A retrospective study of 57 adult COVID-19 patients published yesterday in Respiratory Research found significant lung impairment in the recovery phase, particularly in patients with severe disease.
Researchers conducted serial assessments of patients 30 days after they were released from the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, China. They found that, of the 40 non-severe and 17 severe cases, 31 patients (54.4%) still had abnormal findings on chest computed tomography (CT). The rate of abnormalities was much higher in severe (16 or 17, or 94.1%) than in mild illness (15/ 31, 37.5%).
Forty-three (75.4%) of the 57 patients had abnormal pulmonary function tests. The percent of patients who had results less than 80% of predicted values was 10.5% for forced vital capacity (FVC, amount of air forcibly exhaled after taking a deep breath), 8.7% for forced expiratory volume (FEV1, amount of air forcibly expelled in 1 second), 43.8% for FEV1/FVC ratio, 12.3% for total lung capacity (TLC), and 52.6% for diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (amount of oxygen traveling from lungs to the blood).
Twenty-eight (49.1%) and 13 patients (22.8%) had maximum inspiratory pressure and maximum expiratory pressure values less than 80% of predicted values an indication of weakened respiratory muscles.
Twenty-six patients (86.7%) had mildly impaired DLCO, while the other 4 (13.3%) had moderate impairment. There was a significant difference in impaired DLCO between the two groups, accounting for 42.5% of patients with mild disease and 75.6% of those with severe illness.
Patients with severe COVID-19 had more DLCO impairment than those with less severe disease (75.6% vs 42.5%,P=0.019), as well as higher lung total severity scores (TSS) and total airway resistance and significantly lower percentage of predicted TLC and 6-minute walking distance (6MWD). The 6MWD of patients with severe illness was only 88.4% of predicted values, significantly lower than in those with mild illness.
Most patients in the severe group (70.6%) were men and were older than patients with milder disease. No significant correlation between TSS and pulmonary function was evident at follow-up.
Mean ratio of partial pressure of oxygen (Pa02) to fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) was significantly lower in patients with milder illness than in those with severe disease. Pa02 reflects how well oxygen is able to travel from the lungs to the blood, while FiO2 is the percentage of oxygen inhaled.
Patients with severe COVID-19 had higher serum lactate dehydrogenase (indicating tissue damage), C-reactive protein peaks (indicating inflammation), and lower counts of infection-fighting lymphocytes than those with milder illnesses. No significant differences were found in values of white blood cells, creatinine kinase (measuring muscle inflammation), lactic acid peaks (measures of levels of oxygen in the muscles), or length of hospital stay between the two groups.
At 30-day follow-up, 6 of 57 patients (10.5%) reported a mild cough, 4 (7.0%) had shortness of breath, and 3 (5.3%) said they sometimes wheezed.
Of 57 patients, 46 (80.7%) had a history of direct contact with Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicenter of China's coronavirus outbreak, while 9 (15.7%) had a history of smoking. Mean patient age was 47 years, and 31 patients were women.
Twenty-one patients (36.8%) had underlying illnesses, the most common of which were high blood pressure (11 patients), diabetes (4), cancer (3), and cardiovascular disease (3). All these conditions were either believed cured or well controlled at testing. None of the patients had a chronic respiratory disease.
The authors said they were surprised that the lung total severity score was not significantly correlated with FEV1, FVC, or DLCO, meaning that impaired lung function did not necessarily reflect severity of illness or changes on CT.
"We speculate that it was because most severe patients used glucocorticoid during hospitalization, suggesting that corticosteroids may improve the prognosis of patients with COVID-19," they wrote, cautioning that small sample size and selection bias may have affected the results. Corticosteroids are given to reduce inflammation.
The researchers called for future studies to include longer follow-up and exercise cardiopulmonary function testing.
Story Highlights
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As coronavirus infections are spiking in U.S. states that previously had not been hard-hit, a new high of 65% of U.S. adults say the coronavirus situation is getting worse. The percentage of Americans who believe the situation is getting worse has increased from 48% the preceding week, and from 37% two weeks prior.
Line graph. A new high of 65% of US adults say the coronavirus situation in the U.S. is getting worse. 23% say it is getting better.
The latest results, from June 22-28, are based on Gallup's online COVID-19 tracking survey, which interviews weekly random samples from Gallup's probability-based panel. Last week, governors in many states paused or rolled back plans to ease restrictions on economic activity as states in the South and West dealt with a surge in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.
Gallup first asked Americans in early April to say whether they thought the coronavirus situation was getting better or worse. At that time, 56% said it was getting worse and 28% better, the most negative assessment prior to the latest reading. From late April through early June, there were several weeks in which more Americans said the situation was getting better than getting worse.
Today, there is widespread agreement among Americans in all parts of the country that the situation is getting worse. Between 62% and 68% of those living in the four major regions of the U.S. say it is worsening. These rates represent heightened concern over the prior week in all four regions, including increases of 13 percentage points for those living in the South and Midwest, 19 points for those in the West and 22 points for those in the Northeast.
