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As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths surge, experts see no sign of the increases slowing down unless there are some major changes. “It took about seven and a half months or so get to the first 100,000 cases in Wisconsin,” said Ajay Sethi, assistant professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It took about 36 days only to get the next 100,000 cases. We’re on track to getting the next 100,000 cases 20 days later.”

Managers, not lower-level employees, are seeing their ranks diminished with the onset of artificial intelligence and robots, a new study out of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School finds. That’s because as AI and robotics expands within a business, managers can oversee a wider breadth of operations.

Near the back of a Corning Inc. glassmaking plant here, a robot picked up a cage packed with hundreds of tiny vials and plunged it into a salt bath bubbling at more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The hot soak for several hours is a key step in fortifying the glass vials from cracks, flakes and breaks that could thwart global efforts to stop the coronavirus.

Near the back of a Corning Inc. glassmaking plant here, a robot picked up a cage packed with hundreds of tiny vials and plunged it into a salt bath bubbling at more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The hot soak for several hours is a key step in fortifying the glass vials from cracks, flakes and breaks that could thwart global efforts to stop the coronavirus. Drugmakers and health authorities are counting on Corning’s new medical glass container, named Valor, to protect Covid-19 vaccines better than conventional ones, especially during initial months when supplies will be limited and little can afford to be lost.

Chicago plays a key role in the nation’s supply chain, which is gearing up for the logistics challenge of a lifetime: mass distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet the complexity of the vaccine rollout and unique facilities requirements mean Chicago’s sprawling network of warehouses — which includes more than 11 million square feet of freezer and cooler space — may not play a major role. That’s because there’s a big difference between storing foods like hamburger patties, frozen peas and ice cream, and preserving a promising Pfizer vaccine that must stay below Arctic-winter temperatures.