If you’re looking for a silver lining today, here’s one: While the coronavirus pandemic has Chicagoans isolated during the stay-at-home order, it has also brought us together.
We laugh together over memes featuring Mayor Lori Lightfoot (even she enjoyed a chuckle). We pitch in to keep our beloved restaurants open, or to get protective gear to the health care workers who need it most. We’re isolated, but we’re not alone.
Chicagoland is finding a way forward, one day at a time.
Along with the latest news updates and a running list of Chicago-area closings and cancellations, the Tribune is taking a look at how our day-to-day lives are changing.
Here are the latest updates Friday on how we’re living in the time of COVID-19:
11:36 a.m.: #ChicagoUpstander highlights bountiful acts of kindness for Illinois Holocaust Museum campaign
Chicago is full of good people doing remarkable things, and that has multiplied during the coronavirus pandemic, said Marcy Larson, vice president of marketing and business development at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
To highlight the good in Chicago, the Skokie-based museum began using the hashtag #ChicagoUpstander on its website or social media feeds when COVID-19 first arrived in the city.
As businesses and schools closed and residents were ordered to mostly stay home, museum officials saw people and organizations stepping up to help others in need by making masks, donating meals to health care workers and performing other good deeds, Larson said.
The hashtag became a place to highlight those efforts, she said, and they’re inviting the public to join in and do the same.
“The goal is when other people hear of good things happening, use #ChicagoUpstander,” Larson said. “Let’s celebrate the goodness that exists in our city.”
Stories the museum has highlighted include Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks owners paying United Center employees, and efforts by Chef Rick Bayless to help newly unemployed restaurant workers.
Sharing these stories could spur more by motivating others, Larson said. “There’s so many people doing such good right now.” — Kate Thayer
10:37 a.m.: ‘Maestros Choice’: Chicago Symphony Orchestra launches series on WFMT
Listeners who miss Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts, which have been on hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic, will have a new way to hear them.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and WFMT-FM 98.7 are partnering to present a six-program, airing at 8 p.m. Tuesdays starting April 7. The series is curated by CSO music director Riccardo Muti.
“From the CSO’s Archives: Maestro’s Choice – For All Music Lovers in These Difficult Times” will feature music drawn from concerts conducted by Muti, recordings on the orchestra’s CSO Resound label, archival CSO concert performances and commercial recordings.
“During these times of uncertainty, and with the absence of live music in our concert halls, I hope that people everywhere will remain connected to the wonderful artistry of the Chicago Symphony through these special programs,” said Muti in a statement.
Highlights will include Muti conducting the orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma in Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in G Major (April 7); Kirill Gerstein playing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor (April 14), Muti conducting; and Bernard Haitink conducting the orchestra, chorus and soloists in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (April 21).
Read more about the series here. — Howard Reich
10:11 a.m.: ‘We just got laid off out of nowhere’: Cooks and cashiers at university dining halls plead for Chicago schools to pay lost wages amid coronavirus job cuts
In order to put food on the table for her four young children, Yasmin Vinalay helps get food on the plates of famished college students.
For nine years, Vinalay has worked as a cook in DePaul University dining halls, preparing buffet-style meals at the Lincoln Park campus. And as a single mother, she depends on her wages, which amount to about $14 an hour, to support her family.
But Vinalay’s sole source of income vanished last month when DePaul, joining colleges nationwide, closed the majority of its dining halls and dormitories for the rest of the academic year to slow the spread of COVID-19. While Vinalay was told she might be able to return to DePaul by September, she’s bracing for the worst-case scenario that her job will be on hold for longer.
“I’m very worried … I have to pay rent and bills,” said Vinalay, 30, who lives in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood with her children, all under the age of 12. “We just got laid off out of nowhere. Nobody was expecting this. But it really hurt us and our families.”
Vinalay and her colleagues are among millions of Americans suddenly out of work as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on all sectors of the economy. On Thursday morning, the U.S. Department of Labor said that a record 6.6 million Americans had applied for unemployment benefits last week.
The union representing dining hall workers at Chicago-area colleges estimates that hundreds of people in this role ? many of whom are subcontracted and hourly employees ? have been laid off as schools vacated dormitories, slashed dining hall hours for the few students remaining on campus and began offering classes online. Some workers, including Vinalay, will receive health insurance coverage through the summer, though it’s not clear if it will continue after that.
Read more here.
9:56 a.m.: Should you tell your landlord if you have coronavirus? As Chicago tenants get requests to disclose, experts say such attempts are ‘misguided’
While public health officials are carefully tracking the spread of COVID-19, some Chicago renters have been caught off guard by requests to disclose diagnoses — not to medical professionals, but to their landlords.
Property managers of buildings across the city are asking residents to notify their landlords if they are experiencing symptoms or are diagnosed with the coronavirus.
But city officials and tenant lawyers say that while property managers are likely looking out for everyone’s wellbeing, tenants are not legally bound to disclose personal health information.
“I can certainly understand why people who are managing buildings want to protect their renters,” said Mark Swartz, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing. “But it seems like a really misguided attempt.”
The Tribune obtained emails inquiring about residents’ health from three property managers in Chicago: ICM Properties, which oversees 2,000 apartments across the North Side; Planned Property Management, which owns 3,700 apartments in Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Gold Coast and River North; and Sandburg Terrace, which has multiple condo buildings in Gold Coast.
Read more here.