Additionally, all major party groups are more inclined than they were the previous week to see the situation as getting worse, including an eight-point increase among Republicans, 18 points among independents and 15 points among Democrats. But the partisan gap remains vast, as 90% of Democrats, 63% of independents and 28% of Republicans believe the situation is getting worse. A majority of Republicans, 54%, say the situation is getting better.
Americans' greater pessimism is also apparent in the 74% who expect the level of disruption to travel, school, work and public events in the U.S. to persist through the end of this year (37%) or beyond that (37%). This represents a 10-point increase from the prior week in the percentage of U.S. adults who think the coronavirus situation will last at least until the end of the year. In early May, less than half of Americans expected the situation to last that long.
Line graph. Nearly three quarters of Americans expect the disruption brought about the coronavirus will last until the end of the year or longer than that. Nineteen percent believe it will last a few more months and 7% say it will last a few more weeks.
Ninety percent of Democrats, 75% of independents and 48% of Republicans expect disruptions to continue through the end of the year or longer.
The percentage of Americans who say they are very or somewhat worried about getting the coronavirus has increased from 48% to 56%, a level not seen since late April. It is also one point off the trend's record high of 57%, registered in the initial measurement the week of April 6-12.
A majority of 56% of Americans are worried about getting the coronavirus.
Worry about getting the virus has increased most among Northeastern residents (up 19 points, to 60%) and Western residents (up 15 points, to 58%), with little change among those living in the Midwest or South.
Democrats (74%) remain far more worried about getting COVID-19 than independents (50%) or Republicans (30%) -- but Republicans show the greatest increase in worry compared with the prior week, up from 22%.
The poll also finds a significant increase in the percentage of Americans who say the better advice for healthy people is to stay home as much as possible. Seventy-two percent now hold this view, up from 66% the previous week. This is the first time since the initial measurement of this question in late March -- during the initial surge in U.S. cases -- that there has been a meaningful increase in the percentage who say it is better for healthy people to stay home. Still, it remains lower than the 91% who advocated that course of action in March.
Twenty-eight percent now hold the opposing view -- that it is better for healthy people to lead their normal lives as much as possible to avoid interruptions to work and business.
Line graph. Seventy-two percent of Americans, up from 66%, a week ago, say the better advice for healthy people is to stay home as much as possible. Twenty eight percent say the better advice is to for healthy people to lead their normal lives as much as possible.
Relatedly, fewer Americans now (25%) than the prior week (32%) say they would resume their normal day-to-day activities "right now" if it were up to them. About the same percentage, 26%, now say they would resume their normal activities after the number of cases in their state declines significantly. This leaves about half of Americans indicating they would be more cautious about returning to normal -- with 30% saying they would do so when there are no new cases in their state, and 19% waiting for the development of a vaccine.
Americans may dispute whether the recent increase in new daily coronavirus cases represents a continuation of the first wave or the start of a second wave of infections -- but there is a growing public consensus that the situation is getting worse. An increase in new daily cases was not unexpected as business restrictions were eased, but the size of the increase in states like California, Texas, Florida and Arizona has caused governors there to rethink the pace of loosening those restrictions, if not reverse course on some of them.
The recent developments are a grim reminder that even as the number of new daily cases declined in recent months, the virus never went away. Consequently, Americans are increasingly likely to think the disruptions to daily life will persist in the U.S. through at least the end of this year.
Learn more about how the Gallup Panel works.
The thing is, Covid-19s resurgence was utterly predictable and predicted. When Donald Trump declared that we would transition to greatness which is to say, rush to reopen the economy despite a still-rampant pandemic epidemiologists warned that this could set off a new wave of infections. They were right.
And economists warned that while relaxing social distancing would lead to a brief period of job growth, these gains would be short-lived, that premature reopening would be self-defeating even in economic terms. They were also right.
Dont be fooled by the big jobs number in Thursdays employment report a number that still left us down almost 15 million jobs from February. The report was a snapshot of the economy during the reference period, basically the second week of June. So its telling us what was happening before the Covid-19 surge became apparent.
We dont have official data for what has happened since then, but a variety of real-time indicators suggest that the recovery has stalled or even gone backward. Indeed, things started falling apart even before states began reversing some of their previous moves to reopen. Fear of infection will do that: Many people will avoid going out whatever their governors may say.
As a result, unemployment, still in double digits, probably wont get much better for a long time.
Now, there isnt a one-to-one correspondence between jobs and the spread of the pandemic. If we had all worn masks and avoided stupid policies like reopening bars and resuming large indoor gatherings, we probably could have had substantial job gains without surging infections. But we didnt, largely because Trump and Republican governors refused to take sensible actions (and in many cases prevented mayors and other local officials from acting sensibly on their own).
Nor can we simply hit the reset button. Activities we could have safely resumed two months ago, when infection rates were low, arent safe to continue given todays much higher Covid-19 prevalence. That is, were in worse shape, even economically, than we would have been if Trump and his allies had taken the pandemic seriously early on.
The really frightening aspect about where we are is that Trump and his people dont seem to have learned anything from their coronavirus debacle. On Wednesday Wednesday! Trump insisted, as he has at every stage of the pandemic, that the coronavirus will sort of just disappear.
Atlanta The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is confirming SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a pet dog. This is only the second dog known to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the United States.
