Hey there! It’s Wednesday, and my dog reached Phase 5 of insanity when she sprinted around the apartment in the middle of the night. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Illinois reports deadliest day yet

State officials announced 192 new fatalities today — the largest single-day spike to date — bringing the death toll to 3,792. Officials also reported 1,677 new cases, pushing the statewide total to 84,698 since the outbreak began.

The news comes as state lawmakers announced they will meet in Springfield next week. Gov. JB Pritzker yesterday called on lawmakers to approve economic relief for renters, homeowners and businesses that have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pritzker also wants lawmakers to tackle the state’s budget, which has been decimated by the public health crisis.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wants lawmakers to sign a pledge and commit to health precautions to limit their potential exposure to the coronavirus. [WBEZ]

Here’s a map showing how many cases have been reported throughout Illinois. [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, Cook County officials will wave late fees for two months on property tax bills. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

And don’t get your hopes up that Chicago’s lakefront will reopen any time soon. [Chicago Tribune]

2. U.S. death toll projected to reach 110,000 by June 6

That grim forecast comes from an “ensemble” projection created by a team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts.

An ensemble projection merges and compares different models so that “all of these forecasts can be represented in a single standardized way,” said Nicholas Reich, a biostatistician at the university. “And this makes it really easy to make apples-to-apples comparisons between these models.” [NPR]

Meanwhile, about 25 million more people are leaving their homes as states begin easing restrictions, according to a New York Times analysis of cellphone data. [New York Times]

Most states have begun easing restrictions despite warnings from public health officials that a deadly spike may follow. Here’s a map showing what’s going on in each state. [Washington Post]

While the White House has left decisions about reopening to state governors and local officials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a guidance plan that urged a coordinated national response, according to The Associated Press. The plan was shelved by the Trump administration. [AP]

3. More than 100,000 small businesses have permanently closed

That bleak assessment comes from a study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, Harvard Business School, Harvard University and the University of Chicago.

And analysts expect the situation to get worse: Not only will more small businesses fold or file for bankruptcy, but the situation could give big businesses more power since they have more access to money. And communities that rely on a local ecosystem of small businesses may never look the same. [Washington Post]

The pandemic also raises questions about the future of business districts in major cities. In Manhattan, executives of Barclays, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley say it’s highly unlikely that their employees, who have been working from home, will return to downtown offices.

That move could have a ripple effect on restaurants, shops and public transportation that rely on downtown workers. [New York Times]

4. Fed chair suggests Congress will need to provide more aid

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said today the U.S. could face a long, painful recession if Congress and the White House do not provide more aid to address the economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic. [NPR]

Powell’s comments come a day after House Democrats unveiled a new $3 trillion plan that includes relief to state and local governments, a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks and an extension of enhanced unemployment benefits through January.

Congressional Republicans instantly dismissed the proposal partly because of the hefty price tag. [NPR]

5. U.K. economy plunges into a recession

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who is Britain’s chief financial minister, said the U.K. faces a significant recession after a report showed the country’s economy shrank at its fastest pace since the 2008 financial crisis. [BBC]

The news comes as the U.K. and many European countries begin lifting restrictions. The European Union’s executive arm, the European Commission, unveiled guidance on how countries can kick-start travel as many leaders and businesses worry about summer tourism. [BBC]

Elsewhere in the world, Lebanon is back on lock down. The country faced a spike in cases after it began easing some restrictions, illustrating the delicate balancing act between jumpstarting the economy and containing the public health crisis. [BBC]

Worldwide, more than 4.3 million cases and more than 294,000 deaths have been reported. [Johns Hopkins]

Here’s what else is happening

• Prices at grocery stores saw their biggest increase in nearly 50 years, according to federal data. [Washington Post]
• Paul Manafort was released from prison and is in home confinement due concerns about the coronavirus. [NPR]
• A federal judge opened the door for outside parties to object to the Justice Department’s decision to drop the criminal case against Michael Flynn. [NPR]
• Nerds be nerdin’. (LOL goes back to playing Animal Crossing.) [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

It’s times like these that I like to escape reality through … movies about the apocalypse! And very few films beat Mad Max: Fury Road, an instant classic that is a long yet mesmerizing car chase in a world ravaged by humanity’s failures.

The New York Times talked to 20 people, including director George Miller and stars Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, about what it was like making the 2015 film.

“I had the same feeling about Tom that I had when Mel Gibson first walked into the room: There was a kind of edgy charm, the charisma of animals,” Miller told the newspaper. “You don’t know what’s going on in their inner depths, and yet they’re enormously attractive.” [New York Times]

Tell me something good …

I wanna go on vacation but obviously can’t. So I’d like to know what your favorite vacation spot was before the pandemic.

Doug Lyons writes:

“Last summer, my then-girlfriend and I vacationed in Vietnam for two weeks. We walked around that foreign land, ordered more lobster than we could eat and ended each night skinny dipping in hotel pools!

“I always thought a good test before getting married would be to travel the world with that person. And if after two weeks of travel I still wanted to be with them, then it is a good sign that we should get married. Little did I know a quarantine may be a truer test if a couple should marry. Happy to report we are still obsessed with one another, and we are (hopefully) getting married this summer.”

Feel free to email at therundown@wbez.org or tweet to @whuntah.

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