8:32 a.m.: Mental health specialists are ramping up ‘tele-therapy’ treatments for clients during pandemic
Gregory Hyde’s client told him she consistently found herself in bed, watching the news and crying about the most traumatic crisis of our lives.
“I find myself talking to people about finding opportunities and possibilities among all this uncertainty,” said Hyde, a licensed clinical psychologist from Merrillville who’s been in private practice for 15 years. “Some people have used the entire session to talk about the coronavirus and related situational stressors. This is understandable and important but it is a departure from the reasons they are coming to therapy.”
Mental health professionals are finding themselves deluged with clients’ emotional troubles heightened or triggered by this COVID-19 pandemic and its psychological turmoil – anxiety, fear, confusion, lack of control, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The mental health workers are using online “tele-therapy” to treat and counsel their troubled clients, many of whom are stuck at home and isolated from family, friends and co-workers. Or these clients are unable to attend public meetings for substance abuse problems, alcoholism, support groups and other face-to-face reassurances.
Read more here.
5 a.m.: ‘To us right now, time is life.’ Chinese community mobilizing to provide medical supplies to Chicago-area hospitals.
Xuerong Xia has gone to the hospital every day for the past month. Her garage is now a dressing room, where she dons plastic shoe protectors, a face mask, disposable gloves and sunglasses before climbing into her car, equipped with disinfecting wipes and rubbing alcohol.
The rest of her car is loaded with medical supplies, donated by members of the Chinese community who fought the coronavirus since its early days in Wuhan. Now, their focus is fighting it here at home in the Chicago area.
They have already donated tens of thousands of masks, hospital gowns and goggles to hospitals including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center in the city, and Edward Hospital and DuPage Medical Group in the west suburbs.
Donation efforts are largely organized through WeChat, the primary Chinese-language social media platform.
Like many other Chinese immigrants, Xia heard firsthand about the severity of the coronavirus from family or friends of family. When news of the quarantine in Wuhan reached her, she was convinced the United States was in for something terrible the next few months.
As the community learned of Chinese medical equipment manufacturers shuttering and supplies dwindling, her WeChat group chat blew up with people asking how they could prepare and how they could help the panicked hospital workers. WeChat group chats formed around the issue, and she found herself taking responsibility for two of them while remaining an active member of another.
Read more here.
Thursday, April 2
4:46 p.m.: Southwest Side school holds a car parade — a popular way of overcoming isolation amid coronavirus social distancing
Chicago’s John Dore Elementary School on Thursday was the latest local group to hold a “car parade” to help overcome the isolation brought on by social distancing requirements to contain COVID-19.
The parades have recently been used by various groups that otherwise wouldn’t be able to gather, such as those protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement and people wanting to celebrate first responders and city workers, as well as a way of celebrating birthdays and welcoming babies in the time of coronavirus.
Maureen O’Hara, a fourth grade teacher at Dore, 7134 W. 65th St., said the school’s social committee worked on the idea in advance of Thursday’s 1 p.m. route around Clearing, a neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest Side, because they wanted to remind students that their teachers are thinking of them.
“The overall message is that even though we’re not all in the classroom together, we wanted to give them a little bit of hope,” she said. “These are unprecedented, scary times, but we’re all in this together, and together we’re going to get through it.” — Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
4:03 p.m.: Sudden need due to coronavirus overwhelms Blue Island food pantry; volunteers, donors show best of humanity
Kentric Benson, neighborhood network program coordinator for the Blue Cap Pantry serving Blue Island and Robbins, spent two hours Thursday morning on a conference call with other community leaders.
They discussed the sudden and overwhelming need for assistance as the coronavirus pandemic compounds financial hardships that many families are experiencing throughout the region.
“I’m not sure the south suburbs were ever prepared for what we were about to face,” Benson said after his conference call. “It’s been wonderful to see people and community organizations step up but it’s been tragic as well.”
Nationwide, 10 million people have filed unemployment claims over the past two weeks, shattering previous records. In the south suburbs it is becoming increasingly difficult for the network of government agencies, private businesses and nonprofit groups to meet surging demand for financial assistance.
“I think this has shed a light on how unprepared a lot of organizations were, collectively and individually, to handle something like this,” Benson said.
Here’s how schools, churches and food companies are pitching in. — Ted Slowik
4:02 p.m.: Cards Against Humanity offers digital download of kid-friendly edition
The Chicago-based Cards Against Humanity game company surprised fans today by dropping a new collection— but not the sharp, racy kind you’re used to.
Instead, CAH bumped up the autumn release date of its first Family Edition, a kid-friendly version of the usually not-so-kid-friendly card game.
Better yet, it’s free, provided that you have the ability to download and print the 420-card set on the company’s website. Family Edition is recommended for ages 8 and up, per the CAH release, as well as anyone who has “a pure soul and a smile in your heart.”
3:20 p.m.: Already battling cancer, Yorkville woman contends with threat of coronavirus: ‘It’s the scariest thing’
Roxane Vermeland has no plans to leave her neighborhood, except for chemotherapy. Not until they say it’s safe again, she said.
Her husband has taken over responsibility for trips to the grocery store and pharmacy, wiping down every cart he touches and sanitizing anything he brings into the house. She has turned down offers of help from friends, fearing they might unknowingly bring the coronavirus into her home.
Still, she is terrified.
“If I even get near a person with this, I’m probably dead,” Vermeland said. “I hate to say that, but if I get it, it’s the scariest thing.”
