(KTIV) - Nebraska is reporting 823,898 people have completed their COVID-19 vaccine series, an increase of 2,982 since Wednesday's report.
According to the state's COVID-19 Dashboard, 43.3% of Nebraska's 12 and older population is fully vaccinated.
In total, Nebraska has administered 1,699,585 vaccine doses. As of Thursday morning, 112,430 Nebraskans are partially vaccinated.
The latest data from Nebraska health officials shows there have been 83 more positive cases reported in the state. In total, there have been 223,517 COVID-19 cases confirmed in Nebraska since the pandemic began.
There are currently 62 hospitalizations in the state due to the virus, which is down from the 69 reported on Wednesday.
Nebraska's COVID-19 dashboardshows 2,249 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in the state. No additional deaths were reported on June 3.
The change comes after state lawmakers and Indiana's attorney general said it violates a new state law banning immunization passports by the government.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. Indiana University will not require documentation that employees and students have received the COVID-19 vaccine by the fall semester. IU is still requiring everyone working or enrolled at any of its campuses be vaccinated.
The change in requiring documentation comes after state lawmakers and Indiana's attorney general said it violates a new state law banning immunization passports by the government.
Students and employees receiving the vaccine can now certify their status as part of an attestation form that will be available on June 2. Employees and students found to be lying could face punishment.
Indiana University will also be offering incentives to those opting to upload documentation. Details on the incentive program will be announced later this week.
Requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for IU students, faculty and staff with appropriate exemptions continues the university's comprehensive science and public health-driven approach to managing and mitigating the pandemic on our campuses, IU President Michael A. McRobbie said. Throughout the pandemic, our paramount concern has been ensuring the health and safety of the IU community. This requirement will make a 'return to normal' a reality for the fall semester.
A form for requesting vaccination exemption, originally scheduled for a June 15 release, will be available on June 2. Employees and staff can apply for medical or religious reasons, or for an online exemption for those not present on or near campus. The university will be able to decide whether or not to grant an exemption. Exemptions details will be included in the form. IUs Medical Response Team and other designated IU leaders will review exemption requests, responding within five business days.
Wearing a mask on campus will be optional for those students, faculty and staff who are fully vaccinated. There will also be no social distancing requirements for those who are fully vaccinated.
Students, faculty and staff who are fully vaccinated will not need to participate in mitigation testing. Those who are fully vaccinated will also not need to quarantine if they are in close contact with a person who is later found to have COVID-19.
Events larger than 250 people will be reviewed by the university. If it is an indoor event and there are non-OU attendees, everyone will need to wear a mask.
Visitors to campus (parents, tours, event attendees, etc.) should wear a mask at all times when on campus.
DES MOINES- Today, the Auditor released a report on a special investigation of the Step Up, Stop the Spread public service announcement campaign that occurred in November 2020, the height of the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), or COVID-19, Pandemic in Iowa. The campaign was designed to raise public awareness in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Im proud of the Step Up, Stop the Spread public service announcement, Gov. Reynolds said. I felt it was important for me and other leaders to address Iowans during the height of the pandemic. And the law clearly allows it.
In his report, the Auditor claims the Governor mishandled CARES Act dollars by using those funds for video advertisements containing the likeness, voice, or name of the Governor in violation of Iowa Code section 68A.405A.
That statute reads, in part:
Except as provided in sections 29C.3 and 29C.6, a statewide elected official or member of the general assembly shall not permit the expenditure of public moneys under the control of the statewide elected official or member of the general assembly, including but not limited to
The auditors reportignores the opening clause: Except as provided in sections 29C.3 and 29C.6. That is a significant error, as 29C.6 relates to the powers and authority of the Governor during a public health disaster emergency.
The Step Up, Stop the Spread campaign promoted social distancing and mask-wearing in November 2020, which was the peak of positive cases of COVID-19 in Iowa. Hospitals and health care facilities were filling with patients being treated for COVID-19.And significantly, the Governors Public Health Proclamation of Disaster Emergency mandated (in certain situations) mask-wearing and required social distancing.
Promoting the requirements and recommendations of a disaster proclamation in a public awareness campaign is a clear example of the public-emergency exemption in Iowas image-and-likeness statute. And in case of any confusion, Section 29C.6(10)--which, again, is specifically mentioned in section 68A.405A-- provides for the use of all available resourcesof the state government as reasonably necessary to cope with the disaster emergency and of each political subdivision of the state.
Auditor Sand didnt once ask to meet with our team regarding his concern or his investigation. If he had, we would have pointed him to this essential part of the law that he clearly missed, said Chief of Staff Sara Craig.
