suburban hospitals that are being reopened and possibly even hotels.

“In our health care system, we have just enough beds (for ordinary times), but unfortunately just enough beds is not enough in a pandemic,” Preckwinkle said.

A plan to build a new, $240 million Provident Hospital was put on hold last month after the ouster of Dr. Jay Shannon, the health system’s former CEO. —Hal Dardick

5 p.m.: Willowbrook nursing home records its 7th death

Four more people with coronavirus have died in DuPage County, bringing the total number of deaths to 17, as county officials expressed concern over the growing number of known cases at long-term care facilities.

One of the deaths was a woman in her 70s who was a resident of the Chateau Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Willowbrook, making seven deaths of residents there since the outbreak began, the county health department reported. Fifty people connected to the nursing home have been reported as being infected — 34 residents and 16 staff members.

Other people whose deaths were announced Friday included a woman in her 80s at a long-term care facility in Burr Ridge; a man in his 50s who lived in Elmhurst; and a man in his 70s who lived in Elmhurst. All the victims had underlying medical conditions, the county reported. —Robert McCoppin

4:41 p.m.: Pritzker, Lightfoot rip into Jared Kushner

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot ripped into White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on Friday for his comments about a federal stockpile of medical supplies as officials continue to push for additional resources from the federal government.

“The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile,” Kushner said at a White House press briefing Thursday. “It’s not supposed to be the states’ stockpiles that they then use.”

Kushner’s comments drew widespread backlash, and the Associated Press and other news outlets reported that Donald Trump’s administration changed its description of the Strategic National Stockpile on government websites.

“I don’t know if Jared Kushner knows this, but it’s called the United States of America. And the federal government, which has a stockpile, is supposed to be backstopping the states. He apparently does not know that,” Pritzker said at his daily briefing Friday.

Both the state and Chicago have supplies stockpiled, and they’re dipping into those supplies. In a recent shipment Illinois received from the federal government were surgical masks, not the N95 masks Pritzker requested. Pritzker also said earlier this week the state needed 4,000 more ventilators.

“I don’t think anybody expected a respiratory pandemic that would deplete all of the respiratory stockpiles that exist… and that the federal government would abdicate its role, and have 50 states, and five territories on top of that, all competing with one another, and competing against the federal government to get the PPE (personal protective equipment) that’s necessary,” Pritzker said.

“So I think Jared Kushner just does not understand this issue. He does not understand what the federal government’s role is supposed to be in a national emergency.”


Lightfoot said Kushner was “casting aspersions on the hard work of governors across this country who have been working tirelessly.”

“We shouldn’t have to beg the federal government to step up and assume its responsibility here. When we hear from the head of the CDC that the federal stockpile, the federal stockpile, only has 10,000 ventilators, the question we should ask is what the heck has the Trump administration been doing over the last three and a half years?” Lightfoot said.

“What that tells me, and I think what that tells public health professionals across the nation, is that the federal government has failed to do the planning that it needs on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to be prepared.” Read more here. —Jamie Munks and Gregory Pratt

4:29 p.m.: Families prepare to bring Seder rituals to Zoom for Passover

Months ago, Felice Eckhouse’s family made plans to gather at her sister’s home in Glenview for a catered Passover Seder with as many as 25 people. Now, they will still celebrate together through at least 11 different computer screens, hoping to adapt the dinner’s rituals to the virtual new reality.

As Illinois settles into life under the stay-at-home order to stem impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, residents are exploring ways to continue to observe religious traditions. For the Chicago area’s Jewish community, preparing for Passover this year means organizing readings of the Haggadah over Zoom, deciding how to show the Seder plate and making sure family members can use the technology.