The 6-year-old mixed breed dog developed sudden onset of neurological illness which progressed rapidly over the course of a couple of days, and was humanely euthanized. The owners of the dog recently tested positive for COVID-19, but the dog did not have any evidence of respiratory disease. Out of an abundance of caution,a SARS-CoV-2 test was performed on the dog. The presumptive positive result was confirmed by the USDA National Veterinary Services Laboratory. While the dog did test positive for SARS-CoV-2, the progressive neurological illness was caused by another condition.
SARS-CoV-2 testing was also performed on a second dog in the household with no signs of acute illness; results are pending.
While little is known about SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals, they are not thought to be a source of infection for humans. People who test positive for COVID-19 should take precautions if they have pets in the household.
For more information on COVID-19 and animals please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html.
Read: What happens when kids dont see their peers for months
If kids are probably low-risk (in terms of both getting sick and transmitting), that doesnt necessarily mean states should go ahead and reopen schools. Thats because schools do not contain only children. This is not Lord of the Flies. The adults at schools may be at risk from interacting with kids, but also from interacting with one another, and with parents, and with other adults as they travel to and from work.
We have some information from abroad. France, Germany, Denmark, and other countries have reopened schools. Sweden has had schools open the whole time. Oddly, one of the most compelling pieces of evidence is provided by what we havent seen: much in the way of large-scale outbreaks linked to schools. Some cases, yesbut not super-spreader events like the ones documented all over the world at bars and meatpacking plants.
Beyond what we havent seen, some early information on adults at school is encouraging. In Denmark, some preliminary data suggest that teachers are not an especially high-risk group. A recent report out of Sweden looks at risks of exposure to COVID-19 by occupational group, and notes that school staff are not more likely than other occupations to contract the disease. Preschool and high-school teachers are actually less likely to get COVID-19. The highest-risk group here is driversof taxis and buses in particular.
An exception is Israel, where the school-reopening process has been up and down. Israel opened schools in May, but subsequently closed a number of them temporarily after detecting cases. The country had one large outbreak tied to a school. Perhaps Israel is faring less well than European countries because it opened with fewer social-distancing measures. But even in Israel, the total count of cases tied to schools since they reopened stands at about 300a very small share of the countrys students, teachers, and staff.
Read: The school reopeners think America is forgetting about kids
The above does not amount to airtight evidenceIve gleaned this information from a close reading of news reports, which is not how data gathering should work. I should not be trying to answer the question What is going on in schools that reopened? by Googling around; I resorted to that method because of the absence of a publicly available data set derived from a universal school-based testing regime. Some countries are collecting good data: In Germany, at least some schools are testing kids and teachers twice a week. This is great, but whatever Germany has found, it hasnt yet shared with the public.
If countries with open schools simply reported the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per school each weekif anythat would do wonders. In the U.S., schools are closed but some child-care centers and camps are open. Local governments should be collecting data from these sources. I started doing thisin an unscientific and nonrandom waysimply out of frustration that no one else was. This lack of information-gathering perhaps shouldnt be surprising, as the overall pandemic response in the U.S. has been worse than elsewhere; we have fallen down on testing, contact tracing, and everything else.
PUNTA GORDA
Health officials are trying to track down passengers on a flight from Punta Gorda to Albany, New York, after another passenger tested positive for COVID-19.
Officials are in the process of notifying people who may have been exposed to the virus in order to prevent them from spreading it even more.
Diane Scales of Cape Coral wasnt on the New York-bound flight, but expressed similar concerns as her Allegiant flight sat at the gate with mechanical issues.
There was no social distancing at all. We were touching each other elbow to elbow, she said.
It was absolutely full with 10 empty seats. They boarded us with no air conditioning, no moving air.
She chose to get off and not reboard. The uneasy feeling lingers with her today after she learned an Allegiant passenger contracted COVID-19.
Pamella Seay with the Charlotte County Airport Authority said we all have to do our part.
If you dont feel well, dont fly, she said.
Warren County (NY) health department officials issued an alert on Thursday, saying three of their residents contracted the virus while vacationing in Florida. They then boarded their flights home one on one flight and two on another and tested positive for COVID-19 days later.
Those flights from Florida to Albany included Allegiant Airlines flight 1505, which flew from Punta Gorda on June 25 (one person), and Allegiant Airlines flight 754, which flew from St. Petersburg/Clearwater on June 26 (two people).
One of the three Warren County residents who tested positive arrived home on June 25, before the state travel advisory for those who had been to Florida and 15 other states took effect.
The three new Florida-related cases were considered mild as of Thursday and were the only new cases confirmed among Warren County residents since June 24. The person whose test result was reported June 24 was cleared as recovered as of Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with the state and local health departments in New York to contact exposed passengers and crew.
With an airline, its very easy because you know exactly who was there. If youre in the grocery store, its not quite as easy, Seay said.
The infected passenger believes he or she contracted COVID-19 while in Florida and didnt start showing symptoms until arriving home. That person immediately self-quarantined.
The news makes travelers like Scales think twice about their next flight.
Unless I had to fly right now, I just would not, she said.
Its unclear if that traveler wore a mask on the flight. Allegiants mask mandate goes into effect Thursday.