Vermeland, from Yorkville, is battling a rare form of cancer related to implants she received after earlier treatment for breast cancer, putting her among those identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as high risk for severe illness from COVID-19. She said not only has her chemotherapy compromised her immune system, but the cancer has spread to her lungs, heightening the threat of the respiratory virus.
She has already had one scare with the illness, with symptoms that she described as shortness of breath, an incessant cough, and a fever of 100 or 101 degrees for nearly two weeks. After a lengthy wait, though, the results of her test for the virus came back negative.
The results were a relief, but the coronavirus has already altered her day-to-day life, she said.
She canceled a chemotherapy appointment while waiting for her test results because, she said, she wasn’t allowed in a ward full of high-risk patients undergoing cancer treatment while she wasn’t sure if she might be carrying the virus. She is eager to resume the much-needed treatment, but it poses challenges.
Read more here.
1:16 p.m.: At closed Brookfield Zoo, new lions arrive and life goes on
The gates of Brookfield Zoo are closed to the public to help keep coronavirus from spreading, but life continues at the west suburban animal facility.
Thursday, the zoo had the happy occasion of announcing the arrival of two African lion brothers, 4-year-old, Brutus and Titus, via Facebook Live stream. Our photographer Brian Cassella was there in person to take pictures of the imports from a Utah zoo.
“We brought these animals in during this quiet time because it was ideal for introducing them to their new environment,” said Bill Zeigler, senior vice president of animal programs, during the zoo’s daily 11 a.m. livestream.
“We hope when we do open back up you’ll get a chance to come in and see them,” he said. “They’re going to be here for a long long time.” — Steve Johnson
12:12 p.m.: Chicago wine shop partners with local restaurants to create pickup dinners for two
Wine retailer Vin Chicago has, like many businesses, gone the pickup route for its customers. And now the retailer, which has locations in Barrington and Highland Park in addition to its Elston Avenue flagship in Chicago, has started teaming with small, local restaurants to sell dinners for two.
Its second, and current partnership is with Osteria Langhe, the Logan Square restaurant focused on Italy’s Piedmont region. The setup is simple: Choose two of five select entrees (two desserts are included automatically) and day (Thursday through Saturday) and time (between 4 and 7 p.m.) of pickup.
Price of the Osteria Langhe dinner for two is $58; with tax and automatic 15% tip, the total is $73; 100% of the proceeds go the restaurant. One or two featured wines from Vin Chicago may be added to orders, which are pre-paid via credit card; pickup is at Osteria Langhe, 2824 W. Armitage Ave.
The Osteria Langhe partnership has been so successful that two of the five entrees have sold out, and only a limited number of Friday and Saturday pickups are available.
The next partnership will be announced soon, said Vin Chicago owner Peter Schwarzbach. — Phil Vettel
12:06 p.m.: A look at Beat Kitchen for a view of how the coronavirus shutdown hits a Chicago venue at every level
Like every bar, restaurant and club in Chicago, 26-year-old Beat Kitchen packed up its beer kegs for coronavirus-mandated hibernation, which its 22-person staff desperately hopes is not permanent.
The brown-brick corner club in Roscoe Village, whose restaurant reopened recently for carryout and delivery, had a loaded spring schedule, from bluegrass brunches to comedy nights to local bands, and its bartenders and sound techs are trying to recover from the sudden, unexpected quiet.
Here are their stories.
10:47 a.m.: To postpone or cancel? Chicagoans planning major events weigh their options amid coronavirus uncertainty
From spring weddings to corporate gatherings and sports games, events in Chicago and around the world are getting canceled or rescheduled amid the coronavirus outbreak. In these unprecedented times, it’s tough to know whether to postpone an event or cancel it outright and when to make that decision.
Renny Pedersen, proprietor and creative director of Bliss Events in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood, recommends postponing a wedding that is scheduled to occur before September to a fall 2020 date or later. Those who decide to postpone should work with vendors to find a new date, consider wedding insurance and inform guests as soon as possible. Pedersen said invites can be sent six weeks before the big day.
Read more here.
10:24 a.m.: Chicago music venues refunding tickets due to coronavirus, but some patrons donating the cash back
When the Hideout announced March 13 that it was temporarily closing its doors because of coronavirus, the North Side venue’s owners asked customers to “please be patient with us due to the high volume of refunds.”
The Hideout said some ticket holders who received refunds for canceled shows immediately gave the money back to the bar via their online fundraising pages. A GoFundMe campaign is soliciting “tips” for Hideout staff. Patrons can also purchase a $25 “Hideout Buck” that can be used as a $20 gift card at the bar, with the remaining $5 going to the artist who designed the fake cash.
“It’s so overly generous,” Hideout co-owner Katie Tuten said about the recent donations.
Owners and managers of Chicago music venues have a lot to worry about amid the coronavirus shutdown — from paying rent to taking care of staff to maintaining an event calendar, even though it’s unclear when they will be able to open their doors again.
Several Chicago shows have been postponed indefinitely, which can make getting a refund tricky. If a concert is canceled outright, it seems venues often refund the ticket price in full. But if there’s a postponement, ticket holders are typically asked to hold on to their tickets. These days, it’s difficult to know if and when the date will be rescheduled.
Read more here.