Eckhouse’s family, spread across Chicago and its suburbs, usually conducts a Seder with a large group, each participating by lighting candles, reading the Passover story and, for the children, searching for the hidden matzo. This year, they will try to replicate what they can on Zoom, the video conferencing service.“It’s very interactive,” Eckhouse said of her family’s Seder. “But it’s either do it this way, or don’t do anything at all.” Read more here. —Madeline Buckley and Javonte Anderson

4:25 p.m.: Durbin says family experience underscores that not enough people are being tested for coronavirus

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said his family’s unsuccessful attempts to get tested for the new coronavirus in New York recently underscore that not enough people are being tested for the disease.

Durbin, a Democrat, said tests to confirm COVID-19 weren’t actually given to his family members, even though a doctor said he was “99% sure it’s coronavirus.” The doctor also warned them against going into any hospital emergency rooms because they are “just overwhelmed with some very, very sick people.”

What that interaction underscored, Durbin said, is that the number of known people infected with the virus is likely an undercount. People are not being tested even though they would turn out to be confirmed cases if they were tested, Durbin said.

Illinois’ senior senator said his grandkids in Brooklyn, New York, have “weathered that storm and now are fever free and have turned the corner.”

“So there were some anxious moments there, and I’m sure a lot of families are going through that,” Durbin said during WLS-AM 890’s “Connected to Chicago," which airs at 7 p.m. Sunday.

The senator from Springfield also hailed the moves of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, both Chicago Democrats, saying he backs their efforts to battle the spread of coronavirus.

“They have had to make some hard unpopular decisions because they think they’re the right thing,” Durbin said. “I support them completely. Whether they’re right or wrong, history will judge. But I think their instincts are right in begging, pleading, instructing, demanding that all of us in this country, particularly in this state, pull together to really meet this challenge."

Durbin also said the impact of coronavirus means there is a only a “50-50 chance” of gathering in person for the Democratic National Convention this summer in Milwaukee, Wis. He said it is “just as likely that we’ll do a virtual convention.” The convention already has been postponed once from July to the week of Aug. 17. —Ray Long

3:57 p.m.: How long does coronavirus live on surfaces in your home? Up to three days, in some cases. An expert explains how we can deal with it.

Being stuck inside can present its own challenges. At a time when people normally concentrate on cleaning dust and cobwebs from their homes, they now have to consider ways to eliminate a potentially dangerous virus from items their families use every day. Read more here. —Kori Rumore and Jemal Brinson

3:42 p.m.: Head of Cook County’s public health department out amid pandemic

Cook County’s public health chief, a key player in the coordination of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been fired as the number of coronavirus-stricken patients continues to surge.

The unexpected termination of Dr. Terry Mason, who once also headed up the city of Chicago’s health department, was confirmed by county officials on Friday, which they said would be his last day. Read more here. —Hal Dardick

3:19 p.m.: Former security guard sues Advocate South Suburban Hospital over mask policy

A former security guard has filed a lawsuit against Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest alleging that his former workplace forbade him from wearing a face mask while on the job.

On March 9, Marvell Moody wore a face mask to protect himself from becoming infected with the COVID-19 virus while working as a public safety officer at the south suburban hospital, according to the suit, filed Thursday in Cook County.

The next day, Moody’s supervisor told him public safety officers were prohibited from wearing masks while on duty and said Moody could be disciplined if he continued to wear the mask.

Moody cares for his 65-year-old mother who had two lung surgeries last year, the suit says. He feared spreading the virus to his mother, along with his live-in fiancee and her 13-year-old son, so he stopped going to work because of the hospital’s policy.

The suit argues the hospital “constructively discharged” Moody by not allowing him to wear a face mask.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said it is reviewing the complaint, adding that the hospital is “committed to maintaining the safest environment possible for our patients and team members.” —Madeline Buckley


3:15 p.m.: The next coronavirus test will tell you if you are now immune. And it’s fast.

A new, different type of coronavirus test is coming that will help significantly in the fight to quell the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and scientists say.

The first so-called serology test, which detects antibodies to the virus rather than the virus itself, was given emergency approval Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And several more are nearly ready, said Dr. Elizabeth McNally, director of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Center for Genetic Medicine.