Any competent reading of the plain language of state code would have acknowledged the role of the Governor in promoting an emergency order. Neither the Governors Office nor the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board were consulted prior to the issuance of Auditor Sands report. If that had happened, anyone within those offices could have directed the Auditor to the plain language of Iowas image-and-likeness statute and pointed out that, during a disaster emergency, the Governor may address Iowans in a public service announcement.
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He brought his culture of innovation, Dr. Emond said. And his personal capability, his ability to work for long hours, never quitting, never giving up, no matter how difficult the situation, carrying out operations that many would deem impossible.
In his first year at Columbia, Dr. Kato and his team operated successfully on a 7-year-old girl, Heather McNamara, whose family had been told by several other hospitals that her abdominal cancer was inoperable. The surgery, which involved removing six organs and then putting them back in, took 23 hours.
More and more patients from around the country, and around the world, began seeking out Dr. Kato for operations that other hospitals could not or would not perform. He had also begun making trips to Venezuela to perform liver transplants for children and teach the procedure to local surgeons, and he created a foundation to help support the work there as well as in other Latin American countries.
As Dr. Katos colleagues struggled to save him, a waiting list of surgical patients clung to hopes that he would soon be able to save them.
Gradually, Dr. Pereira said, there were signs of recovery.
You come in early in the morning to see him, he said. The hospital hallways are empty and everybodys looking at each other, scared and anxious. You go into the intensive care unit dreading bad news, and the team is giving you a sort of hopeful thumbs-up that maybe hes looking better.
Dr. Kato spent about a month on a ventilator, and a week on ECMO. Like many people with severe Covid, he was tormented by frightening and vivid hallucinations and delusions. In one, he was arrested at the Battle of Waterloo. In another, he had been deliberately infected with anthrax; only a hospital in Antwerp could save him, but he could not get there. He saw the white light that some people describe after near-death experiences. I felt like I died, he said.
He had spent much of his adult life in hospitals, but never as a patient.
I never got sick, he said. I had never faced the reality of death.
Security personnel stand guard near the Olympic rings monument during a rally by anti-Olympics protesters outside the Japanese Olympic Committee headquarters, in Tokyo, Japan May 18, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
Taiwan has pulled out of the final baseball qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics after failing to secure a training facility and because of concerns over the health of the players in Mexico.
Ranked fourth in the world, Taiwan was originally scheduled to host the tournament before a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country forced the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) to move it to Puebla, Mexico.
Mexico is still reporting thousands of new COVID-19 cases a day and health ministry data released on Wednesday said that 228,146 people had died since the start of the pandemic. read more
The surge in COVID-19 cases in Taiwan was also behind the refusal of the Yunlin County local government to let the squad prepare at training fields under their jurisdiction, the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association said in a statement.
Despite the baseball team dropping out, Taiwan's foreign minister said on Thursday that the government supported the Olympics going ahead.
"We understand that the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee have been working very hard in making sure that the Olympics can take place in Tokyo," Joseph Wu told the foreign press in Tokyo via a video conference call.
Taiwan, which competes as Chinese Taipei at the Olympics, has won only 22 medals at previous Summer Games, including a baseball silver in Barcelona in 1992.
Baseball is returning to the Games for the first time since Beijing 2008. Six nations will compete for gold in Tokyo with hosts Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea already qualified.
The Americas qualifying tournament, which offers one ticket to Tokyo, is ongoing in the United States with the final berth up for grabs in Puebla from June 22-26.
China pulled out of the final Olympic qualification tournament last month, leaving a five-team event now reduced to four with Taiwan's withdrawal.
Australia and Netherlands are confirmed for the tournament with the second and third-placed teams from the Americas qualifiers set to join them.
"At this stage Team Australia is still planning to attend," Baseball Australia Chief Executive Glenn Williams told Reuters by e-mail on Thursday.
"The complexity of the location change so close to the event is providing challenges but we are working on trying to meet those challenges."
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Gilles Demaneuf is a data scientist with the Bank of New Zealand in Auckland. He was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome ten years ago, and believes it gives him a professional advantage. Im very good at finding patterns in data, when other people see nothing, he says.
Early last spring, as cities worldwide were shutting down to halt the spread of COVID-19, Demaneuf, 52, began reading up on the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease. The prevailing theory was that it had jumped from bats to some other species before making the leap to humans at a market in China, where some of the earliest cases appeared in late 2019. The Huanan wholesale market, in the city of Wuhan, is a complex of markets selling seafood, meat, fruit, and vegetables. A handful of vendors sold live wild animalsa possible source of the virus.
