Thursday live coronavirus updates: Illinois unemployment rate jumps to 16.4% in April
State unemployment rate jumps to 16.4%
The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced Thursday that the state’s unemployment rate has jumped 12.2 percentage points to 16.4% in April, while non-farm payrolls shed 762,200 jobs, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate represents a new record high since current methodologies were established in 1976, according to a news release. The decline in non-farm payrolls also set a record.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our economy, as has been the case in states across the nation,” Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes stated in release. “As we move to safely reopen much of our economy, we are focused on ensuring working families and small business have the resources they need to recover, and we urge the federal government to step up and provide additional relief.”
Preliminary figures for March were revised, showing an actual 4.2% unemployment rate (instead of 4.6%) and job losses of 60,900 (instead of 34,100) in Illinois. April’s figures reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
The Illinois unemployment rate for April is 1.7 percentage point higher than the record high national rate of 14.7%, which is up 10.3 percentage points from March. The Illinois rate is up 12.2 percentage points from a year ago, when it was 4.2%.
“As Illinois tackles this unprecedented crisis, Governor Pritzker has taken action to support a swift public health recovery that will in turn enable residents and businesses to make an economic recovery,” Erin Guthrie, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, stated in the release.
“This administration’s focus on workforce development, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, and creating new industries will help us start to bring Illinoisans back to work and rebuild our economy.”
Metro-east foundations receive grants
Two metro-east charitable foundations have received $175,000 in grants from the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, which raises money and distributes it to nonprofit organizations that serve people and communities hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Edwardsville Community Foundation received $100,000 and Catholic Charities of Southern Illinois, an arm of the Catholic Diocese of Belleville, received $75,000, according to a news release Thursday.
The Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund was established by United Way of Illinois and the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations, in cooperation with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. It’s chaired by Penny Pritzker, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Barak Obama, founding chairman of the Chicago investment firm PSP Partners and the governor’s sister.
The fund has received more than $30.5 million from 2,800 donors since March 26 and so far has distributed $16.7 million to 62 nonprofit organizations, which in turn have re-granted it to 800 more, the release stated. In its third and latest round of distributions, nearly $6.3 million went to 31 organizations.
“This is an all hands on deck effort to help our most vulnerable fellow Illinoisans at this time of such great need,” Penny Pritzker stated. “We are so grateful to the thousands of individuals and organizations who have stepped up to provide critical services and support for people in every part of Illinois.”
In the latest round of distributions, the fund used a data-driven process to identify counties hit hardest by the pandemic from a health and economic standpoint, the release stated. It considered unemployment figures, number of coronavirus cases, percentage of vulnerable populations and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index.
Chestnut to help homeless during pandemic
Chestnut Health Systems will use a $150,000 grant to help homeless people in Madison, St. Clair and McLean counties during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release.
The nonprofit agency specializes in mental-health counseling and addiction treatment with locations in Belleville, Collinsville, Maryville and Granite City. It received the grant from MeridianHealth, a company that contracts with the state of Illinois to provide managed care for Medicaid and Medicare clients.
MeridianHealth awarded grants to four agencies for a total of $500,000. According to the release, Chestnut will use the money to:
- Enable clients to be served virtually and from a safe distance by buying laptop computers, cell phones and other technology for its large clinical work force.
- Cover additional costs for support, supervision and food to enable residents to stay in Chestnut owned or operated apartments and to have continued access to 24-hour support.
- Enable increased staff presence at food drop-offs, homeless shelters and school drop-off and pick-up sites to do clinical outreach and assessment and to provide linkage to counseling resources.
- Buy and donate essential products for homeless women and children through the Girls Club in Madison County.
- Donate essential products such as food, toiletries, thermometers and hand sanitizer to homeless shelters.
- Provide emergency financial assistance for Chestnut patients to pay for housing, food and utilities.
“People experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness lack protection from the environment, access to proper hygiene and connections to critical primary health and behavioral health care,” CEO David A. Sharar stated in the release.
“Combined with community spread of COVID-19 and a higher likelihood of underlying health issues, these factors mean a greater risk for this population of contracting the virus. Meridian is a valued partner in Chestnut’s mission to deliver quality primary health and behavioral health care to all who need it.”
Illinois representative kicked out of session
The Illinois House of Representatives voted to remove state Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, from a special session at the Bank of Springfield Center on Wednesday for refusing to wear a face covering intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Earlier Wednesday, the House adopted rules to require face coverings for members, staff and visitors.
Bailey, who told the House he “will not” comply with the requirement, was removed from the special session in a 81-27 vote initiated by Democratic Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, according to the Chicago Tribune.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, who wore a mask, spoke for several minutes with unmasked Bailey before the session reconvened, an ABC 20 report stated. Durkin later urged all members to comply with the new rule.