“You’ll see many of these roll out in the next couple of weeks, and it’s great, and it will really help a lot,” said McNally, noting doctors and scientists will be able to use it to determine just how widespread the disease is, who can safely return to work and possibly how to develop new treatments for those who are ill.

The serology test involves taking a blood sample and determining if it contains the antibodies that fight the virus. A positive result indicates the person had the virus in the past and is currently immune. Read more here. —Hal Dardick

3:02 p.m.: Illinois communities get more than $147 million for community health centers, child care, food banks, homeless relief

Illinois communities will receive more than $147 million in grants from the federal Department of Human Services as part of the $2.2 trillion pandemic relief act to pay for community health and child care centers, food banks, senior services and homeless assistance dealing with the COVID-19 virus.

The details of the funding were released Friday by Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and involved two federal Department of Housing and Urban Development grant programs. Nationally, the new CARES Act provides $5 billion in Community Development Block Grants and $4 billion in what’s being called Emergency Solutions Grants” which are especially aimed at homeless prevention and aid.

“Families and individuals who are homeless or at risk of experiencing homelessness are among our state’s most vulnerable,” Durbin said in a statement. “It’s imperative that we provide additional support during this crisis. Sen. Duckworth and I will continue working to provide increased federal assistance during this challenging time.” Read more here. —Rick Pearson

2:44 p.m.: 53 additional deaths and 1,209 new known cases

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced another 1,209 known cases of the new coronavirus including 53 deaths on Friday, as the statewide case count grew to 8,904. There have been 210 deaths since the epidemic began.

Coronavirus cases have now been reported in 64 of the state’s 102 counties.

Pritzker gave his daily coronavirus briefing at McCormick Place, which is being converted into a remote hospital site that officials say would be able to accommodate up to 3,000 beds by the end of the month. So far, 500 beds have been assembled, along with nursing stations, support rooms for supplies.

Pritzker announced Friday that the closed former Vibra Hospital of Springfield will be converted into a remote hospital site to increase bed capacity in central Illinois. —Jamie Munks

2:29 p.m.: COVID-19 may throw a generation of college grads off their career paths. Some Chicago companies are already cutting internships.

When Austin Waeghe, a finance major at Butler University from Naperville, landed a paid 10-week internship with Fifth Third Bank in Chicago, he envisioned a career-boosting summer inside a bustling downtown office.

Instead, the college junior plans to work from a makeshift office in his parents’ west suburban home, where the internship will begin next month, entirely online.

"I’m going to set up a little office in the basement and be by myself down there and kind of act like it’s an actual office, separated from the house,” said Waeghe, 21.

Given the economic disruption wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual internship may be among the best possible outcomes for career-minded college students, who have scattered back to their homes across the country to complete the academic year online.

For many students entering the job market, the angst and disruption may not end with their remote graduations this spring. Read more here. —Robert Channick

2:24 p.m.: Pritzker signs executive order shielding hospitals, health care workers and volunteers from civil lawsuits

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order this week shielding hospitals, health care workers and volunteers from civil lawsuits when they’re assisting with the state’s efforts to combat the new coronavirus.

In addition to traditional hospitals and health care facilities, the order covers “alternative care facilities,” including the planned 3,000-bed field hospital under construction at McCormick Place. The first 500 beds at the lakefront convention center are expected to open Friday.

The measure also will protect retired health care workers and other volunteers, including medical and nursing students near the completion of their training, who’ve answered Pritzker’s call to join the state’s COVID-19 response.

Illinois Health and Hospital Association spokesman Danny Chun said the measure is essential to ensuring the state has the health care capacity needed to deal with the rising tide of COVID-19 cases.

“These are extraordinary times requiring an extraordinary response,” Chun said.

Health care facilities and workers will be protected only when directly engaged in the coronavirus response and won’t be shielded from lawsuits if “it is established that such injury or death was caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct,” according to Pritzker’s executive order. —Dan Petrella

2:12 p.m.: Attorneys start fund to help immigrants who don’t qualify for federal stimulus money

By noon Friday, Chicago-based immigration attorney Michael Ibrahim had already gotten more texts from his clients, many undocumented, asking for help.