9:31 a.m.: Traffic, air pollution, cookies and video calls: Life during coronavirus in 6 charts
As the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic intensifies each day with a flood of data about increasing cases, deaths and soaring jobless claims, virtually every aspect of how people in Illinois work and play has changed. To capture some of these changes, the Tribune looked at data from pollution reports to smartphone app downloads to retail purchases. — Chad Yoder, Kori Rumore and Jonathon Berlin
9:20 a.m.: Yes, hand sanitizer and toilet paper are COVID-19 quarantine essentials. So, apparently, are jigsaw puzzles, bread machines and paint.
Kari DeHaven has been baking since she was a kid, learning from her grandma.
But she’d never tried sourdough until a new work-from-home routine and inspiration from social media convinced her to give it a shot. Since Friday, she’s made two loaves and some sourdough waffles.
“One great thing with baking is it gives you a little bit of a sense of control. In the chaotic world we’re living in, it’s soothing to be working with my hands in the kitchen,” said DeHaven, 26, who’s staying with family in Sycamore. “Touching, tasting, utilizing all my senses helps ground me.”
She’s not alone. So many people have been firing up their ovens that consumers say flour and yeast can be tough to find.
Faced with orders to hunker down at home in an attempt to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, consumers stocked up on canned beans and cleaning products. But stores and analysts said shoppers also snapped up items that aren’t obvious essentials, like electric skillets, house paint and puzzles.
Families with parents working from home while kids are out of school need ways to fill the time. So do people social distancing while living alone.
People feel good when they’re engaged in activities that take a bit of effort and skill or involve learning something new, said Howard Nusbaum, a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist and director of the Center for Practical Wisdom at the University of Chicago.
“We feel better doing it because we’re improving ourselves and the situation around us,” he said. — Lauren Zumbach
7:27 a.m.: For parents of premature babies in the NICU, the coronavirus pandemic has only heightened their anxiety
For Niama Nash, the mother of a baby who was born prematurely and is currently in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the coronavirus pandemic is always on her mind.
“I’m scared. Absolutely,” Nash said. “I have a lot of anxiety. I try to keep it together and calm because I can still see my son.”
Nash is just one of the many parents of babies born prematurely or with a health condition that requires a stay in the NICU. As the number of COVID-19 cases in the Chicago area increases, hospitals have been forced to make tough decisions about how to keep their tiniest patients safe as they grow and develop enough to journey home.
Many hospitals, like NorthShore University HealthSystem’s Evanston Hospital, are restricting visitors to only parents, and in some cases just one parent at a time, said spokeswoman Colette Urban.
But it’s not as easy as restricting access to some of the hospital’s most vulnerable, said Rahul Gupta, chief medical and health officer and senior vice president at the March of Dimes.
One in 10 babies are born prematurely, Gupta said. Activities like skin-to-skin contact or kangaroo care — where a baby lies on a parent’s bare chest — can help with the baby’s heart rate, breathing, sleeping and temperature regulation, according to the March of Dimes’ website.
Those physical connections can also reduce stress in parents and helps parents and children bond. In addition, parents of NICU babies are at a higher risk of postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other issues, Gupta said.
“We don’t know what would happen if you were to separate them,” Gupta said. “Will they be exacerbated, these stresses and other challenges?” — Genevieve Bookwalter
6:43 a.m.: ‘I tell my wife to get away.’ Facing coronavirus fears, Chicago nurses and doctors try to protect their own families.
Home should be a refuge. But for people reporting to a hospital during the coronavirus crisis, home is just one more place to dread.
Doctors, nurses and others working at Illinois hospitals where COVID-19 patients are being treated fear returning to their families, who might be more at risk because of invisible dangers they unwittingly bring home.
Each has a routine. It usually looks like this: Disrobe. Leave scrubs in the garage. Bleach shoes. Run to the shower. No hugs from the children, no welcome from a spouse. Shower, scrub.
For Terence Yee, an intensive care unit nurse at the University of Illinois at Chicago, there is no option but to come home. He and his wife, Sweet Vivares Yee, are both nurses; they have three teenagers to take care of.
Both enter through the garage. They take off all of the scrubs from work. They put them directly into the washing machine. Shoes stay in a nearby plastic container. Walking into the house, they go directly to the shower.
Only after a hot shower does he return to begin the laundry.
This, he hopes, will protect their daughters.
“We have to change the way we come home,” he said. “You don’t want to take it home.”
Read more here.
6:30 a.m.: ‘Zoombombing’: Zoom video meetings are being interrupted by hackers spewing hate speech and showing porn. Here’s how to prevent it.
Morgan Elise Johnson has been hosting virtual meditation sessions each weekday morning through her digital media company The Triibe, to bring a sense of calm to the audience during the coronavirus outbreak.
One morning last week, though, that calm was shattered.
The group was using video conferencing app Zoom and had just started its session when some young men joined the meeting, Johnson said. They started heckling the wellness professional leading the meditation. Then it got worse.
They took control of the screen and started searching for pornography, Johnson said. When she tried to mute them, the hackers scolded her and used a racial slur.
“I just exited out right away,” Johnson said. “For it to be at a moment where we were seeking community and seeking collective calm … it really cut through my spirit and affected me in a very visceral way.”
Zoom’s popularity has skyrocketed as millions of homebound people settle into new remote work and learning routines during the pandemic. There are free versions of Zoom, or users can pay for a subscription for broader use. The platform has been used in recent weeks for everything from business meetings and yoga classes to virtual happy hours. But the increased use of Zoom has brought more opportunities to hack into it.