Anyone who was on one of those flights is asked to contact their county Department of Health as soon as possible as they may have been exposed to the virus.
Warren County officials said Thursday they had a 30-day period of next to nothing in terms of new cases, but Wednesday, the three positive cases were reported.
These three new positive cases should serve as a wake-up call to anybody who isnt taking this virus seriously. New York State and the Capital Region have improved, but the threat remains and all the progress weve made can be undermined. Its no great mystery that Florida and many other states have been struggling with spikes in this virus. If you havent already gotten smart about your vacation decisions, then get smart. Youre putting yourself and your community at risk, said Ryan Moore, county administrator with Warren County.
CDC statement:
Under current federal regulations, pilots must report all illnesses and deaths to CDC before arriving to a U.S. destination. According to CDC disease protocols, if a sick traveler is considered a risk to the publics health, CDC works with local and state health departments and international public health agencies to contact exposed passengers and crew.
Potentially exposed persons will be contacted using the information provided by travelers to the airline. That is why it is important travelers give airlines current contact information when booking tickets to ensure they can be notified if they were exposed to a sick traveler on a flight.
Read Stateline coverage of the latest state action on coronavirus.
COVID-19 has raged throughout U.S. jails and prisons, where people live together in close quarters and there is little opportunity for social distancing, a lack of basic sanitary supplies and high rates of chronic disease.
While inmates mostly stay behind concrete walls and barbed wire, those barriers cant contain an infectious disease like COVID-19. Not only can the virus be brought into jails and prisons, but it also can leave those facilities and spread widely into surrounding communities and beyond.
The effect may be most pronounced in jails, which mainly house those who are awaiting trial or inmates serving short sentences. Those facilities tend to have more churn than state and federal penitentiaries, with greater numbers of people entering and leaving, thereby increasing opportunities for the disease to disseminate.
Two new studies show that jails can contribute enormously to coronavirus case totals outside their walls. While COVID-19s spread inside the facilities has been widely reported, the research demonstrates just how great an impact it can have in communities outside.
Depending on the social distancing measures put in place, community spread from infections in jails could add between 99,000 and 188,000 people to the virus U.S. death toll, according to a modeling study recently published by the American Civil Liberties Union in conjunction with researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Tennessee and Washington State University.
The report was released in April, when some experts were predicting that the U.S. death toll would remain below 100,000. As of June 30, more than 125,800 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States.
A peer-reviewed study set to appear in the health policy journal Health Affairsechoes that finding. The researchers found that cycling through Cook County Jail was associated with 15.9% of COVID-19 cases in Chicago and 15.7% in Illinois as of late April.
Although currently available data are inadequate to establish a clear causal relation, the studys authors write, these provisional findings are consistent with the hypothesis that arrest and jailing practices are augmenting infection rates in highly policed neighborhoods.
Cook County officials, including officials from the Chicago Department of Public Health, have pushed back hard on the report, calling it a fantasy filled with assumptions bordering on lies. They say it is based on old data that did not account for changes the jail had made to stop the spread of the virus, including testing and allowing for quarantining.
According to the county sheriffs office, as of last week, 778 inmates at the county jail and 362 of its workers tested positive for the virus. Seven inmates and three employees have died.
The authors of the Health Affairs paper said they stand by their conclusions.
COVID-19 already has infected about 60,000 prisoners and correctional staff and killed more than 600 of them, according to the Marshall Project, which tracks the virus toll in correctional facilities. Many jails and prisons have reduced their inmate populations to reduce exposures.
The results of the ACLU and Health Affairs studies underline a point that many in public health have long advanced: Public health in the wider world is tethered to the health of those who are incarcerated.
This is why public health officials say correctional health is public health, said Dr. Brie Williams, a professor and researcher at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and director of Amend, a group that works to improve inmate health.
Stateline Story June 29, 2020
Its not only released inmates, many of whom end up in crowded homeless shelters, who might carry the virus into communities. There are also risks of infection from inmates making court appearances or receiving medical care at hospitals in the community.
Infectious diseases move back and forth between communities and prisons. That was the case with tuberculosis in the 19th and 20th centuries and with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and beyond.
In recent years, that point was made again in relation to hepatitis C, a communicable disease with high rates of infection in prisons because of the large numbers of incarcerated intravenous drug users. Sharing needles is one of the primary means of hepatitis C transmission.
One of the arguments public health experts used to urge local, state and federal governments to treat inmates with hepatitis Cwith highly effective but expensive medications was that knocking out the infection in prisons would prevent its spread beyond those walls. The difference between this pandemic and those other diseases, epidemiologists say, is that because COVID-19 is transmitted through respiratory droplets in the air, it spreads much more easily.
The United States is particularly vulnerable to diseases spreading near correctional institutions. Its incarceration rate is the highest in the world, at 655 people out of every 100,000, according to World Prison Brief. With 2.1 million inmates, the United States also imprisons more people than any other country, nearly 412,000 more than China, which ranks second.
About 738,000 of those prisoners are in local jails, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. But that number is just a point-in-time snapshot. During the course of a year, 4.9 million people cycle through local jails, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts think tank.
