CHAMPAIGN — University of Illinois football coach Bret Bielema has tested positive for COVID-19, the program announced on Tuesday. Bielema will miss this Saturday’s game at Iowa, where he played football in college, per team COVID protocols to help limit spread of the virus. In a statement, Bielema says he developed “mild symptoms” on Monday…
URBANA – Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois in Urbana will soon start requiring audience members to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, or of a negative test result. Beginning Tuesday, November 16, when the University of Illinois Wind Orchestra will be performing, the Krannert Center will require everyone attending performances…
CHAMPAIGN – Going maskless in school. Visiting a grandparent in India. Protecting a baby sister. These are some of the reasons Champaign-Urbana kids got vaccinated against COVID-19 on Wednesday in one of the county’s first clinics for the newly eligible, 5-11 age group. “Now that I know it doesn’t hurt too much, I’m actually looking…
URBANA — The number of new COVID-19 cases on the University of Illinois Urbana campus has jumped over the last week. Campus officials reported 220 new cases over the last seven days, about three times as many as the previous week. To learn more, Illinois Newsroom’s Brian Moline spoke with U of I epidemiologist Rebecca…
CHAMPAIGN — Do you know what’s in your drinking water? Depending on where you live, you could be ingesting contaminants linked to cancer, brain damage and other serious health effects. That’s why scientists at the Environmental Working Group developed the Tap Water Database – a searchable tool, based on zip code, that tells you what…
CHARLESTON — One of the things we’ve been looking at during our look at “Who’s in Charge of the News” is how information and misinformation spread, including on the COVID-19 pandemic. When the COVID-19 vaccine first began rolling out, white evangelicals — and Republicans — were among the groups most likely to say they were…
URBANA – In three Urbana elementary schools, most students take COVID-19 tests once a week. And they barely have to step out of their classrooms. The schools are part of a pilot program Urbana School District #116 started this fall. “It’s been working really well,” says district Chief Information Officer John Gutzmer. “We’ve been able…
CHAMPAIGN – Carle Foundation Hospital will drop Aetna Medicare in January. That’s bad news for Bridget McGill, an Urbana resident who relies on Aetna Medicare Advantage to afford her monthly prescriptions. “I really don’t want to change insurance carriers. Are we going to pay if we go to a hospital, or are we going to…
CHICAGO — The messages that worked to persuade unvaccinated people to roll up their sleeves this spring may not work anymore. That’s according to new survey research, which also finds some pro-vaccine messages can backfire and lead to greater hesitancy. The study was conducted by Civis Analytics — a Chicago-based technology company focused on data-driven…
DANVILLE — Protestors from the group Vermilion County Health Advocates stood outside the Vermilion County Courthouse on Friday afternoon holding signs and wearing t-shirts saying “Unmask our Children” while cars honked in support. Meanwhile — inside the courthouse — Judge Karen Wall ruled against both Danville District 118 teachers and parents from Hoopeston Area School…
CHAMPAIGN — Champaign-area residents who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and qualify for a booster have many options for getting the shot locally. Awais Vaid, deputy administrator and epidemiologist with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, says all local pharmacies and other providers are offering boosters — as well as first and second doses — to anyone…
CHAMPAIGN — Keith Thomas wears many hats in the Champaign-Urbana community. He’s a full-time pastor at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church. And he’s also been on the frontlines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, working as a hospital chaplain at OSF HealthCare. Thomas says the hardest situations he’s been in — as a local chaplain — have…
DANVILLE – The VA hospital in Danville, Ill., has begun accepting non-Veteran patients who need inpatient care. The goal is to relieve some of the strain on other hospitals in the state — in particular, those in southern Illinois that have been stretched thin for weeks due to the latest COVID surge. Dr. Staci Williams,…
URBANA – In some parts of Illinois, the percentage of available intensive care beds has dropped below 20% as the number of COVID hospitalizations has risen over the past month. State data shows the southernmost region of Illinois has only 5% of ICU capacity available. A region in the northwest part of Illinois has about…
SPRINGFIELD – COVID-19 cases are rising once again in Illinois — and most of the U.S. — with the more contagious delta variant now making up the vast majority of new coronavirus cases, according to federal and state data. In Illinois as of mid-August, the delta variant makes up more than 90% of new COVID-19…