Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Pritzker focuses on bars as COVID-19 hot

As he has since introducing his five-phase “Restore Illinois” plan in early May, Pritzker said he continues to monitor the data closely and consult with public health officials and epidemiologists. New coronavirus cases in Illinois dipped slightly again Monday as infection rates continued to rise in other parts of the country, particularly the West Coast and the Sun Belt.

The “Fresh Start” program will offer more than 21,000 students, who left school in the last 10 years in good standing, the opportunity to return and finish their degrees or certificates debt-free, as soon as this fall. The mayor’s office estimates this group of former students currently holds $17.7 million in debt.

Here’s what’s happening Tuesday regarding COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:

Chicago’s Greenhouse Theater Center is coming back from its four-month shutdown with a show next weekend, claiming to be the first Chicago-area theater to return to indoor dramatic action since the arts shutdown caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Lincoln Park venue, once the home of the Victory Gardens Theatre, appears to be correct, although Zanies Comedy Clubs also have sputtered back to life. There also already have been several informal outdoor performances of music, comedy and puppetry in neighborhoods around the city and suburbs.

But this endeavor, clearly, is a much more drastic step and a decision that contrasts with the general trend in Chicago theater, which has been to push scheduled shows into the spring of 2021. In recent days, the Court Theatre, the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace and the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire have all told their audiences they won’t be producing any live shows until 2021.

The Greenhouse, in contrast, starts up July 24.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker focused on bars as potential hot spots for transmission of the new coronavirus in response to questions Tuesday about whether he’s considering rolling back any portion of the state’s economic reopening as COVID-19 cases rise.

As he has since introducing his five-phase “Restore Illinois” plan in early May, Pritzker said he continues to monitor the data closely and consult with public health officials and epidemiologists.

“I will not hesitate to reimpose some mitigations if we see our numbers moving upward,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event in Chicago. “My concern, again, is all about the health and safety of the people of the state of Illinois.”

Pritzker said he and health officials are watching the Southern and Western states where the virus is surging “and…