Additionally, federal labor statistics show that jails employ about 151,000 correctional officers who can bring infections into facilities or take them home.
Stateline Story September 25, 2018
Most cases in jails have not originated with inmates, said Dr. Alysse Wurcel, an infectious disease physician at Tufts Medical Center who sees patients at six area jails and is a consultant to the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association. Weve discussed with the sheriffs association that early on, clusters were initiated by people working in the jails, not by those newly incarcerated.
There is a racial component to the concern about prisons and the pandemic. Disproportionate numbers of inmates are people of color, and the coronavirus is killing Blackand Hispanic people at higher rates than their shares of the overall population. Those two data points have not escaped the notice of public health experts.
Were in an epidemic of mass incarceration of Black people at the same time as a disease epidemic that is disproportionately affecting minorities, said Dr. Liz Barnert, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, who studies correctional health.
The pandemic has lent impetus to the growing movement to depopulate jails and prisons. Since the pandemic began, many states and local jurisdictions have taken steps to reduce inmate populations, releasing nonviolent offenders, granting more compassionate-releases and issuing citations rather than arresting alleged offenders.
Jails in California, Michigan, Massachusetts and North Dakota have released hundreds of prisoners. So have state prisons in those and other states. Many jurisdictions report large decreases in arrests.
Other states have done relatively little. Just last week, the Omaha World-Herald reported that the Nebraska prison system is 51% above capacity.
Public health experts insist that reducing jail and prison populations must continue, for the greater good of all.
Decreasing the risk of spread of COVID-19 in jails and prisons decreases the risk of spread out in communities, Williams said. And increasing the spread in jails and prisons increases the risk of spread in communities.
The city of Chicago will shut down bars that arent following social distancing guidelines and increase patrols in problem areas, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other officials told liquor license holders on a conference call ahead of the Fourth of July weekend.
If you squander this opportunity we will shut you down and you will not reopen anytime soon, Lightfoot said on the call, according to two sources.
On the call, the city said that the Chicago Police Department and Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department would be proactively canvassing problems areas, with potential for immediate closure orders and citations of up to $10,000 each on bar owners that arent following rules.
Illinois health officials Thursday reported 869 new known cases of COVID-19 and 36 additional confirmed fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 144,882 and the confirmed death toll to 6,987.
Heres whats happening Thursday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
5:23 p.m.: Lightfoot orders anyone coming to Chicago from states where COVID-19 is surging to quarantine for 14 days
People coming to Chicago from 15 states experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases must self-quarantine for 14 days upon entering the city beginning next week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced late Thursday afternoon.
The city ordered the quarantine for anyone who has spent more than 24 hours in the following states before arriving in Chicago: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
The order, which will go into effect on Monday, does not apply to people who are at the airport for a connecting flight or driving through the city on their way elsewhere, city officials said.
Like every action we have taken in response to the COVID-19 crisis, this decision was difficult but necessary in order to ensure the continued health and safety of Chicagos residents and businesses, Lightfoot said in a statement.
Anyone violating the order could face fines of $100 to $500 per day, up to a maximum $7,000, the city said.Under the order, quarantine means staying at a single designated home or dwelling for 14 days before doing any activities outside of the home or dwelling, the city said.
The order by Lightfoot mirrors a similar measure taken in New York City. It was unclear how the city plans to monitor or enforce the order.With neighboring Indiana and other states pausing their reopening plans or even moving backward as new cases of the coronavirus surge, officials in Chicago and Illinois said Wednesday they have no plans to alter loosened rules that took effect statewide last week.
Lightfoot previously said the city tracks its data closely and will not hesitate to take action if they see an upward swing. Gregory Pratt
4:23 p.m.: Hurricane Harbor may reopen soon, but Six Flags Great America still questionable
Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water parks in Gurnee and Rockford may be reopening soon, though a reopening for Six Flags Great America remains less certain.
More than a month has passed since Six Flags laid out how it thought it could reopen as safely as possible considering the ongoing pandemic, but its Gurnee-based amusement and water parks remain closed, as do all amusement parks, trampoline parks and indoor playgrounds.
Six Flags has received word from the Governors Office that its two water parks are allowed to begin opening, spokeswoman Caitlin Kepple said. An opening date has not yet been set.
Our full-time team is now back on property and working to implement our comprehensive reopening safety plan so that we can welcome guests to Hurricane Harbor Chicago and Hurricane Harbor Rockford soon, she said in an email. Read more here. Emily K. Coleman
4:21 p.m.: Of the COVID-19 pregnancy cases reported in Illinois, Black and Latina women make up over 70%
At around 25 weeks pregnant with her first child, a 21-year-old Hispanic woman became infected with COVID-19.
The young womans doctors at St. Anthony Hospital in Little Village were just learning more about the coronavirus as it hit Illinois in the spring, and they wanted to monitor the babys growth.
But her insurance did not initially approve the growth ultrasound, her doctors said. So they had to wait to schedule a scan to check her baby. This delayed their ability to assess the pregnancy and created extra stress.
There were a lot of barriers for her, said Margarita Flores, a St. Anthony midwife who helped treat her.
When she delivered in June, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia high blood pressure in pregnancy that can lead to serious, or even fatal, complications for both mom and baby. The baby was born small.