That wasnt the only theory, though. Wuhan is also home to Chinas foremost coronavirus research laboratory, housing one of the worlds largest collections of bat samples and bat-virus strains. The Wuhan Institute of Virologys lead coronavirus researcher, Shi Zhengli, was among the first to identify horseshoe bats as the natural reservoirs for SARS-CoV, the virus that sparked an outbreak in 2002, killing 774 people and sickening more than 8,000 globally. After SARS, bats became a major subject of study for virologists around the world, and Shi became known in China as Bat Woman for her fearless exploration of their caves to collect samples. More recently, Shi and her colleagues at the WIV have performed high-profile experiments that made pathogens more infectious. Such research, known as gain-of-function, has generated heated controversy among virologists.
To some people, it seemed natural to ask whether the virus causing the global pandemic had somehow leaked from one of the WIVs labsa possibility Shi has strenuously denied.
On February 19, 2020, The Lancet, among the most respected and influential medical journals in the world, published a statement that roundly rejected the lab-leak hypothesis, effectively casting it as a xenophobic cousin to climate change denialism and anti-vaxxism. Signed by 27 scientists, the statement expressed solidarity with all scientists and health professionals in China and asserted: We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.
The Lancet statement effectively ended the debate over COVID-19s origins before it began. To Gilles Demaneuf, following along from the sidelines, it was as if it had been nailed to the church doors, establishing the natural origin theory as orthodoxy. Everyone had to follow it. Everyone was intimidated. That set the tone.
The statement struck Demaneuf as totally nonscientific. To him, it seemed to contain no evidence or information. And so he decided to begin his own inquiry in a proper way, with no idea of what he would find.
Demaneuf began searching for patterns in the available data, and it wasnt long before he spotted one. Chinas laboratories were said to be airtight, with safety practices equivalent to those in the U.S. and other developed countries. But Demaneuf soon discovered that there had been four incidents of SARS-related lab breaches since 2004, two occuring at a top laboratory in Beijing. Due to overcrowding there, a live SARS virus that had been improperly deactivated, had been moved to a refrigerator in a corridor. A graduate student then examined it in the electron microscope room and sparked an outbreak.
Demaneuf published his findings in a Medium post, titled The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: a review of SARS Lab Escapes. By then, he had begun working with another armchair investigator, Rodolphe de Maistre. A laboratory project director based in Paris who had previously studied and worked in China, de Maistre was busy debunking the notion that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was a laboratory at all. In fact, the WIV housed numerous laboratories that worked on coronaviruses. Only one of them has the highest biosafety protocol: BSL-4, in which researchers must wear full-body pressurized suits with independent oxygen. Others are designated BSL-3 and even BSL-2, roughly as secure as an American dentists office.
Having connected online, Demaneuf and de Maistre began assembling a comprehensive list of research laboratories in China. As they posted their findings on Twitter, they were soon joined by others around the world. Some were cutting-edge scientists at prestigious research institutes. Others were science enthusiasts. Together, they formed a group called DRASTIC, short for Decentralized Radical Autonomous Search Team Investigating COVID-19. Their stated objective was to solve the riddle of COVID-19s origin.
State Department investigators say they were repeatedly advised not to open a Pandoras box.
At times, it seemed the only other people entertaining the lab-leak theory were crackpots or political hacks hoping to wield COVID-19 as a cudgel against China. President Donald Trumps former political adviser Steve Bannon, for instance, joined forces with an exiled Chinese billionaire named Guo Wengui to fuel claims that China had developed the disease as a bioweapon and purposefully unleashed it on the world. As proof, they paraded a Hong Kong scientist around right-wing media outlets until her manifest lack of expertise doomed the charade.
Bonn, Germany April 16: In this photo illustration a girl with a covid 19 Rapid test presenting a Cotton swab on April 16, 2021 in Bonn, Germany. (Photo by Ute Grabowsky/Photothek via Getty Images)
Do I need to get tested for COVID-19 if Im vaccinated?
No, you can skip routine testing, with some exceptions.
The latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says you dont need to be tested or to quarantine if youre fully vaccinated, even if youve been exposed to someone who was sick. An exception is if you develop COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough and fatigue.
The updated guidance reflects recent studies showing vaccinated people face very little risk of serious disease. Even if you get an infection, youll be less likely to spread it to others and any symptoms will likely be milder.
As a result, the CDC says vaccinated people can also be excluded from routine workplace screening, though many companies arent tracking employees vaccination status. Screening is still recommended for people working or living in homeless shelters or prisons, due to the higher risk of outbreaks.
