Good morning, Chicago.
Yesterday Northwestern Medicine announced that it will require its physicians and staff to get COVID-19 vaccines. This means that nearly every large hospital system in the Chicago area is telling its workers to get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the hot temperatures are supposed to continue for Chicago, with forecasters predicting the steamy conditions to last the next few days. These record-breaking temperatures may pose a risk to those who are elderly and live alone, according to the National Weather Service, so here’s a guide on how to help yourself and those around you during the heat wave.
— Nicole Stock, audience editor
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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to double down Thursday on his efforts to deal with a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic’s delta variant by requiring all educators from kindergarten through college to be vaccinated.
Additionally, Pritzker plans to require a statewide mandate of masking of people age 2 and above in indoor locations, according to two sources familiar with the governor’s actions, as the variant has led to increasing hospitalizations among younger people and the unvaccinated.
Chicago workers must get COVID vaccine by Oct. 15, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces
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All city of Chicago workers must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15, though employees can apply for medical or religious exemption, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Wednesday.
The move follows numerous private businesses and cities across the country that are implementing similar mandates, as has Cook County and Chicago Public Schools.
Rex Huppke column: COVID-19 vaccine mandates are coming. The willfully unvaccinated are about to see their world shrink.
Chicago Public Schools is set to open for full-time, in-person learning Monday for the first time since the pandemic closed schools in March 2020. But some area parents say they still aren’t comfortable sending their children back.
A few parents, as well as the leader of the Chicago Teachers Union, also shared this skepticism Wednesday when they addressed the Chicago Board of Education about the adequacy of the COVID-19 safety protections that will be in place when hundreds of thousands of students show up Monday morning.
The new Chicago Flats Initiative, which is being spearheaded by Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and other groups, aims to preserve and rehab two- and four-flats, maintain rental affordability, and help homeowners build wealth. The initiative is working to accomplish that by connecting homeowners and renters to available mortgage and rental assistance programs.
‘Check, Please!’ ending run on WTTW after 20 years
“Check, Please!”, the beloved show where locals discuss their favorite restaurants, is ending its run on WTTW-Ch. 11 after 20 years. David Manilow, the creator and executive producer for the show, made the announcement Wednesday, writing that he and the network “want to go in different directions and pursue other opportunities, so it’s just not to be.”