Springfield News
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APR 24, 2020
A Sangamon County Judge on Thursday granted a temporary halt to a move from Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration that would automatically make essential workers who contract coronavirus eligible for workers’ compensation without first having to prove they caught it on the job. Meanwhile, the Illinois State Board of Elections acknowledged a federal ruling that loosens signature requirements for third-party candidates like the Libertarian and Green parties during the 2020 election cycle. -
Two influential business groups sued Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration this week over an emergency move made by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission to automatically approve workers’ compensation for essential employees who contract coronavirus, creating the “rebuttable presumption” that any essential worker who contracts the virus did so at work.
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The number of new confirmed coronavirus cases reported in Illinois soared to more than 2,000 in one day for the first time on Wednesday, with the number of daily confirmed tests of the virus reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health finally nearing a key figure: 10,000.
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APR 22, 2020
UNLOCKEDFour days after Illinois’ general obligation bonds saw a downgrade from Fitch Ratings Inc. to one notch above junk status, Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday warned the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying economic consequences will strain the state’s creditworthiness and “are likely to exacerbate the already substantial financial challenges that Illinois faces.”
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APR 22, 2020
Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday acknowledged the peak of the coronavirus’ spread in Illinois — once forecasted for mid-April — likely won’t come for another few weeks, as 119 more people were reported dead after being diagnosed with Covid-19, pushing the death toll to 1,468.
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Four days after Gov. JB Pritzker announced substantial increases to coronavirus testing capacity in Illinois, the daily number of new test results reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health was barely half of the 10,000 test per day benchmark Pritzker set out in late March as the state’s goal to accurately predict the location and spread of Covid-19.
[Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
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An emergency workers’ compensation rule approved last week that would automatically approve workers’ compensation for essential employees who contract the coronavirus will stand, as the commission with the power to question the rule has canceled its meeting this week.
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APR 20, 2020
UNLOCKEDFind the latest COVID-19 case counts and case demographics for your area, as reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health, with the lookup tool below, presented here in collaboration with The Chicago Reporter.
IDPH is not providing ZIP code-level data in ZIP codes with fewer than six cases for privacy reasons, so this data is not exhaustive. Additionally, some location data has yet to be provided by commercial laboratories.
<br />import {Runtime, Inspector} from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@observablehq/runtime@4/dist/runtime.js";<br />import define from "https://api.observablehq.com/@chicagoreporter/covid-19-in-illinois-zip-code-lookup.js?v=3";<br />const inspect = Inspector.into("#observablehq-421bbffc");<br />(new Runtime).module(define, name => (name === "viewof IllinoisCovidMap") && inspect());<br />
COVID-19 data source: Illinois Department of Public Health. Some data has yet to be provided by commercial laboratories (including counties). IDPH is working with commercial labs to obtain the necessary data. All numbers displayed are provisional and subject to change. ZIP code is ZIP code of residence, which may not be location of exposure.
Geographic and population data source: US Census/American Community Survey. Per-capita figures are not calculated for ZIP codes with population margin of error greater than ± 10%. This map and figures display US Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs). The boundaries of ZCTAs may vary slightly from from postal ZIP codes. -
“Millions” of gloves and masks will arrive in a second chartered flight from China on Monday, Gov. JB Pritzker announced over the weekend, defending his administration’s decision to obtain personal protective equipment through third parties sourced from China.
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Illinois’ death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 1,000 lives on Thursday, with 125 new Illinoisans counted among the dead — by far the most deadly 24-hour period yet in the state’s fight against Covid-19.