The relaxed guidelines also dont apply to doctors, nurses and other health care workers, whose employers might still require testing. Guidance may vary by country.
U.S. citizens returning from abroad also still have to present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flights home, regardless of their vaccination status. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should still isolate for 10 days, the CDC says.
As vaccinations increase, many experts expect the CDC to further relax testing guidelines, even for vaccinated people with symptoms. Many common colds and viruses can cause symptoms resembling COVID-19, experts say, which could lead to a wave of unnecessary testing in the fall.
As we race to open back up, a whole variety of infections that we dont routinely test for are going to cause those same symptoms, said Dr. Rebecca Wurtz of the University of Minnesota. You should wash your hands and stay home from work, but theres no need to run out to be tested.
As coronavirus vaccination numbers continue to dip, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this week the state continues to explore incentives including a possible lottery to encourage holdouts to get their COVID-19 shots.
Lots of other incentives (are) coming including potentially a vaccine lottery, so that people can actually win money, Pritzker said during an unrelated event in Rockford.
Pritzkers comments come as the number of people getting vaccinated has fallen off steadily. The most recent seven-day average for vaccinations was 41,234, Illinois public health officials said Wednesday. Earlier in the vaccination effort the daily average regularly topped 100,000.
Meanwhile, state officials Wednesday also reported 478 new and probable cases of COVID-19 and 9 additional deaths. It was the seventh consecutive day with fewer than 1,000 new cases in the state. The seven-day average of new cases in Illinois now stands at 763. Thats the lowest average in almost a year, when the state reported a seven-day average of 766 cases on June 27, 2020.
Heres whats happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:
6:15 p.m.: The Bud Billiken Parade is returning after COVID-induced absence in 2020, organizers announced Wednesday.
The largest Black parade in the world, and second largest parade in the country, is coming back to the historic South Side neighborhood of Bronzeville, this time with the theme Back to School, Back to Life, Back to Bud Billiken.
Following its only cancellation last year due to COVID-19, the beloved parade is returning on Saturday, August 15th, with new safety measures, including COVID-19 testing, wellness checks, potential mask requirements and social distancing practices.
The parade will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Washington Park on Elsworth Drive from 51st to 55th streets in a closed tv set format, meaning it will be streamed as a series of short recordings instead of its traditional live format, said Chicago Defender Charities spokesperson Jakari Anderson.
We have to make sure we are being respectful to the community and neighborhood and following CDC guidelines, Anderson said, but despite challenges, the community is very happy that the parade is coming back.
5:30 p.m.: Pritzker signs 3-year cocktails-to-go extension that includes shot-for-a (COVID-19) shot provision
A three-year extension of the cocktails-to-go law created to help businesses during the pandemic, along with a provision that allows bars and restaurants to give a free drink to people whove been vaccinated against the coronavirus, was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The measure, approved overwhelmingly by lawmakers over the weekend, would allow businesses to continue serving cocktails and now single servings of wine for takeout and delivery until Jan. 3, 2024. The existing state law was set to expire Wednesday.
Our hospitality industry has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, said state Rep. Mike Zalewski, a Riverside Democrat, and the new law contains a number of initiatives designed to offer much-needed help, including an extension of cocktails to-go and shot and a beer incentives to help Illinoisans get vaccinated and then visit their favorite establishment for a drink.
State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, said the cocktails-to-go service was a lifeline to restaurants that were forced to adapt to delivery service when in-person dining restrictions were imposed due to the pandemic.
Any tool we can provide to help keep this vibrant industry going while they are rebuilding is critical, she said.
4:40 p.m.: Back-aching work. Low pay. No health care: Heres why Chicago restaurant workers arent coming back.
Emilio Enriquez has climbed from busser to line cook during his seven years working in restaurants, and he still dreams of becoming a chef.
But he hasnt worked during the COVID-19 pandemic and wont look for a job until fall, once unemployment benefits no longer pay more than he would likely earn working and, he hopes, more people are vaccinated.
This is what I want to do in the long haul, said Enriquez, 25. Im just not ready to do that yet especially since Im making more at home.
Kodi Roberts worked as a restaurant server for 10 years until the pandemic. Unlike Enriquez, she has no plans to return.
It hit me pretty quickly, Roberts said. My body started bouncing back. My back stopped hurting. My nails started growing because I wasnt dipping them in buckets of bleach and sanitizer all the time. I felt like a person who could move through the world relatively well again.