The mom and her baby, whose names were not shared for privacy reasons, are doing well now, said Flores and her doctors.
The coronavirus has amplified the challenges pregnant women face. And even more so for Black and Latina women, who might be disproportionately affected by COVID-19, according torecent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, and who experience extra burdens of not only implicit racism within the health care industry, but also socioeconomic factors that can impact their ability to access care. Read more here. Alison Bowen
3:32 p.m.: Chili Davis, the former Cubs hitting coach, will work remotely when the Mets open camp because of COVID-19 concerns
Former Chicago Cubs hitting coach Chili Davis will keep working remotely when the New York Mets open summer training camp Friday.
The New York Post was first to report that Davis, 60, wont be on site at Citi Field for the beginning of practices because of concerns about the coronavirus.
The timeline for him to join us is uncertain yet, Mets manager Luis Rojas said on a video call Thursday.
The Post, citing unidentified sources in its report, said Davis does not have the virus.
Davis was the Cubs hitting coach in 2018 but was fired nine days after the Rockies beat the Cubs in the National League wild-card game. Read more here. Mike Fitzpatrick
2:31 p.m.: 869 new known COVID-19 cases, 36 additional deaths
Illinois health officials Thursday reported 869 new known cases of COVID-19 and 36 additional confirmed fatalities, bringing the total number of known cases to 144,882 and the confirmed death toll to 6,987.
1:44 p.m.: Federal judge denies GOP request to prevent Pritzkers crowd limit rule from applying to political gatherings
A federal judge on Thursday denied the Illinois Republican Partys request to temporarily block Gov. J.B. Pritzkers ban on gatherings of more than 50 people from applying to political gatherings.
The lawsuit, filed last month by the state GOP and three local Republican organizations, alleges the rules in Pritzkers order violate the First and 14th amendments. It asks the court to exempt political parties from the cap on gatherings and seeks permission to hold in-person events without size restrictions in the runup to the November election.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis wrote in a 21-page ruling Thursday that the GOP groups have not shown how this exemption is a plain invasion of their constitutional rights and denied their request for a temporary restraining order.
1:24 p.m.: Illinois Holocaust Museum reopens July 15 in Skokie
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in north suburban Skokie will reopen to visitors July 15 with free admission for the day and limits on the number of visitors at any one time. The museum, devoted to the subject of the Holocaust in mission but in practice embracing a wide range of subjects and exhibits having to do with tolerance and human rights, also has announced an extension of the popular current Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The exhibit about the Supreme Court justice and her popularity now will run through Jan. 3, 2021. Before the closure, said museum marketing vice president Marcy Larson, RBG had been on track to be one of the most popular weve ever had.
1:22 p.m.: Brookfield Zoo has reopened, and the animals might outnumber the humans
Brookfield Zoo is reopening this week, albeit slowly, with lions and tigers and zoo members first. The zoos gates swung open Wednesday for those holding seasonal memberships, with the general public to follow July 8. Tickets are being sold at reduced capacity, with timed admissions and only in advance.
On a hot and sunny first morning with temperatures edging their way towards 90 degrees, those admissions were just a trickle, with whole tree-lined boulevards inside the park free from strollers, crowds, humans of any kind. If youve ever wanted to feel like it was just you and the animals, this is your chance.
But be warned not all exhibits are open yet. Visitors will not be able to enter any of the indoor habitats so still closed are the primate houses, the dolphins and aquatic shows, and all of the indoor bird and aviary exhibits. But that leaves a lot open in the zoos 216 acres of grounds including the lions, tigers and big cats, bears, hoofed animals such as bison and zebra, kangaroos and more.
1:21 p.m.: Mayor Lori Lightfoot, city officials threaten to shut down bars that dont follow social distancing guidelines
The city of Chicago will shut down bars that arent following social distancing guidelines and increase patrols in problem areas, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other officials told liquor license holders on a conference call ahead of the Fourth of July weekend.
If you squander this opportunity we will shut you down and you will not reopen anytime soon, Lightfoot said on the call, according to two sources.
Maureen Martino, executive director of the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce, said the message from the mayor was clear and stern.
Obviously the mayor has been very careful about reopening because of the virus and we dont want to go backwards. Its everyones best interests to follow the rules, Martino said. A couple bad operators can set us back. Were hoping to make the mayor proud this weekend.
On the call, the city said that the Chicago Police Department and Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department would be proactively canvassing problems areas, with potential for immediate closure orders and citations of up to $10,000 each on bar owners that arent following rules.
A PowerPoint slide with that message said: The time for education is over.
12:23 p.m.: Horses stand idle and clowns call it quits as the coronavirus cancels Illinois rodeos. This is the first time ever that we wont have a rodeo.
Forty horses are crowded around Lenora Calzavara, their breath hot and their tails swishing.
These arent riding horses, waiting for someone to take them out for a trot. These are rodeo horses, bred for their ability to buck riders off in less than eight seconds.
A horse named Mafia Witch is the queen bee in the bunch, with her witchy-white mane blowing in the wind. She was the 2016 world champion bareback horse.
