URBANA – In an effort to conserve supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic, some central Illinois health care providers say they are following guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to safely reuse N95 masks and other protective gear. Under normal conditions, protective gear like N95 respirator masks are typically used once and…
URBANA – Health care providers in central Illinois say they have run into issues with nursing homes not wanting to accept residents back after they’ve been hospitalized for COVID-19. Dr. Robert Healy, chief quality officer of Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, says early on in the pandemic, some nursing homes had been requiring proof that…
URBANA – Carle Foundation Hospital is preparing to launch antibody testing for COVID-19. The tests could be available to patients within the next two weeks, says Carle’s Chief Quality Officer Dr. Robert Healy. Not to be confused with COVID-19 testing that is used to diagnose someone who is currently sick, antibody testing determines whether a…
Criteria for COVID-19 testing in Champaign County have expanded to include anyone experiencing symptoms consistent with the disease. Awais Vaid, epidemiologist at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, says previously, the county had limited testing to people with symptoms who met other criteria set by the state’s department of public health and the U.S. Centers for…
With schools and public libraries closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, communities are finding creative ways to provide children access to books and reading materials. Alexa Valadez, a seventh grader at Urbana Middle School, helps manage a “little free library” in her neighborhood in northeast Urbana. It’s a collection of books for children of all…
This is part of Essential Voices, a series of interviews with people confronting COVID-19. Health care workers and first responders face serious risks…
URBANA – Of the 91 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Champaign County as of Thursday, roughly a third are still active cases. Four people have died, six are currently hospitalized and the remaining 56 have recovered. Nursing homes across the nation and in other parts of Illinois have been affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. But so far,…
URBANA – None of Champaign County’s 91 COVID-19 cases reported as of Thursday have involved staff or inmates at the County jail, according to Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman. As part of an effort to reduce the jail population during the COVID-19 pandemic, Heuerman said he’s been coordinating with local police officers to reduce jail…
CHAMPAIGN – Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has been working with the local health care system to mitigate the spread of the disease. The district’s pandemic plan includes taking action to notify and monitor people who may have been exposed to COVID-19, as well as work with local…
Agencies that provide services to adults with disabilities have had to change the way they operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of Illinois’ shelter-in-place order, the Developmental Services Center has had to cancel all in-person programs at their building in Champaign. The agency has since relied on technology, whenever possible, to provide case management and…
URBANA – With Passover starting Wednesday night, many in the Jewish community are having to adapt their usual customs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This is my favorite holiday, personally, and it’s tough not to be with my community right now, not to be literally sharing a Seder table, with my students,” says Rabbi Ari…
A majority of Americans believe that while their communities will suffer in the short term from the COVID-19 pandemic, they will eventually recover. And…
URBANA – Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana has joined a growing number of Illinois hospitals doing on-site testing for COVID-19. But testing at Carle, like many other hospitals, will remain limited to patients who qualify based on criteria set by state health officials. In mid-March, those criteria were broadened to include hospitalized patients with severe…
UPDATE on April 8, 2020: Child care at the Stephens Family YMCA will be expanded to all essential workers identified by the state. To register and for a complete list of occupations that qualify, contact Cody Flowers at cody@ccymca.net. Include your occupation and place of employment in your initial email to Cody. CHAMPAIGN – The Stephens…
Emergency physicians across Illinois are bracing for an onslaught of patients sick with the coronavirus disease COVID-19. Dr. Ernest Wang, president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians, says hospitals across the state are preparing, and right now feels like the calm before the storm: “The way I describe this to my friends and family:…