One person asked for help getting a job. Another person asked him if he qualified for the federal stimulus package. A third person unable to make rent wanted to know what to tell the landlord.

“You sit there and passively look at that message and copy and paste the same response… I just don’t feel comfortable doing that,” Ibrahim said.

This week, he joined forces with another immigration attorney, Alen Takhsh, and another friend to create a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising enough money to give $1,000 to at least 25 families in the Chicago area who don’t qualify for the federal stimulus package because of their immigration status.


Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many people across the country will receive a $1,200 stimulus check from the federal government, but immigrants living in the country unlawfully don’t qualify for the funds. In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced last week a program that would provide one-time $1,000 grants to residents who have lost their jobs “regardless of your citizenship status.”

Takhsh said he, Ibrahim and another friend, Ashkan Kheirkhahvash, came up with the idea to crowdsource money to give to families while talking about the stimulus and realizing that millions of individuals would be left to “fend for themselves.”

“That’s un-American, that’s not who we are,” Takhsh said. “It’s a logical conclusion that there is a need. We have the resources and the contacts to make sure that we make sure to do everything in our power to fill that void.”

Some clients have been reluctant to seek out financial help through the state or local government, worried doing so might mark them as a what’s known as a public charge which could then hamper their immigration cases, Takhsh said.

By Friday morning, nearly $2,500 had already been donated within days of the campaign starting.

The two attorneys could quickly come up with a list of 25 families that could use the help just by looking through their clients, they said. But they didn’t want to make it look like they were just helping their clients, Takhsh said.

They’ve turned to national and local immigration advocacy groups for help figuring how to identify and distribute the funds. Ideally, each family would get the $1,000 around the same time the federal government distributes stimulus money to individuals.

Takhsh said he doesn’t think their campaign is unique and he suspects similar efforts will pop up in the coming weeks to help immigrants through the COVID-19 crisis.

“Their fate is intertwined with ours,” Takhsh said. “The fact that the government has negotiated (immigrants) out speaks volumes about this administration’s priorities. However, that is an opportunity for us to fill the gap where the elected leaders are failing miserably.” —Elvia Malagón

2:07 p.m.: Airbnb customers vent about ‘confusing’ refund policy for coronavirus travel: ‘It’s been a total hassle’

Airbnb’s initial, no-questions-asked COVID-19 refund policy went over well with customers.

So did the home-rental company’s recent move to extend the window for coronavirus refunds and travel credits on trips booked through May 31.

When it comes to getting money back under Airbnb’s updated policy, plenty of guests have had no problem. Others, though, say there’s been confusion about which reservations are eligible and what’s needed to prove that guests are unable to travel because of the coronavirus — a requirement Airbnb can impose before it approves a cash refund. Read more here. —Lori Rackl

1:50 p.m.: New coronavirus testing sites in Chicago, Joliet; Northlake location closing

New COVID-19 testing sites have launched in the city’s Roseland and Pilsen neighborhoods, and a new drive-up location is coming to a Walmart in Joliet.

Walmart announced Friday that the company is closing a drive-up coronavirus testing site in the parking lot of its west suburban Northlake store and moving the operation to southwest suburban Joliet.

The big box retailer said in a news release that the relocation was prompted by the state recently opening a COVID-19 testing site at Forest Preserve Drive on the Northwest Side of Chicago. The Illinois National Guard on Monday began screening healthcare workers and first responders for coronavirus on a former vehicle emissions testing center in that area, about eight miles from Northlake.

At the new Joliet site, testing will serve first responders and healthcare workers who present with coronavirus symptoms or have been exposed to the new virus, as well as patients over 65 who are exhibiting symptoms, the news release said.

“We are proud to have filled a gap in testing and helped the government extend COVID-19 testing in Chicago,” the company said in a news release. “We appreciate the city of Northlake for their support, and we look forward to continuing to serve Joliet.”