As society inches toward normal and diners fill tables and booths once again, a question has hovered over the restaurant industry: Where are the workers? From white-tablecloth destinations to casual neighborhood spots, business owners have decried a labor shortage that has led some restaurants to scale back menus and hours. Some need servers and bartenders. Others need dishwashers and cooks. Some need all of the above.
A simple narrative has taken root: The workers are staying home to collect unemployment, especially as long as the federal government offers a $300 weekly surplus through Labor Day due to the pandemic. At least 24 states have pulled out of the bonus payments in recent weeks, usually with Republican legislators saying it will force people back into the workforce.
But Enriquez and Roberts underscore a reality: No single answer explains the restaurant industrys thinning labor force, nor can we predict when or whether it will return.
2:55 p.m.: Pritzker raises possibility of a lottery to encourage more people to get their COVID-19 shots
As coronavirus vaccination numbers continue to dip, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this week the state continues to explore incentives including a possible lottery to encourage holdouts to get their COVID-19 shots.
Lots of other incentives (are) coming including potentially a vaccine lottery, so that people can actually win money, Pritzker said during an unrelated event in Rockford.
The governor offered no further details on how a lottery would work or when it might start. Ohio rolled out a vaccine lottery last month and officials said it led to an increase in vaccinations.
Illinois has offered tickets to Six Flags Great America and, in a bill passed at the end of the legislative session this weekend, opened the door for bars and restaurants to offer a free drink to those who have been vaccinated. The state legislature also authorized a lottery in the budget implementation bill that was passed this week.
This pandemic isnt over and there are many, many people who have not been vaccinated yet, Pritzker said Wednesday. I talked a little bit about the fact that more than two thirds of people in Illinois have been vaccinated, but that leaves a third and we are not at herd immunity, where we need to get to. So were doing everything at the state level to try to incentivize people to go get vaccinated.
Pritzkers comments come as the number of people getting vaccinated has fallen off steadily. The most recent seven-day average for vaccinations was 41,234, Illinois public health officials said Wednesday. Earlier in the vaccination effort the daily average regularly topped 100,000.
A total of 11,338,305 vaccines have been administered in the state since the effort began, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 67% of Illinois adults have received at least one vaccine dose. Nearly 51% of adults are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
2 p.m.: With mask mandates easing, can those who are vaccinated safely attend gathering or shop in places where unvaccinated people could be present?
The recent easing of COVID-19 restrictions has coincided with seasonal gatherings like graduation parties. So how can we safely mingle in social settings with friends and family members who are not vaccinated?
Similarly, many local stores have signs saying masks are optional but recommended for those who arent vaccinated. But those of us who are vaccinated still wear a mask indoors, at least for the short term?
And for families who are planning summer vacations, but have kids under 12 who are still too young for the vaccine, is there a safe way to travel that would mitigate risk for the unvaccinated?
An expert from Northwestern University answers your questions in our latest COVID-19 Q&A. Read the answers here. Karen Ann Cullotta
12:30 p.m.: COVID-19 vaccine protection may diminish need for yearly boosters, but more research needed, scientists say
Scientists have found clues that the worlds leading COVID-19 vaccines offer lasting protection that could diminish the need for frequent booster shots, but they caution that more research is needed and that virus mutations are still a wild card.
Critical studies are underway, and evidence is mounting that immunity from the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna does not depend exclusively on antibodies that dwindle over time. The body has overlapping layers of protection that offer backup.
Pfizer and Moderna have fueled booster questions by estimating that people might need yearly shots, just like with flu vaccinations, and the companies are working to have some candidates ready this fall. But companies will not decide when boosters get used. That will be up to health authorities in each country.
Other experts say boosters may be needed only every few years.
I would be surprised if we actually needed a yearly booster shot, said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine specialist at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia who advises the Food and Drug Administration.
12:05 p.m.: 29,322 vaccine doses administered, 478 new cases and 9 deaths reported
Illinois public health officials on Wednesday reported 478 new and probable cases of COVID-19 and 9 additional deaths. That brings the states totals to 1,383,065 cases and 22,842 deaths.
There were 35,697 tests reported in the previous 24 hours and the seven-day statewide positivity rate as a percent of total test is 1.5%.
There were 29,322 doses of the vaccine administered Tuesday and the seven-day rolling average of daily doses is 41,234. Officials said 67% of Illinois adults have received at least one vaccine dose and 51% of adults are fully vaccinated.
12:05 p.m.: Stimulus checks substantially reduced hardship for struggling Americans, analysis shows
Julesa Webb resumed an old habit: serving her children three meals a day. Corrine Young paid the water bill and stopped bathing at her neighbors apartment. Chenetta Ray cried, thanked Jesus and rushed to spend the money on a medical test to treat her cancer.