Unlike other types of cyberattacks, hacking into a Zoom meeting can be relatively easy if certain security settings aren’t turned on, experts say. Zoom invites often are posted on social media to increase attendance, which can make them more vulnerable. Some argue Zoom’s default settings could be more secure.
“Bad actors are focusing on the fact that everybody’s using it but not everybody may know how to use it properly,” said Louis McHugh IV, a cybersecurity professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Read more here.
5 a.m.: Where do Chicago theaters stand now? As weight of the coronavirus shutdown sinks in, plans are made … and changed
On March 13, Terry James, the longtime executive producer of the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, prepared himself for a loathsome task. His theater’s hit production of “Grease” was required to close by the authorities. And even though “Kiss Me Kate” was simultaneously ending its rehearsal process in a room nearby, it was clear that show would not now be able to open on schedule, if at all.
And thus a theater with productions running 52 weeks a year would go dark. So James picked up the phone to begin the agonizing process of telling 140 actors, running-crew members and musicians, along with another 70 ushers, bartenders and other front-of-house workers at the theater, many friends of decades standing, either that their contracts were canceled or they were to be laid off.
He had just got done when a message came through from his bosses, the Bricton Group, the owners of the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort.
James was, himself, being laid off.
And thus, mere days later, the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire had no working employees at all. Its host hotel was shuttered. And, worse, there was no clear sense of when any of this might change. “It was Friday the 13th alright,” James said, dryly.
Situations vary at different theaters. Some have tried to maintain small staffs or pay contracted artists for at least a week or two, others have found that impossible or inadvisable. Some are fighting to pay rent, others own their buildings. Some operate with endowments, or deep-pocketed board members who can be tapped for this rainiest of days; most do not.
But without any clear sense of an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago’s storied theaters all are stuck in the same bind: It is against the law to do shows. They cannot do what they are set up to do and they have no box office income. And they have no idea when any of this will end.
Read more here.
Wednesday, April 1
3:37 p.m.: Chicago’s street musicians are finding new corners to play on, since nobody’s on the street thanks to coronavirus
“You can’t control a situation,” said Gordon Walters. “The only thing you can control is your attitude.”
Like many musicians, Walters has been severely affected by the onset of the novel coronavirus and Chicago’s “shelter-in-place” order. But unlike other artists who picked up gigs at traditional club venues, Walters, a composer and bassist, most often performs as a member of Chicago Traffic Jam, a local collective of street musicians. With all non-essential businesses either closed or facilitating a work-from-home policy, the normal downtown foot traffic most street musicians need to survive was eliminated overnight.
“I didn’t even try after that. I don’t think any of my colleagues did either,” said Walters. The group made more than their normal hourly wage as recently as the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. But by the top of the following week, when the shelter-in-place order became official, the viability of the street performance scene dissipated, too. “At that point, you know the game. We’re not going to make any money if there’s not going to be any foot traffic,” he said.
This major loss of both income and public performance opportunity might devastate the average musician, but Walters has found a new alternative: live streaming performances. And despite assumptions, live streaming has a lot more in common with street performing than may initially appear. “Scrolling your Facebook news feed is like walking down the sidewalk and the live stream is like busking,” said Walters. “To me, it seemed like a natural transition.”
Read more here.
1:46 p.m.: Hospital chaplains find creative ways to offer compassion, despite coronavirus restrictions, so no one has to die alone
As a man lay dying of COVID-19 at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, hospital chaplains Marie Coglianese and Bob Andorka stood just outside his room, praying and singing.
They held up a phone so his mother and sister could hear. The man’s mother asked to talk to her son, so the chaplains allowed her voice to flood through the room’s intercom system. They did the same for his sister.
In a time when hospitals must enforce strict no-visitor policies due to the coronavirus pandemic, hospital chaplains are finding creative ways to fulfill their role as spiritual guides, providing comfort and making sure the unthinkable doesn’t happen. No one should die alone. — Kate Thayer
1:32 p.m.: ‘Shocking and sobering to see the need’: Educators try to keep family lifelines afloat while schools are closed
With the closure of all Illinois schools now extended to the end of April, districts are busy launching remote learning programs. But teachers, administrators and social workers have also joined forces behind the scenes to ensure that families have the needed support to navigate a global pandemic with unprecedented challenge.
From student and family wellness checks to virtual counseling sessions and meal deliveries, Chicago-area educators say they are determined to support students and their families during a public health crisis that has already wreaked economic devastation on many vulnerable communities.
Lissette Flores, a counselor at Grissom Elementary in Hegewisch on Chicago’s Far Southeast Side, said it’s been hard to know if she’s reaching her students, and she worries.
“We are really concerned about our students,” Flores said. “We are concerned about their mental health. This pandemic has really shaken up everyone and if it’s crazy for adults, you can only imagine how children are dealing with this, especially children who are more vulnerable.”
Read more here.
1:29 p.m.: From Fanatics to Bauer, sports equipment manufacturers do the right thing by pivoting to the safety of health care workers
Imagine representing your favorite baseball team — be it the Cubs or White Sox — by wearing a blue or black pinstriped face mask at the ballpark this summer.
We’re not there yet, of course, because we don’t even know if there will be a baseball season. And there’s a debate over whether those who haven’t tested positive for the coronavirus should be wearing face masks in public.
