Monday live coronavirus updates: Trump questions bailout for states ‘like Illinois’
Trump questions bailout money for states ‘like Illinois’
President Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday to question why “poorly run states (like Illinois, as example)“ should receive “bailout help.”
Last week, Trump supported the idea of giving money to state and local governments to help them recover from the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, The Chicago Tribune reported. Decreased tax revenue projections have government leaders worried about their budgets.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, meantime, suggested states consider filing for bankruptcy, an idea Gov. J.B. Pritzker rejected.
SSM Health furloughs workers
SSM Health, a Catholic nonprofit health care system with providers in Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, will furlough 5% of its workforce, according to a news release from the company.
The furloughs come as the coronavirus pandemic reduces the number of patients doctors in the health care system can see. Patient volume has decreased by half, according to SSM.
The system also froze executive compensation, placed a hold on hiring and reduced other expenses by 20%. Additional employees outside the roughly 2,000 placed on furlough will go on partial furlough. SSM plans to provide a back-to-work bonus if they haven’t earned their full wages through unemployment benefits or through other public assistance.
Employees will continue to receive health care benefits.
It was not clear how many of the furloughs would affect employees at metro-east locations. SSM Health operates doctors and physical therapy offices throughout southern Illinois and the St. Louis region.
Pritzker says schools should prepare for fall e-learning
SPRINGFIELD — When questioned about schooling in the state during a daily news briefing in Chicago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said school administrators and teachers should spend time this summer preparing for in-person education and improving their e-learning curriculum.
“It is still unclear what things will look like over the summer and the fall,” he said. “But without knowing the answer, e-learning is an important thing for us to develop either way.”
Pritzker said the pandemic highlighted how many districts were unprepared to administer e-learning. In response, the State Board of Education has financial resources available to assist them in bulking up their programs.
“I think that in the future, we’ll be using e-learning more and more, even in the absence of a pandemic,” the governor added.
This report came from the Capitol News Bureau’s Rebecca Anzel.
Modeling shows coronavirus could peak in Illinois May 19
New models from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show coronavirus cases in Illinois could peak on May 19, but experts warned that estimate is based on stringent tracking and testing, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Health officials would have to implement aggressive tracing, tracking and isolating measures. Large gatherings would have to be restricted in order to meet a late-May peak.
At a news conference in Chicago on Friday, Nigel Goldenfeld, a physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said modeling is a complicated procedure and is rarely exact.
Goldenfeld compared modeling to attempting to determine the trajectory of a rocket if “you don’t know where it started from, in what direction it was pointing and how much fuel it had on board, and you can’t even see the rocket.”
Illinois’ latest statewide coronavirus numbers Monday include 50 new deaths
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported another increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the state Monday.
During the state’s daily COVID-19 news conference, officials announced 1,980 new cases and 50 additional deaths.
The announcement brings the statewide total of positive coronavirus cases to 45,883 and the total number of deaths to 1,983.
Southwestern Illinois coronavirus cases
Here’s a breakdown of the 1,041 COVID-19 cases in southwestern Illinois as of Monday afternoon. These numbers are updated by 4 p.m. daily at BND.com.
- St. Clair: 404 positives, 23 deaths, 1,780 tests administered, 29 tests pending
- Madison: 308 positives, 19 deaths, 73 hospitalizations, 94 recoveries
- Monroe: 67 positives, 10 deaths
- Clinton: 91 positives, one death, 355 tests administered, 16 recoveries
- Bond: Five positives, one death, 90 tests administered, two tests pending, three recoveries
- Washington: Eight positive, five recoveries
- Randolph: 106 positive, one death, three hospitalizations, 48 recoveries
- Jersey: 12 positive, five recoveries
- Macoupin: 30 positive, 495 tests administered, 22 tests pending, 18 recoveries
- Calhoun: One positive, one recovery
- Perry: Nine positive
Postponed and canceled events
The News-Democrat has compiled a list of events in Illinois and St. Louis that have been canceled due to concerns about coronavirus.
You can find the list at BND.com.
Want to help? Here’s what you need to know
The BND has compiled a list of ways you can help during the coronavirus pandemic.
Go to BND. com to learn about the opportunities to volunteer your time or donate to help communities in the metro-east without putting yourself or others at risk.
You can sew face masks, read stories for people with vision loss and deliver meals to seniors.
If you know of a recognized charitable organization looking for help that isn’t listed, please tell us about it; send an email to newsroom@bnd.com or fill out the BND’s Southwest Illinois coronavirus service and assistance guide online at BND.com.
Get the latest news on coronavirus
BND.com will keep you updated through the day with information about the spread of coronavirus through southwestern Illinois.
You can also find the most complete and up-to-date information from government sites including:
- State of Illinois’ coronavirus page: coronavirus.illinois.gov
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html
- Federal government’s coronavirus page: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
How to contact the BND with tips, concerns
If you have suggestions about something for the BND to cover regarding the coronavirus pandemic or if you see a report that sounds suspicious on social media or anywhere else, please drop us a note at newsroom@bnd.com and include a link. We’ll check it out.
If you’re a health-care worker, we’d like to hear from you
The BND would like to speak with nurses, doctors and other health care professionals who are on the front lines caring for patients in doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals during this difficult time. We’re interested in hearing about your challenges and rewards, frustrations and accomplishments. How is this affecting you? Send us an email at newsroom@bnd.com.
Recovering from COVID-19? The BND would like to talk to you
Have you recovered from coronavirus or are you in the process of recovering from COVID-19? We would like to hear from you on how you dealt with the respiratory disease. Send us an email at newsroom@bnd.com.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Monday live coronavirus updates: Trump questions bailout for states ‘like Illinois’."
.jpg)