Good morning, Chicago.
The city is on pace to hit the 200-case-per-day benchmark for potential new restrictions “within the next few days,” according to Chicago’s top doctor, Allison Arwady. The comment came as the city expanded its travel advisory, which now includes 14 states. Arwady also said attendees of Lollapalooza, which is now only one day away, should stay away from the festival
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if they are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 — even if they’re fully vaccinated.Meanwhile, with unemployment numbers fluctuating every day, the Tribune will talk to economist Mark Hamrick about economic recovery, gender equality in the workplace and what to expect going forward. Tune in at 12:30 p.m. today on Facebook Live to catch the conversation.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Simone Biles announced she won’t compete in Thursday’s all-around competition to focus on her mental health. The gymnastics superstar — and reigning Olympic champion — also withdrew from the team event, where the U.S. won silver. The men’s basketball team is back in the win column, while swimmer Katie Ledecky won gold in a new event. And locally, Bartlett’s Kelsey Robinson is out to end the U.S. women’s gold medal drought in volleyball. See who has won medals for Team USA so far — and keep current with Day 5 events here.
— Nicole Stock, audience editor
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Illinois will follow federal recommendations that even fully vaccinated people should once again wear masks indoors in areas where the coronavirus is surging — which currently does not include most of the Chicago area, state public health officials said Tuesday.
The updated mask guidelines issued Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said masks should be worn indoors by everybody, including the fully inoculated, in areas of “substantial” or “high” transmission.
Gamma, delta, lambda – here’s your guide to the Greek alphabet of the COVID-19 variants
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U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger delivered an emotion-laden speech as a House select committee opened its investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection Tuesday, praising law enforcement’s defense of the U.S. Capitol and criticizing fellow Republicans who tried to block the probe and cast it as a partisan attack.
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After a record-setting year for revenue, Kirkland & Ellis is eyeing a massive new office just down the river from its current Chicago space. The law firm is in talks for a lease of 600,000 square feet or more in the 60-story Salesforce Tower under construction along the Chicago River, according to people familiar with the negotiations. If it’s finalized, it will be one of the largest new office leases in downtown Chicago in decades.
Do employers have a legal right to mandate COVID-19 shots? Here’s what the DOJ and employment lawyers say.
As a pandemic newlywed, all Estella Valdez wants to do is join her new husband, family and friends for the Aruba honeymoon they rescheduled for August. But she can’t — she’s one of the millions nationwide whose new passport applications or renewals are caught in limbo by increasingly lengthy processing delays.
And estimated 1 in 100 adults are asexual, or feel no sexual attraction to others. Largely ignored in a culture where sex sells everything from beer to pop songs to reality TV, they face stigma even among college students, who, according to one key study, view asexuals more negatively than either heterosexuals or homosexuals. But in the past five years asexuals, who often refer to themselves as aces, have seen hard-won progress, with both experts and ordinary people pointing to signs of increased visibility.