Pritzker expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to residents under age 65 with a range of preexisting health conditions as state reports 2,825 new cases and 53 more deaths
11:28 a.m.: CDC study finds two masks are better than one in slowing the spread of coronavirus, but stopped short of recommending everyone double up
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U.S. government researchers found that two masks are better than one in slowing coronavirus spread, but health officials stopped short of recommending that everyone double up.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported the results of a lab experiment that spaced two artificial heads 6 feet from each other and checked to see how many coronavirus-sized particles spewed by one were inhaled by the other.
The researchers found that wearing one mask — surgical or cloth — blocked around 40% of the particles coming toward the head that was breathing in. When a cloth mask was worn on top of a surgical mask, about 80% were blocked.
When both the exhaling and inhaling heads were double-masked, more than 95% of the particles were blocked, said the CDC’s Dr. John Brooks.
11:09 a.m.: Chicago public health commissioner says city could push back phase 1c vaccine start date if city doesn’t get more doses
Chicago public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady has warned the city could push back the start date for vaccinating a broader range of residents if the federal government doesn’t send more doses.
“If we don’t get significantly more vaccine, like we’re anticipating, it’s possible we may have to push the date for 1C back, but at this point, we’re going with the projections,” Arwady said Tuesday.
City officials have for weeks emphasized that the vaccine supply so far remains limited. The city, like the rest of the country, remains in phase 1b of its vaccination program, which launched in December.
7:42 a.m.: With some Kane County deputies reluctant to get vaccine, Sheriff’s Office begins administering to judges, attorneys
The Kane County Sheriff’s Office is now administering COVID-19 vaccinations at its facility to law enforcement, judges, state’s attorneys and public defenders in the county.
The new clinic within the Sheriff’s Office opens at a time when some people in area law enforcement — who are eligible in Phase 1B of the vaccine’s rollout — are showing a reluctance to get the shot.
In Phase 1B, vaccines are available to seniors over age 65 and front-line workers such as teachers, first responders, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers.
Kane County Board member Jarret Sanchez, chairman of the board’s Public Health Committee that oversees the Kane County Health Department, said on Feb. 3 that about 50% of municipal police officers refused the vaccine when it was offered to them.
Kane County Board member Ken Shepro, who works as an attorney for the Fox River & Countryside Fire/Rescue District, said many younger firefighters are declining the vaccine.
6 a.m.: Chicago Teachers Union approves school reopening framework, CPS in-person classes resume Thursday: ‘We got what we were able to take’
Chicago Teachers Union members have voted two-to-one in favor of a reopening deal with Chicago Public Schools, signaling that in-person classes can resume Thursday as planned.
The union’s 25,000 members had through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday to vote on proposed framework after its 600-member House of Delegates on Monday decided to put the decision in members’ hands. Now ratified, it is a binding agreement between CTU and CPS.
The union swiftly certified the results, with more than 20,000 members voting. More than two-thirds voted yes, while nearly a third voted no, and only a simple majority was needed to pass. The number of yes votes accounts for close to 55% of total membership.
In a letter to members, CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the plan represents where the parties should have started months ago.
“We did not get what we wanted or what we deserved,” Sharkey said. “We got what we were able to take. CTU members fought hard and sacrificed for this, so we have to protect and use it.”
6 a.m.: Hecky’s Barbecue keeps going: ‘We know we’re an institution in Evanston and we want to live up to that reputation’
Hecky Powell believed in divine order, as does his wife Cheryl Judice, owner of Hecky’s Barbecue. They opened the restaurant almost 40 years ago in Evanston, just north of Chicago.
“My husband was quite a force in the community,” said Judice, a sociologist and author. “He was always called the unofficial mayor of Evanston, but his real goal was to operate our business pretty much as a social service for many years.”
A lifelong champion and challenger of the progressive suburb north of the city, Powell died at 71 last May of COVID-19 complications.
“His death will always be aligned with COVID, but my husband had been the recipient of a living donor liver transplant in 2011,” said Judice. “He was doing just fine with that, but over the last year I had noticed a decline in his health. When COVID hit, that just took him out much more quickly.”
He was the face of the business. She had always worked in the background, handling its finances, taxes and accounting. Those are her forte, she said.
“It’s not as if I’ve stepped into something I don’t know about,” said Judice. “The only thing that I didn’t really know about was the day-to-day operations of the business.”
Hecky’s still has familiar faces. General manager Floyd Johnson started as a dishwasher two weeks after the restaurant opened. Assistant manager Aracely Rodriguez has worked behind the counter about a dozen years. Daughter Gigi Powell is in the restaurant almost all the time. Sister-in-law Patsy Powell returned last summer to where she worked with her brother in the ’80s.
“We’ve always been carryout,” said Judice. “So we didn’t have to make any adjustments for dining in, because that was never an option. We added curbside pickup for people who didn’t want to come in. Even with the pandemic, quite frankly we have done well.”