Monday, August 9, 2021
Today’s headlines:
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After canceling the Illinois State Fair last year due to the pandemic, organizers are set to open the 10-day event next week. But the specter of COVID-19 will be present throughout the fairgrounds in Springfield.
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Carle Health is now requiring unvaccinated employees to wear an N-95 mask, along with other safety measures. The new policy at Carle comes about a month after OSF Healthcare imposed a similar requirement for its workers.
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The Champaign County Board will consider spending nearly a half-million dollars to move inmates out of the aging county jail in downtown Urbana, due to a shortage of correctional officers.
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Champaign County public health officials reported 46 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, and the number of active cases held steady at 617, the highest number of active cases in the county since February.
In today’s deep dive, there’s a hidden HIV epidemic among Black women. In the first part of a series from Side Effects Public Media we find out they’re being infected at unusually high rates.
Reporting today contributed by Hannah Meisel, Eric Stock, Jim Meadows and Darian Benson.