But it’s something I’ve been thinking about since learning of the collaboration between Major League Baseball and its official jersey manufacturer, Fanatics, to address the shortage of protective masks and gowns for hospital workers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fanatics executive chairman Michael Rubin, who also is a co-owner of the 76ers and Devils, recently came up with the idea of using fabric meant for major-league uniforms to make masks and gowns for a local hospital near Philadelphia.
According to a company spokesman, Rubin recently woke up in the middle of the night and thought about what he could do to help alleviate the problem caused by the lack of personal protective equipment during the pandemic. He quickly realized he had a million yards of fabric for baseball uniforms at the company’s manufacturing facility in Easton, Pa., that was not going to use.
Rubin contacted MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and asked if Fanatics could halt production of jerseys to make the masks and gowns out of the material.
Manfred’s response: “How quickly can we get started?”
That’s all it took. — Paul Sullivan
1:21 p.m.: ‘Contagion,’ the virus movie with renewed popularity, was filmed all over Chicagoland
With the coronavirus pandemic keeping people at home more, they are suddenly flocking to old disaster movies with a decidedly familiar theme, films like “Outbreak,” I Am Legend” and especially “Contagion.”
“Contagion” is a 2011 movie by director Steven Soderbergh starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston and Lawrence Fishburne.
Many parts of the movie were filmed locally. Filming began in 2010 in Hong Kong then later moved to the Chicago suburbs — which doubled for Minnesota — for the majority of the filming, before finishing up in Atlanta, London and San Francisco.
Once you’ve watched the film and sufficiently freaked yourself out, why not pass the time and take a drive to see some of the places seen in the movie?
Here are a few local spots that were used in the filming. — Annie Alleman
1:20 p.m.: Messages of hope: Forced inside, Chicagoans reach out through window signs, sidewalk chalk and more
Forced inside by an indiscriminate virus, we are still reaching out. On sidewalks, in windows, on garage doors, Chicagoans are leaving each other messages of hope, solidarity, thanks — even, on one Oak Park block, a knock-knock joke.
We’re putting Teddy bears in windows for kids on family walks to count. We’re in a sudden heyday for sidewalk chalk: “Your roots don’t show from 6 feet away,” one Chicago woman wrote in Oz Park, finding the bright side of social distancing. And in this digital age we are now communicating in very old-fashioned ways, like via window signs: “How are you?” asks one west suburban house. “Good,” responds its friend across the street.
In the photo gallery above, the Tribune shares some of this impromptu public art show, images taken by the paper’s photographers as Illinois has entered the stay-at-home protocol necessary to slow the coronavirus spread. And we invite you to submit your own images here. — Steve Johnson
1:09 p.m.: A Zoom Seder? We’re adjusting, and there are options for Passover
Today I should be pulling out the Seder plates, the afikoman bag, the best dishes, the silver goblet for the prophet Elijah’s wine and 12 Haggadahs. This is the written story of the Exodus, our ancestors’ long journey out from under the oppressive Egyptian pharaoh to the promised land.
We’ve invited family and friends, and if someone wanted to bring a friend or two, we’ve an open-door policy. A Seder is a lot of people in a pretty close space.
What now? Spread out the seating? Limit capacity?
In keeping with stay-at-home orders to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, people are self-quarantining, not traveling, not gathering. To observe the rich feast together is a dangerous tightrope walk. We would be risking life.
I reached out for some rabbinic wisdom. Rabbi Sidney Helbraun said that he was just starting to make the transition himself into how to do Passover during this pandemic. Helbraun is the senior rabbi of reform Temple Beth-El in Northbrook and president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis. People are viewing Passover through a different lens, he said.
“We’re using Zoom a lot. I could invite 100 people to share the Seder with us … I don’t know if we will, but we have those options in the reform community, to bring more people with us to our table.” Passover via teleconferencing software. Or Skype. Or FaceTime. Or livestream. I wondered, does rabbinic tradition mandate the kind of innovations that are appearing this year? Is technology a one-off dispensation granted in view of the extreme current circumstances?
“In the days of the Talmud, the rabbis taught that there was a principle called dina d’malchuta dina, which means the law of the land is the law. And we’re living in a time where the law of the land is that it’s not safe to be coming together in gatherings.”
Yet COVID-19 is not stopping Jews from having their holiday. — Peggy Wolff
10:40 a.m.: The rent: To pay or not to pay? Amid coronavirus, that is the question for businesses across Chicago.
Ryan Tracy’s landlord offered to let Tracy pay half the April rent for his suburban beer shop up front, then spread the other half across the rest of 2020.
Kenneth Morrison told his Pilsen restaurant tenant not to worry about April rent — or any rent — until the coronavirus pandemic passes.
In their own ways, each of those tenants or landlords navigated at least a first step in one of the thorniest issues to emerge for businesses and mortgage holders during the COVID-19 health crisis: What to do about rent?
While some Chicago residents prepared for a rent strike amid an unprecedented spike in unemployment, businesses large and small walked finer lines while resolving the issue of April 1 rent payments, the first due during a coronavirus pandemic gripping the nation.
As business revenues plunge or else stop completely, both landlords and tenants have plenty on the line, said Tim Rasmussen, a real estate adviser and vice president at SVN Chicago. Business owners want to stay in business. Landlords need to pay their mortgages, but will find themselves hard pressed to fill vacant retail spaces if playing hardball on rents.
Above all else, resolving the situation depends on communication, Rasmussen said. Operating with absolutes, especially from a landlord’s perspective, is shortsighted, he said.