In offering most Americans two more rounds of stimulus checks in the past six months, totaling $2,000 per person, the federal government effectively conducted a huge experiment in safety net policy. Supporters said a quick, broad outpouring of cash would ease the economic hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Skeptics called the policy wasteful and expensive.
The aid followed an earlier round of stimulus checks, sent a year ago, and the results are being scrutinized for lessons on how to help the needy in less extraordinary times.
A new analysis of Census Bureau surveys argues that the two latest rounds of aid significantly improved Americans ability to buy food and pay household bills and reduced anxiety and depression, with the largest benefits going to the poorest households and those with children. The analysis offers the fullest look at hardship reduction under the stimulus aid.
Among households with children, reports of food shortages fell 42% from January through April. A broader gauge of financial instability fell 43%. Among all households, frequent anxiety and depression fell by more than 20%.
12 p.m.: Chicago music festival organizers reveal how 2021 lineup decisions were made during the pandemic: We couldnt be more proud
My Chemical Romance was the first act to be announced for the 2020 edition of Riot Fest in Chicago. Were tired of you asking, so were bringing My Chemical Romance to Riot Fest. September 11-13, 2020, festival organizers tweeted in January 2020.
Large Chicago summer celebrations were canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, which left music festival organizers scrambling. Some had announced their 2020 lineups and sold tickets, which had to be refunded or reissued for 2021. And there was no guarantee that major events could even be held in Chicago this year. City leaders announced the official return of festivals just weeks ago as Chicago marches toward a full reopening.
The Tribune talked to organizers of some of the largest local music festivals about the challenges of pulling together band lineups amid the unpredictability of coronavirus. They said there are fewer international acts performing in Chicago than in years past as coronavirus-related safety and travel measures continue in some areas. You would think there was a fight for talent because several of these events are scheduled for late summer, but many organizers said the pandemic spurred cooperation as they waited for the green light together.
As a result, some artists are booked to play more than one show in the Chicago and Milwaukee area this summer since organizers relaxed the so-called radius clause of their talent contracts, which prevent performers from appearing at nearby concerts or festivals within a certain time period. The whole music community really came together and had a lot of camaraderie that I hope and pray stays that way coming out of this, Windy City Smokeout co-founder Ed Warm said.
9:49 a.m.: Chicago Cultural Center reopening Wednesday
The Chicago Cultural Center was set to reopen late Wednesday morning after being closed since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, city officials said.
The Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St., built in the late 19th century as the citys main public library, was set to reopen at 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to a release from the mayors office.
New to the Cultural Center starting Wednesday is a Chicago-centric shop, BUDDY, a store selling Chicago-made art and other Chicago-made products thats the brainchild of the Public Medica Institute, according to the release.
Two art exhibits were scheduled to debut Wednesday at the Cultural Center, Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford: League of Nations and what flies but never lands?, according to the release.
For more information, check the citys website.
9:32 a.m.: Time Out Market Chicagos biggest food hall announces reopening date for indoor service and a stellar lineup of new vendors
After being closed since October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Time Out Market Chicago announced it will indeed return, with a reopening date slated for June 17 and the addition of some beloved Chicago restaurant vendors.
Guests will notice significant changes to the vendor lineup, with 11 mostly new operations.
Chef Brian Fisher returns, as does chef Bill Kim, who will actually have two kiosks: the eponymous Bill Kims Ramen Shop, plus Urbanbelly. A pair of Logan Square favorites the Mexican restaurant Dos Urban Cantina and Asian fusion spot Mini Mott also return to the Time Out Market lineup.
Newcomers feature plenty of recognizable names, though, including Soul & Smoke, the Evanston barbecue spot the Tribune recently awarded three stars. Soul & Smoke is currently working out of a commissary kitchen in Evanston, but also works out of virtual kitchens in Avondale and the South Loop. Two Bronzeville institutions will also make their way north to the food hall: Shawn Michelles ice Cream and Cleos Southern Cuisine.
As Chicagos hospitality industry lurches back to life following a year of pandemic shutdowns, food hall operations have remained somewhat in flux: the Loops Revival Food Hall remains a standby, while Well St. Market went takeout full-time, and West Loops Politan Row remains in hibernation mode from the winter.
9:14 a.m.: Can Loretto Hospital rebuild trust after vaccine controversy and news of questionable business ties?
Loretto Hospital has treated and employed generations of people in the Austin community.
The hospital has been an anchor in the predominantly Black neighborhood an area thats dealt with both historic and recent health disparities, including far higher rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths than the city as a whole.