Theres her son, a blonde called Capone; another bareback bronc, the copper-colored mare named Angel Heart, and Shaken Not Stirred, a light brown saddle bronc who bucks his riders out of the saddle.
Summer is usually the busiest time of year for the horses, who travel from rodeo to rodeo, throwing off riders and entertaining crowds.
But for months, the horses havent done much besides graze on Calzavaras pasture in Harvard, Illinois.
They are all bored to death because this is the first time ever that we wont have a rodeo, said Calzavara, owner of Big Hat Rodeo.
10:25 a.m.: Alabama college students held coronavirus parties and whoever got virus first won cash prize, officials say
Several college students in an Alabama city organized COVID-19 parties as a contest to see who would get the virus first, officials said.
Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students hosted the parties to intentionally infect each other with the new coronavirus, news outlets reported.
McKinstry said party organizers purposely invited guests who tested positive for COVID-19. She said the students put money in a pot and whoever got COVID first would get the cash.
It makes no sense, McKinstry said. Theyre intentionally doing it.
10:20 a.m.: Bars and nightclubs are becoming dangerous hot spots for COVID-19, health experts warn'
When the bars in Michigan reopened in June, Tony Hild forgot about face masks, social distancing and caution and headed out to Harpers Restaurant and Brewpub, a popular spot in the college town of East Lansing. There was a line out the door. Inside were 200 people dancing, drinking and shouting over the music.
It was just so crowded, and Im like, This is going against everything Im told not to do, said Hild, 23, a college student. But I didnt think I was going to get it.
As people eager for a night out flood back into public after months of confinement, public health experts say that college-town bars, nightclubs and corner taverns are becoming dangerous new hot spots for the coronavirus, seeding infections in thousands of mostly young adults and adding to surging cases nationwide.
Louisiana health officials tied at least 100 coronavirus cases to bars in the Tigerland nightlife district in Baton Rouge. Minnesota has traced 328 recent cases to bars across the state.
And in East Lansing, home to Michigan State University, nearly 140 cases have been linked to Harpers, Hild included. He came down with a sore throat, chest pains and fatigue, and by then more than a week later he had already visited four other restaurants.
10:18 a.m.: For some suburban theaters, reopening not feasible with fraction of audience capacity
As some entertainment venues are starting to slowly welcome patrons back, others are finding its not feasible to open under the states Phase 4 guidelines.
Among those is the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Downers Grove, part of the family-owned Classic Cinemas movie theaters. The historic 1,012-seat theater had planned to open June 26, but was caught off guard when the guidelines issued June 22 in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan allowed for a lower audience capacity than anticipated. Per the states guidelines, theaters should operate at lesser of 50 guests OR 50% of overall theater or performance space capacity.
We can open, but ... because (the Tivoli) only has a single screen, that would be 50 people per show time and theres no way we can make that work financially, said Chris Johnson, CEO of Classic Cinemas.
It doesnt mean we wont reopen at some point, it just makes it extremely challenging.'
10 a.m.: Wrigley Field rooftops reach agreement with city to open for Cubs games, rooftop manager says
The city of Chicago has approved rooftops around Wrigley Field opening at 25 percent capacity for Cubs games, according to the general manager of a rooftop venue.
"We can open our rooftop," said Freddy Fagenholz, general manager of Murphy's Rooftop.
Fagenholz said he received a call from the city Wednesday that their license was approved with safety restrictions related to COVID-19.
9:15 a.m.: Whats it like as COVID-19 Phase 4 allows jazz clubs like Andys to reopen
When Chicago guitarist Andy Brown headed out for his gig Wednesday night at Andys Jazz Club, he realized hed forgotten something.
I was so excited as I walked out of my house, I was halfway to my garage when I realized what he had left behind, Brown told the audience during his first set. My guitar.
So he rushed back inside to get it.Thats what happens when you havent played a concert gig in 3-1/2 months.
But Brown and his bandmates pianist Jeremy Kahn and bassist Joe Policastro clearly have been practicing during the shutdown, judging by their exuberant performance at Andys, which reopened last weekend. Each instrumentalist packed so much melodic content and rhythmic drive into their solos, it sounded as if they were unleashing a torrent of pent-up musicality. Which, of course, they were.
I was sort of planning for this period, said Brown in an interview. The game hadnt even begun till this past weekend, when phase four of the states reopening plan allowed clubs to reopen at 25% occupancy.
7:05 a.m.: Chicago to focus on ticketing bar, restaurant violations of COVID-19 guidelines over July 4 weekend
Chicagos Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department on Thursday will begin ramping up its enforcement of health guidelines for phase four of the states coronavirus reopening plan, especially at bars and restaurants, according to a news release from the mayors office.
The city has focused on reaching out and educating businesses up to this point, but this weekend expects to focus on writing tickets up to $10,000 related to social distancing, capacity limits and face coverings, according to the release.
City inspectors also are now able to immediately order the close of businesses they believe are committing egregious violations of the guidelines, according to the release.
Among the rules under the citys version of phase four: customers must practice social distancing and use face coverings; bars and restaurants have to keep to 25% of indoor capacity or 50 people; alcohol sales end at 11 p.m.; and lines outside must be managed.
The citys encouraging anyone who sees violations to call 311.
