Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic across the state of Illinois today, Jan. 12:
Chicago Changes Travel Order Guidance to Prevent Further Spread of COVID-19
Chicago s emergency travel order was changed once again Tuesday as the city transitions to a two-tiered system to prevent further spread of COVID-19, health officials announced.
Under the new guidelines, which take effect Friday, states are categorized as either orange or yellow, eliminating a previous red category.
Orange states and territories have average coronavirus rates above 15 cases per day, per 100,000 residents and yellow states and territories have rates below 15 cases per day, per 100,000 residents.
CHICAGO (WLS) Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, got his first dose of Pfizer s COVID-19 vaccine Friday.
Many in the healthcare community hope the image of Rev. Jackson receiving the shot will encourage more people in black and brown communities to follow his lead. Take the vaccination now. Keep hope alive, Rev. Jackson said. It s absolutely, symbolically, massively important to show one of the greatest African American leaders in history, that he s willing to get the vaccine, and he wants to inspire his people to come out and get the vaccine as well, said Tim Egan, Roseland Hospital CEO.
Hospital officials said they are finding reluctance to take the shot even among their own employees. They started a public relations campaign to overcome the historical distrust among many in minority communities when it comes to medicine and vaccines.
Who s Included in Phase 1B of Illinois Vaccination Plan?
More than 3 million Illinois residents are expected to be included in Phase 1b of the state s coronavirus vaccine rollout.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced new guidelines for the next phase, including a change in the age requirement for Illinois.
Phase 1b will center on residents age 65 years and older and frontline essential workers, including first responders, education workers like teachers and support staff, childcare workers, grocery store employees, postal service workers, and more.
The age requirement in Illinois is 10 years lower than the recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, in order to reduce COVID-19 mortality and limit community spread in Black and Brown communities, the governor said.
Suburban Football Star Dies in Apparent Suicide; Family Says COVID Worsened Depression
A top student athlete at Glenbrook North High School died Thursday in an apparent suicide just months before graduation after his family said the teen s struggle with depression worsened significantly during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dylan Buckner, 18, was found unresponsive at the Deerfield Embassy Suites Thursday afternoon, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner s office. Deerfield police confirmed they were called to the hotel.
Buckner s father, Chris Buckner, said the teen had been battling depression the last few years but his depression worsened significantly after COVID hit. The family believes that had COVID not happened, or the country s response to COVID had been more effective, Dylan would still be alive today, Chris Buckner wrote in a statement, adding we are really, really going to miss him.
CHICAGO (WLS) Earlier Sunday, local lawmakers made a virtual effort to encourage members of the Black community to get the COVID-19 vaccine. We know about the Tuskegee experiment and other draconian instances which have defiled and devalued our people. But we also know that changes have been put in place, said Rep. Danny Davis, D-Chicago.
Dr. Melissa Simon is the director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation, a joint center between the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Institute for Public Health and Medicine. Unfortunately we have earned this distrust, and so we in the medical field really have to work, you know, super diligently to, to earn it back, Simon said.