But over the last six months, controversies and questions linked to Loretto have shaken the hospital and its community.
And reporting by the Tribune and other local media outlets reveals questionable connections between Loretto and an associate of Ahmed. One of Ahmeds business partners, Dr. Sameer Suhail, has ties to at least four companies connected with the hospital, the Tribune found. Three of those companies were Lorettos highest paid independent contractors, earning nearly $4 million from the community hospital between July 2018 and June 2019, according to tax documents.
Its really been a pillar in the community, said Austin resident Dora Dantzler-Wright, of Loretto. Shes executive director of the Chicago Recovering Communities Coalition, an Austin nonprofit that provides services to people struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues. Its unfair to the people who live in the community that they cannot take pride in a hospital that has been there for years.
6 a.m.: Reaching people with vaccine hesitancy or limited access: Its really thinking creatively, says UIC team leader on $1.4 million grant
Recently, Carlos Millan had a conversation with a man who was worried about the COVID-19 vaccine.
The man had read somewhere that it could have an impact on his sperm, so he was reluctant to be vaccinated. After their conversation, recalled Millan, who completed the city health departments Vaccine Ambassador Course training, he feels a lot better.
Outreach to communities that are hesitant to get the vaccine, or have less access to it, will be a major focus this summer and fall as the city moves forward through this pandemic.
The University of Illinois at Chicago was recently selected by the National Institutes of Health as the main site for a multicenter collaboration to research and create outreach to communities disproportionality affected by COVID-19. The group aims to improve access to testing, treatment and clinical trial opportunities. The university will receive a $1.4 million NIH grant to increase vaccine confidence.
The UICs Dr. Molly Martin, associate professor of pediatrics at the College of Medicine and principal investigator on the NIH grant, said the researchers hope to use their understanding of access to the vaccine and information sharing through communities to go beyond COVID-19. For example, Black women face major health disparities, and what researchers find out about connecting with communities of color could help approach those issues as well.
6 a.m.: Effingham County Fair returns with new harness racing series, facilities upgrades
The organizers of the Effingham County Fair on Tuesday announced details about this years fair and associated horse races. They also discussed several upgrades to the facilities and reviewed other activities at the fairgrounds.
If you take me and put me down in that fairground 10 or 15 years ago and then put me down again today, its just amazing what weve accomplished, said County Fair Board President Phillip Hartke, before taking out a novelty Make Fairs Great Again hat.
This years fair will run from Saturday, July 31, to Saturday, Aug. 7, at the Effingham County Fairgrounds in Altamont.
This is a return to form after the fair canceled most of its events last year and modified the few remaining ones to comply with public health guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fair will feature traditional events, including a parade, talent show, rodeo, demolition derby and more.
Andrew Adams, Effingham Daily News, via Tribune Content Agency
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1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 171.6 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 3.69 million. More than 1.98 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
India had 134,154 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, while deaths from the coronavirus rose by 2,887. The country's total COVID-19 caseload now stands at 28.4 million, while total fatalities are at 337,989, according to health ministry data.
The Indian government has ordered 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from local firm Biological-E, the health ministry said. The vaccine is still undergoing phase-3 clinical trials, before approvals can be given.
Britain is hosting health ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy countries in Oxford for a two-day summit, as pressure intensifies to do more to broaden access to COVID-19 vaccines across the world.
Meanwhile, health minister Matt Hancock said the government is in talks with Oxford and AstraZeneca for doses of an altered COVID-19 vaccine that better targets the beta coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa.
How the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out is going around the globe.
Image: Our World in Data
With 50 days to go until the Tokyo Olympics, Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto has said she is "100%" certain the Olympics will go ahead. But the Games, due to begin on 23 July, may go ahead without spectators if a coronavirus outbreak occurs, reports the BBC.
New COVID-19 cases in France stayed below 10,000 for the second day in a row on Wednesday as pressure on hospitals eased further and the daily death toll dropped sharply from last week.
Climbers returning from Mount Everest and other Himalayan peaks are struggling to find a return flight back home after Nepal banned most air travel to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, mountaineering operators and hikers said on Wednesday.
2. Summit secures additional $2.4 billion for COVID vaccines for poor countries
Almost $2.4 billion was pledged by countries and private donors on Wednesday to COVAX, to make COVID-19 vaccines more available to people in poorer nations, reports Reuters.
The announcements, ranging from $2,500 from island nation Mauritius to millions of dollars and doses from wealthier countries, came during a video summit hosted by Japan and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which leads the COVAX facility alongside the World Health Organization.