Since phase three of COVID-19 reopening began June 3, the city has issued 59 warnings or notices to correct and 9 citations, after 377 investigations of violations.
6 a.m.: Lightfoot dismissed questions about ability to afford new CTU contract if economy tanked. Then COVID-19 hit, damaging CPS budget for years.
After the Chicago Board of Education approved an expensive new teachers contract last fall following a bitter strike, Mayor Lori Lightfoot dismissed as 100% wrong the notion that the school district could have trouble affording the deal if there was an economic downturn.
Then came COVID-19, stay-at-home orders and a resulting recession that has hammered public finances across the country. Now, the financial fault lines that the Tribune identified have been breached as Chicago Public Schools officials try to put together a new spending plan in the coming weeks.
There are short-term problems: The state, which has its own financial woes, did not include extra education funding in its new budget that CPS was counting on to help pay for the teacher contract. And property tax collections the district is heavily relying on could decline because people and businesses might not have the wherewithal to pay their bills.
Over the longer haul, the school district faces the double-whammy prospect of further erosion in property tax collections and higher pension contribution costs triggered by the economic downturn, budget analysts said.
6 a.m.: You think the first half of 2020 was unpredictable? Wait until the second half.
The first six months of 2020 have been, shall we say, a lot: a whipsaw presidential primary, a worldwide pandemic, economic collapse and massive, sometimes violent protests over police brutality and racial injustice.
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As Utah tops 10,000 active coronavirus cases for the first time, doctors are warning residents to try their best to limit their exposure to the virus during the Fourth of July weekend.
Based on our experience with Memorial Day and the clear fatigue that were sensing in the community, I think its unrealistic to expect that we will see dramatic changes in behavior, said Dr. Brandon Webb, an infectious disease specialist at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray.
But Im also hopeful that community members are more and more aware that our case counts have gone up and community transmission has gone up, he added. So Im hopeful the community can pull together and celebrate our freedoms by being respectful of each other and being prudent.
Epidemiologists believe that one in every 50 to 100 asymptomatic people along the Wasatch Front is shedding COVID-19 which means exposure should be expected in any crowd of more than 50 people, from big family reunions to grocery stores, Webb said.
With 554 new cases reported on Thursday, there have now been 23,270 Utahns diagnosed with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Of them, 13,076 are considered recovered that is, they have survived for more than three weeks after testing positive. That left 10,194 active cases on Thursday.
And four more Utahns have died from COVID-19, including two who apparently were not receiving hospital care when they died.
Two Salt Lake County men, one between the ages of 25 and 44 and the other age 65 to 84, were not hospitalized when they died, according to UDOH.
The vast majority of Utahns who have died from coronavirus have died in hospitals or at long-term care facilities. Health officials did not immediately disclose the reason two of the deaths announced on Thursday occurred outside of hospital care. The Salt Lake County Health Department also did not immediately respond to inquiries as to why the men werent hospitalized.
The third Utahn who died was Cache County resident Tomas Alejandro Lopez Castaon, 83, according to a published obituary and his familys social media posts. Lopez, who died Tuesday, lived in North Logan. Angie White, epidemiologist at Bear River Health Department, did not identify Lopez by name, but said the man who died went to a hospital with breathing problems and died that same day.
The three new deaths bring the states death toll from COVID-19 to 176.
There were 3,028 test results reported on Thursday, with 18.3% testing positive. Its the second day in a row with positive test rates higher than 18% something that has only happened on two other days before this week.
New hospitalizations remained high, with 29 new admissions reported on Thursday and 184 patients currently occupying Utahs hospital beds. In total, 1,505 Utahns have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
We had a COVID-19 surge after Memorial Day. Our hospitals cant handle another one, state epidemiologist Angela Dunn warned in a tweet Thursday.
Two local governments in Utah added new mask requirements just before the weekend began. Grand Country and the city of Springdale joined other areas of the state with a mandate for face coverings.
Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday granted requests the city and county made for the mandate, according to a FOX 13 report. Grand County includes two national parks Arches and Canyonlands as well as the town of Moab, popular with tourists. Zion National Park is located not far from Springdale.
The mandates go into effect Friday. Salt Lake and Summit counties also have mask mandates. The Salt Lake County Department of Health on Thursday extended its mandate through Aug. 20.
Utahns should wear masks to any gatherings and try their best to keep a 6-foot distance from others, Webb said.
There are ways to still be together and enjoy the summer but in a safe way, Webb said. If people are taking this seriously and keeping the 6-foot distancing ... and if theyre outside especially, if theres excellent airflow, and if people are wearing masks, transmission rates could be very, very low, Webb said.
Some activities are safer than others, Webb said. Frisbee and baseball: Good. Fireworks viewing: Fine if you avoid crowds and observe wildfire restrictions.
Potlucks and buffet-style picnics: Probably not a good idea.
Not to throw shade at picnics, but I think its good to recognize that eating together is higher-risk activity than some other things that people can do together, Webb said. Just eating in general is not a low-risk activity because were touching our faces and you cant wear a mask while youre eating.
Households should bring their own food and drinks to gatherings, rather than sharing food, to avoid exposing each other to the virus, he added.