“We cannot ignore nor compromise the health and safety of every member of the General Assembly, their family members, every one of our staffers who works tirelessly for us,” Durkin said.
During Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily COVID-19 news conference on Wednesday, the governor commented on Bailey’s removal.
“The representative has shown a callous disregard for life, callous disregard for people’s health,” he said. “A doctor (will) tell you why people wear masks in the first place. It’s to protect others. So clearly, the representative has no interest in protecting others.”
Bailey gained national attention earlier this month when he sued Pritzker for enacting a stay-at-home executive order. He won a temporary restraining order exempting only himself from restrictions, then later dropped the lawsuit.
Most construction projects on schedule
Despite the coronavirus, most commercial construction projects in Southern Illinois generally are progressing on schedule, according to a news release from Donna Richter, CEO of the Southern Illinois Builders Association and Southern Illinois Construction Advancement Program.
State and federal agencies have designated construction as “essential” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Progress on local projects has been made possible by “enhanced personal safety programs and procedures,” Richter stated.
The Southern Illinois Builders Association estimates that 600 people were working at 175 construction sites in mid-March, when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his stay-at-home order, and 80 percent of those projects continued under new safety guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Most of the other 20 percent of the projects were halted only temporarily, most for less than a week,” Richter stated. “Included in that 20 percent were 24 projects for which the owners asked that work on their specific jobs be stopped.”
A survey of Southern Illinois builders reportedly indicated that fewer than five of the 600 workers have tested positive for the coronavirus; 35 workers have been required to quarantine to protect others because of symptoms or exposure to someone with symptoms.
For more information, visit www.siba-agc.org.
Southwestern Illinois coronavirus cases
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the metro-east has had 2,125 cases and 153 coronavirus-related deaths.
Here are the statistics for southwestern Illinois counties as of Thursday:
- St. Clair County: 961 positives, 73 deaths, 53 hospitalizations, 548 recoveries, 5,402 tests administered, 53 tests pending
- Madison County: 512 positives, 47 deaths, 98 hospitalizations, 271 recoveries
Randolph County: 256 positives, three deaths, four hospitalizations, 1,402 tests administered, 207 recoveries
- Clinton County: 172 positives, 16 deaths, six hospitalizations, 874 tests administered, 74 recoveries
- Monroe County: 91 positives, 11 deaths, 8 hospitalizations, 33 recoveries
Macoupin County: 42 positives, one death, two hospitalizations, 2,310 tests administered, 28 recoveries, 157 tests pending
Perry County: 40 positives, 29 recoveries
- Jersey County: 20 positives, one death, 16 recoveries
- Washington County: 18 positives, 15 recoveries
- Bond County: 12 positives, one death, one hospitalization, 214 tests administered, six recoveries, one test pending
- Calhoun County: One positive, one recovery
State, nation, world coronavirus cases
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 2,268 new positive COVID-19 cases on Thursday and reported that 87 more people had died. The statewide number of positive cases is 102,686 and the death toll is 4,607.
According to data from John Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center, this is how many people have been affected by COVID-19 across the nation and world as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday:
- United States: 1,562,714 people tested positive; 294,312 people recovered; 93,863 people died
- World: 5,047,377 people tested positive; 1,924,231 people recovered; 329,816 people died
Want to help? Here are some ideas
The BND has compiled a list of ways you can help during the COVID-19 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 throughout the day with information about the spread of the coronavirus in southwestern Illinois.
You can also find the most complete and up-to-date information from government sites including:
- State of Illinois’ COVID-19 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
Who to call about mental health
Here are some resources from mental health professionals for anyone struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Touchette Regional Hospital’s Mental Health Support and Resource Line: Call 618-482-7158 to talk to trained therapy staff.
- Illinois Human Services Mental Health Division’s Call4Calm: Text the word “talk” to 552020 to text with a mental health care professional for free.
- Centerstone of Illinois, Inc.: Call 618-462-2331 for virtual mental health services.
- Chestnut Health Systems: Call 618-877-4420 for virtual mental health services.
- Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous: Call 618-398-9409 or email metroeastnapr@gmail.com to learn about virtual meetings.
- Regional Disaster Mental Health Volunteer Response Team: Call a support line for health care professionals at 618-381-5173.
Contact BND with tips, concerns, suggestions
If you have suggestions about something for the BND to cover regarding the COVID-19 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.
We’d like to hear from health care workers
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.
Willing to share your COVID-19 story?
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 May 21, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Thursday live coronavirus updates: Illinois unemployment rate jumps to 16.4% in April."
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