On the Chicago’s South Side, the New Roseland Community Hospital is now offering drive-thru COVID-19 screenings for local residents. Testing began Wednesday and approximately 30 Chicago police officers were the first to be screened for the new virus, the hospital said in a news release. The hospital is also distributing protective masks to every police officer in the 5th District who needs one, according to the news release.

On the city’s West Side, UI Health on Monday launched a COVID-19 clinic at its Pilsen Family Health Center Lower West.

“This site is by appointment only, but it is a controlled space where patients with mild symptoms can seek clinical care and be evaluated for COVID-19,” the hospital system said in a news release. —Angie Leventis Lourgos

1:12 p.m.: Lightfoot lists her favorite memes

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has weighed in on which meme of her enforcing stay-at-home orders she likes best.

In a video posted to her Twitter account Friday, Lightfoot said she can’t pick a single favorite but a few stand out.

They include: One where she breaks up the Last Supper painting of Jesus and his apostles by Leonardi Da Vinci;

One where she is inside a refrigerator with the text, “You just ate”;

One where she solves a Wheel of Fortune problem that uses a profanity encouraging people to stay home.

“I won’t repeat what the answer is but it’s pretty funny and of course, I like the one of me being beamed, my face, over the skyline,” Lightfoot said. “I do feel like I have a responsibility to watch over the whole city so that really captures my sentiment precisely.” —Gregory Pratt

12:53 p.m.: In Chicago-area food deserts, it’s getting even harder for residents to find fresh, healthy groceries because of the coronavirus

A rise in unemployment and the closing of food pantries are exacerbating the problem of food insecurity around the Chicago area.

In food deserts, areas where people live more than a mile from a grocery store, it’s getting even harder to find fresh, healthy foods. The United States Department of Agriculture classified 39 census tracts in Cook County as food deserts in 2010 — among those tracts were areas in West Pullman, Pullman, Woodlawn, Roseland, Riverdale and Englewood.


Outside of Chicago, most of the tracts were in Thornton, Bloom, Bremen, Calumet and Worth. In the meantime, about one-third of the Greater Chicago Food Depository network pantries have closed due to coronavirus, according to spokesperson Greg Trotter. Read more here. —Darcel Rockett

12:20 p.m.: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois joins ranks of insurers waiving cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois has joined a growing list of health insurers waiving member costs for treatment of COVID-19.

The state’s largest health insurer announced Thursday that patients will not need to pay any deductible, co-payments and coinsurance for COVID-19 treatment received from April 1 through May 31.

The cost-sharing waiver applies to both in-network facilities and out-of-network emergency treatment. Read more here. —Robert Channick

11:20 a.m.: Chicago police officer’s death linked to COVID-19 will be considered on-duty

The first loss of a Chicago police officer linked to COVID-19 will be considered an on-duty death, police leaders said Friday, giving the officer’s family access to special financial benefits.

Interim Chicago Police Supt. Charlie Beck announced that decision at Police Headquarters during an event to thank donors whose contributions have aided officers during the outbreak.

The officer, Marco DiFranco, 50, died early Thursday at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was assigned to the citywide narcotics unit and was hired as a Chicago cop in 1998, police said.

“And because of that his family will continue to have the protections of the Chicago Police Department," Beck said of the benefits decision. "They will not be destitute. They will be taken care of. They will continue to be a part of the CPD family,”

Beck did not say how DiFranco contracted the disease. But he said the determination of classifying DiFranco’s death as in the line of duty comes as the officer and other first responders have been tasked with working in conditions that can put them at greater risk of becoming infected than the general public.

“And I think that everybody needs to recognize that these are tough times," he continued. "And things that are unimaginable in our past are going to happen. And we need to come together as a society to protect those that protect us.”