“If any landlord is asking for absolute answers over the next couple of weeks, it doesn’t make any sense,” Rasmussen said. “It’s like driving on a foggy road. You can’t see anything so you pull over to the side of the road and wait for the fog to clear out.” — Josh Noel and Ryan Ori
10:20 a.m.: Elgin’s Carrot the cat has won Instagram fame — and a birthday call from Ellen
Carrot has always gone the extra mile for her favorite pint-size humans, ages 5, 3 and 1.
The outgoing orange tabby has allowed the Merryn sisters of Elgin to push her in a stroller and dress her up in an apron.
In perhaps her most astonishing feat of feline tolerance, she relaxed and purred during a deluxe spa session with Abigail, 5, and Hannah, 3: A pink robe belted stylishly at her midsection, Carrot allowed the girls to tend her paws with cotton balls, brush her head and cover her eyes with a gel mask.
“It’s my goal to make people laugh and smile,” said Carrot’s owner and the girls’ mom, Erin Merryn, 35.
“With everything that’s going on, the laughter and the joy that the cat is bringing is needed now more than ever.”
Carrot, who like many animal influencers has performed a valuable mood-lifting function in recent weeks, will turn 1 in style today. There will be decorations, party hats, even a (cat) cake.
The plan is to offer the guest of honor a can of wet cat food covered with treats and decorated with a candle, Merryn said: “I’m going to keep her fans entertained.”
In recent weeks, Carrot has appeared in coronavirus-related Facebook and Instagram videos in which she plays “quarantine” with the girls, attends a stuffed-animal e-learning class and learns how to wash hands properly.
Read more about her stay-at-home antics — and her call from Ellen — here.
10:04 a.m.: Virtual First Fridays event to keep monthly Aurora celebration going during pandemic
While the traditional celebration that happens the first Friday of every month throughout downtown Aurora is canceled due to social distancing orders from the state, many of the businesses downtown are banding together for a virtual version that can be seen at home.
There will be art, music and more from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday online.
People can visit Facebook pages for Aurora Downtown and other participating venues for live video throughout the evening. Viewers can participate at home by tagging #virtualfirstfridays on social media.
Courtesy of Vizo Arts, participants in an online scavenger hunt can enter to win $1,000 in gift cards from downtown businesses.
To participate in the virtual First Fridays scavenger hunt, viewers can search for the six rainbow letters that spell out “Aurora” on Facebook pages that are participating in Virtual First Fridays, and make a comment on each of the letters that they find.
Find out more about participating venues here.
9:46 a.m.: Grace College men’s soccer team is taking turns to run 48 straight hours to raise coronavirus funds: ‘When things get tough, that’s when we want to be at our best.’
Grace College men’s soccer coach Arron Patrick often calls on players to be at their best as a means of service and competition.
“It’s easy to be happy family when things are going well,” he said. “When things get tough in the world, that’s when we want to be at our best.”
The home page for Grace, a 2,000 enrollment private Christian college in Indiana, reads: “There’s a reason we’re named after grace. Because it calls each one of us to something higher and more hopeful.”
Patrick, who is from England, guided a team with players from 12 different countries to second place in the NAIA in his first season.
They’re tying their competitive and religious spirits this week to help fight the coronavirus.
Read more here.
8:20 a.m.: Graduation cancellations due to coronavirus are bittersweet for first-generation grads and their families
After eight years of rigorous work and against all odds, Maria Ramirez, 27, is set to become the first doctor in her family.
The daughter of Mexican immigrants was supposed to walk the stage in May during graduation from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, finally validating her parents’ sacrifices, she said.
Ramirez, who plans to practice family medicine, had ordered her cap and gown. Her parents had been preparing for the milestone and planned to invite extended family. But the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the planned celebration.
Ramirez says universities are “responsibly handling the pandemic,” but as an upcoming first-generation college graduate, the sentiment of not being able to take part in the May ceremony is bittersweet.
“It’s disappointing because the graduation ceremony is not just to celebrate my achievement, it was also meant to recognize that my family accomplished one of their dreams, and I wished they could have experienced that,” she said.
For black and brown first-generation college students, participating in a commencement ceremony is a tangible way to show their resilience and that their families’ sacrifices paid off. It also symbolizes a start to educational and generational mobility, one of the reasons why many immigrate to this country.
Read more here.
7 a.m.: Buy a book from your local indie bookstore. We’re going to need them when the coronavirus lockdown is over.
The closing of non-essential retail stores is a necessity as we try to work collectively to minimize the hardship and death from the coronavirus pandemic, and as much as I believe books are essential, they aren’t.
However, our independent bookstores are essential to the long-term health of our communities, and just like all local businesses, the current crisis is a threat.
We are currently living through an object lesson in how important institutions are to the well-being of our communities and what happens when our most important institutions (like the presidency) don’t uphold their responsibilities.
This is why I believe it is vital that those of us who are capable do what we can to help support our local businesses through this crisis. We’re going to need them when we get the all-clear signal, and very few of them have the cushion to survive without revenue for weeks or months. Imagine leaving your home after a month inside and not having your favorite shop waiting for you.
The way to do that is to keep buying books. We’ve all got some extra time on our hands that needs occupying, so consider it a win-win.
Lots of Chicago bookstores are offering varieties of curbside pickup and home delivery. Find out more about your options and top book picks here. — John Warner
6:25 a.m.: Teachers and students create protective gear for essential workers in coronavirus battle: ‘I realized … I have the exact skill that people are calling out for’
Troubled by a shortage of protective gear for essential workers, several Chicago-area educators are stepping up this week to create face shields for those on the front lines of the coronavirus battle.
