CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Senior activists and some aldermen are calling for emergency action to better protect residents in senior housing buildings from the spread of the coronavirus.
Participants made as much noise as they could on a Friday conference call, pleading for a city council hearing and passage next week of an ordinance mandating things like well-being checks and personal protective equipment for staff in senior buildings.
Reginal Griffin, who lives in senior housing, said many people are paying attention to the plight of nursing home struggled amid the pandemic. But he said that what's happening there could happen at senior buildings too.
"It's a tragedy what's happening in nursing homes and our heart go out to them but we also need to look at what's happening in public senior housing," Griffin said.
For weeks, members of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus and alderman have called for more well-being checks at senior housing developments, protective equipment for staff and better health guidance for tenants.
Alderwoman Maria Hadden is sponsoring an ordinance mandating those measures.
Bonnie Ewald, Community Health program manager for Rush University Medical School, said there’s a great need for protection at senior housing — maybe more than is known.
If the health committee and the full city council don't act on the senior protection ordinance next week, it will be at least a month before there’s another opportunity.
Hadden said seniors cannot wait another month for help and that the ordinance should be approved next week.
The Illinois Department of Public Health today announced 2,088 new cases of coronavirus in the state, including 74 additional deaths. Cook County saw over 50 deaths, most that were seniors over the age of 60, according to department data.
The total number of positive cases in the state now sits at 92,457, though many have recovered and 4,129 deaths have been reported.