At last report there were more than 70 Chicago police officers and two civilian department employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Read more here. —Jeremy Gorner

11:14 a.m.: Local leaders praise Pritzker plan to reopen Westlake Hospital

Emanuel “Chris” Welch was one of several local leaders praising the state’s plans to reopen Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park to treat COVID-19 patients, saying he hopes it will be up and running within weeks.

“I’m truly excited about that news,” Welch said. “I am thankful to Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his strong, stable, steadfast leadership during this time of crisis. He told me all along he was trying to make this happen. I trusted and believed in him, and he got it done.”

On Thursday, Gov. Pritzker announced Westlake Hospital, which closed in August 2019, is to be the fourth facility being readied to house coronavirus patients. The hospital will provide 230 beds, officials said.

“Westlake was a perfect location in the western suburbs to be part of the answer to the crisis we’re in,” Welch said. “The 230 beds will be very helpful. Westlake is for non-acute COVID-19 patients. The most serious patients will not be at Westlake, but they will make room for acute patients in other facilities.”

In addition to Westlake, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois National Guard are setting up a 3,000-bed field hospital at McCormick Place, while also setting up a total of 500 beds at two other closed suburban hospitals: the former Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin and MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island. All facilities are expected to open by month’s end, officials said.

Pritzker said state officials are also working on a plan to open another “alternate care facility in central Illinois in the coming weeks.” Read more here. —Steve Schering

10:29 a.m.: Amid coronavirus outbreak, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says no plans to close Chicago streets to traffic and open them to exercise

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she doesn’t have plans to close streets to traffic and open them up for people to run and do their exercise there instead.

“That’s not in our immediate plans,” Lightfoot said at a news conference to praise people and businesses who support first responders.

Since Lightfoot closed down the city’s lakefront trail and adjacent parks, some green space enthusiasts and exercise aficionados have pushed for her to make streets available to pedestrians and cyclists so it can be easier for them to do so outdoors without being near one another.

Asked about that, Lightfoot said it’s not in the city’s plans but reiterated that she doesn’t have a problem with people being outside for their exercise.

“The issue is congregating,” Lightfoot said. —Gregory Pratt

10:15 a.m.: College cafeteria workers seek help amid mass layoffs

When colleges campuses emptied out and sent students home because of the coronavirus pandemic, scores of cafeteria workers lost their jobs.

“Even in good times, these workers struggle to make ends meet," a union official said. "They do not have savings to rely on now.”

Some Chicago-area colleges have vowed to continue to pay workers, and some private food service contractors are making efforts to help furloughed employees weather the storm while also trying to keep their companies afloat. But unions are calling for more assistance for marginalized workers. Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney

9:56 a.m.: Landlords are asking tenants for coronavirus diagnoses. Can they do that?

While public health officials are carefully tracking the spread of COVID-19, some Chicago renters have been caught off guard by requests to disclose diagnoses — not to medical professionals, but to their landlords.


Property managers of buildings across the city are asking residents to notify their landlords if they are experiencing symptoms or are diagnosed with the coronavirus.

But city officials and tenant lawyers say that while property managers are likely looking out for everyone’s wellbeing, tenants are not legally bound to disclose personal health information. Read more here. —Ariel Cheung

8:38 a.m.: $1.2 million plan to expand capacity of services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors during pandemic

The Illinois Department of Human Services announced a $1.2 million plan Thursday to expand the capacity of services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While most Illinoisans are adhering to the Stay at Home order, not everyone has a safe home to go to,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement Thursday. “If you are experiencing domestic violence or live in fear of it, I know how much scarier or complicated the message of ‘Stay Home’ might sound.”

The plan establishes Illinois’ domestic violence helpline as a one-stop resource for individuals seeking shelter assistance. Helpline staff will connect callers with existing Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention shelters or emergency shelter options in available hotels and motels.

IDHS will direct the majority of the allocated $1.2 million to the expansion of the domestic violence helpline. Remaining funds will be used to establish an emergency COVID-19 fund for local domestic violence programs.