Career and Technical Education teachers from Buffalo Grove and Wheeling high schools spent their recent spring break designing a prototype for a protective face shield that they began producing this week in their homes with 3D printers, said David Schuler, superintendent at Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214.
The manager of Harper College’s Makerspace and Entrepreneur Center, Jeff Moy, will assist the effort using his lab’s laser cutters.
“These teachers are stepping up to save lives and flatten the curve,” Schuler said. “In all of my years as an educator, nothing has made me more proud. … They are contributing to the health and safety of the community.”
Read more here.
5:56 a.m.: Recovered from the coronavirus, Illinois native Colton Underwood tackles a new foe: ‘The Bachelor’ franchise
Colton Underwood woke up in a panic, gasping for air, his bed sheets soaked. Instinctively, he knew: He had been infected with the coronavirus.
He wasn’t certain where he’d been exposed — possibly at a celebrity ski event in Beaver Creek, Colo., this month — but lying in his bed in L.A., he started to panic. He logged onto Amazon, buying cans of supplemental oxygen. His girlfriend, Cassie Randolph — the woman he ended up choosing at the end of his 2019 stint on “The Bachelor” — began making frantic calls, trying to find a doctor who would test him for COVID-19.
The following day, March 18, Randolph’s family in Huntington Beach found a local practitioner who could administer a drive-through test. Forty-eight hours later, the results were in: He was positive.
Within five days, his fever was gone, his cough had eased and his body aches had subsided.
Now, Underwood — who grew up in Central Illinois — is steeling himself for another delicate situation: Promoting his new book in the midst of a global pandemic. On Tuesday, Simon and Schuster published “The First Time: Finding Myself and Looking for Love on Reality TV.” Underwood, who was billed as “the virgin Bachelor” — hence the title of the book — famously jumped a fence at the end of his season and tried to run away from the cameras when he became frustrated with the production.
In a Skype conversation from his self-isolation den Friday, the 28-year-old spoke candidly about his health, exploring his sexuality, and his complicated feelings toward the “Bachelor” franchise.
Read more here.
Tuesday, March 31
Share your coronavirus craft projects: Here’s our 450-piece Nanoblock fighter plane time-lapse for inspiration
A Chicago woman boarded a cruise in Argentina a day before the U.S. warned of cruising dangers. Now she has no idea when her quarantined voyage will end.
Restaurants, community organizations and PTA groups rally to shore up food resources, including for seniors and needy families
‘Our vacation was stolen’: VRBO guests fume over refunds on trips dashed by coronavirus
Column: Advice for the house-bound: Take a stroll. There’s architectural beauty out there.
Delayed weed dispensary openings, curbside pot pickup: Coronavirus is forcing the state’s marijuana industry to adapt
Chicago’s student newspapers in coronavirus mode: ‘It’s weird, reporting on scrambling to find housing or to get back home, when it affects us as much as anyone.’
Vernon Hills police are reading children’s books online to stay connected with community during coronavirus pandemic
City giving hotel space to first responders worried about bringing virus home
Hey family! I’ll be here all week … Chicago comics find creative ways to be funny with or without an audience.
Muslim-American charity donates much needed gloves to Franciscan Health in Olympia Fields
Column: The pandemic, a professor and a duck named Honey: A story of life in a time of death
Column: The small pleasures of being cooped up during a pandemic
Guys, meet your new #WFH wardrobe
Evanston catering company delivering more than 250 meals a day during coronavirus pandemic
Rent is due Wednesday — here’s what to know about rent strikes and coronavirus-related resources in Chicago
Some Little Free Libraries have transformed into tiny food pantries, but is it safe?
Homeless struggling to stay safe and sheltered during outbreak: ‘I don’t think we can paint a really rosy picture’
Monday, March 30
Some Instacart workers strike over coronavirus demands; company says operations unaffected
Column: Lincoln Park couple gets married over Zoom webinar after coronavirus thwarts their original plans
FitzGerald’s owner designs T-shirt for coronavirus closing fundraiser
Mayor Lori Lightfoot comments on ‘Where’s Lightfoot?’ memes: ‘I love them’
Rick Bayless and US Foods partner for restaurant-worker food and income relief
Dozens of readers share photos for Chicago #bearhunt
Parking lot ministry in times of COVID-19: ‘We’ve got to be creative to worship’
Chicago actors and theater creators share quarantine tales, and maybe a Netflix pick or two
Lori Lightfoot memes are giving Chicago a laugh during coronavirus
Stevenson students ‘spread the joy of music’ through videos sent to elderly at facilities on lockdown due to the coronavirus
Virtual virtuosity: Civic Orchestra celebrates centennial with online concert
Column: Facing coronavirus, Chicagoans unite as #PandemicPals and write letters to isolated seniors
A war like no other: Inside the Illinois National Guard’s unprecedented coronavirus mission
With high school seniors’ lives upended by coronavirus, universities are loosening enrollment deadlines, but some colleges are ‘being stubborn’
Sunday, March 29, and Saturday, March 28
Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson is helping Chicago students get meals during the pandemic: ‘Just trying to make an impact’
Column: South Loop neighbors stand outside dying man’s condo to pay tribute in his final days
Chicagoans readying for rent strike, calling on city and landlords to provide relief amid coronavirus pandemic: ‘The hammer is going to drop’