The funds will allow COVAX to secure 1.8 billion fully subsidized doses for delivery to lower-income countries in 2021 and early 2022, enough to protect 30% of adults in those nations, GAVI said in a statement.
"We have taken a big step towards 'one world protected'," said Jose Manuel Barroso, GAVI chairman. The fresh funds brought total COVAX financing to $9.6 billion, he added.
One year on: we look back at how the Forums networks have navigated the global response to COVID-19.
Using a multistakeholder approach, the Forum and its partners through its COVID Action Platform have provided countless solutions to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, protecting lives and livelihoods.
Throughout 2020, along with launching its COVID Action Platform, the Forum and its Partners launched more than 40 initiatives in response to the pandemic.
The work continues. As one example, the COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs is supporting 90,000 social entrepreneurs, with an impact on 1.4 billion people, working to serve the needs of excluded, marginalized and vulnerable groups in more than 190 countries.
Read more about the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, our support of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemics Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), and the COVAX initiative and innovative approaches to solve the pandemic, like our Common Trust Network aiming to help roll out a digital passport in our Impact Story.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, whose government pledged an additional $800 million, called the result "an extremely significant and meaningful step" toward equitable vaccine access.
The COVAX mechanism has distributed 77 million doses to 127 countries since February but has been stymied by India restricting exports of vaccines amid a major outbreak there.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated concerns that Western nations have vaccinated high percentages of their people, while health workers in places like Africa remain unprotected.
"Of the 1.8 billion vaccines administered globally just 0.4% have been administered in low-income countries," he said. "This is ethically, epidemiologically and economically unacceptable."
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of June 2, 2021, there have been 2,926,850 total confirmatory laboratory results received for COVID-19, with 161,967 total cases and 2,800 deaths.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 79-year old female from Jefferson County, a 54-year old male from Barbour County, and a 65-year old female from Mingo County.
Every life lost to this pandemic is a tragedy, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. Please schedule a COVID-19 vaccine to protect yourself and those around you.
CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (1,498), Berkeley (12,709), Boone (2,171), Braxton (977), Brooke (2,228), Cabell (8,812), Calhoun (371), Clay (539), Doddridge (626), Fayette (3,519), Gilmer (874), Grant (1,294), Greenbrier (2,861), Hampshire (1,909), Hancock (2,837), Hardy (1,553), Harrison (6,035), Jackson (2,208), Jefferson (4,759), Kanawha (15,342), Lewis (1,267), Lincoln (1,555), Logan (3,224), Marion (4,570), Marshall (3,519), Mason (2,037), McDowell (1,597), Mercer (5,068), Mineral (2,933), Mingo (2,692), Monongalia (9,349), Monroe (1,183), Morgan (1,223), Nicholas (1,858), Ohio (4,285), Pendleton (713), Pleasants (955), Pocahontas (679), Preston (2,934), Putnam (5,288), Raleigh (6,976), Randolph (2,782), Ritchie (751), Roane (651), Summers (840), Taylor (1,254), Tucker (544), Tyler (737), Upshur (1,935), Wayne (3,167), Webster (531), Wetzel (1,378), Wirt (448), Wood (7,895), Wyoming (2,027).
Delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR. As case surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state border to be tested. Such is the case of Hancock, Jefferson, Ohio, and Preston counties in this report.
Free pop-up COVID-19 testing is available today in Barbour, Berkeley, Doddridge, Jefferson, Lincoln, Morgan, Putnam, Ritchie, Tyler/Wetzel, and Wayne counties.
Barbour County
9:00 AM 11:00 AM, Barbour County Health Department, 109 Wabash Avenue, Philippi, WV
1:00 PM 5:00 PM, Junior Volunteer Fire Department, 331 Row Avenue, Junior, WV
Berkeley County
10:00 AM 5:00 PM, 891 Auto Parts Place, Martinsburg, WV
10:00 AM 5:00 PM, Ambrose Park, 25404 Mall Drive, Martinsburg, WV
Doddridge County
Jefferson County
10:00 AM 6:00 PM, Hollywood Casino, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, WV
12:00 PM 5:00 PM, Shepherd University Wellness Center Parking Lot, 164 University Drive, Shepherdstown, WV
Lincoln County
Morgan County
11:00 AM 4:00 PM, Valley Health War Memorial Hospital, 1 Health Way, Berkeley Springs, WV
Putnam County
Ritchie County
1:00 PM 4:00 PM, Ritchie Regional, 138 S Penn Avenue, Harrisville, WV
Tyler/Wetzel Counties
Wayne County
10:00 AM 2:00 PM, Wayne Community Center, 11580 Rt. 152, Wayne, WV