In addition to dedicating these new funds to support victims of domestic violence, Illinois will give three-month advances on grants to DVPI providers to continue services during the current public health crisis. IDHS will also provide advance funds to the Illinois Coalition against Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Intervention Program grantees.

“During times of crisis, there may be an increase in domestic and sexual violence, while barriers to services are compounded,” IDHS Secretary Grace Hou said in a statement Thursday. “The health and safety of survivors during COVID-19 is of the utmost importance to IDHS and Gov. Pritzker, and today’s actions will ensure that access to these critical services continues.”

Illinois’ confidential domestic violence helpline can be reached by calling 1-877-863-6338, or 1-877-863-6339 TTY. The helpline is available 24-hours and multilingual. During the COVID-19 pandemic, victims of domestic violence may also contact local programs for shelter resources. —Antonia Ayres-Brown

8:35 a.m.: Employees at Trump hotel in Chicago among thousands in Illinois laid off in March because of coronavirus

Almost 300 employees at the Trump International Hotel & Tower were among more than 14,000 layoffs reported to the state in March, most of them related to the new coronavirus’ effect on the economy as companies cut back or closed their doors.

In a more typical month, Illinois’ monthly layoff report is contained to a widely spaced page or two. For March, it was a spreadsheet of almost 200 entries, most of them listing COVID-19 as the cause of the layoff. Read more here. —Mary Ellen Podmolik

6:30 a.m.: Lightfoot, interim police superintendent to thank donors who have supported police

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and interim Chicago Police Superintendent Charlie Beck were scheduled to hold a news conference Friday to thank more than 100 donors who “have supported Chicago’s police officers on the front lines of the coronavirus ... outbreak,” according to the mayor’s office.

Local and national businesses, school groups, individuals and chambers of commerce have been donating everything from pizzas to coffee to disinfecting wipes to local police districts across the city since the state’s stay-at-home order two weeks ago. —Chicago Tribune staff

5 a.m.: ‘To us right now, time is life.’ Chinese community mobilizing to provide medical supplies to Chicago-area hospitals.

Xuerong Xia has gone to the hospital every day for the past month. Her garage is now a dressing room, where she dons plastic shoe protectors, a face mask, disposable gloves and sunglasses before climbing into her car, equipped with disinfecting wipes and rubbing alcohol.

The rest of her car is loaded with medical supplies, donated by members of the Chinese community who fought the coronavirus since its early days in Wuhan. Now, their focus is fighting it here at home in the Chicago area.

They have already donated tens of thousands of masks, hospital gowns and goggles to hospitals including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center in the city, and Edward Hospital and DuPage Medical Group in the west suburbs. Read more here. —Grace Wong

5 a.m.: Mental health groups mobilize virtual community for those isolated by coronavirus outbreak. ‘This is a lifeline for people’

While seemingly everyone retreated to their homes amid the global pandemic, Kaitlin wondered about the 15 people she saw every Thursday.

They all lived with depression or bipolar disorder, and they would gather in a downtown Chicago church where they cried, divulged hidden thoughts, encouraged one another or silently listened. But as the coronavirus outbreak forces an unprecedented distancing of human contact, Kaitlin worries the loneliness and isolation will undo the progress they have made.

“For a lot of people, they feel like they are flashing back to these traumatic times by isolating, even though it’s for a different reason,” said Kaitlin, 29, who did not want her last name used in order to speak openly. “It reminds them of being isolated because of depression rather than because of the global pandemic.”

Kaitlin serves as a facilitator for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Last month, the group transitioned all meetings to the videoconferencing platform Zoom, joining a network of other support groups and therapy sessions in the Chicago area moving to virtual gatherings to stay connected.

Outbreaks such as the coronavirus inflict an emotional as well as physical toll. With the caveat that everyone reacts differently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that mental health issues during an outbreak can range from fear over the health of yourself and others to increased substance abuse. A 2015 study found social isolation leads to depressive symptoms, cognitive decline and even early mortality. Read more here. —Alice Yin

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