CHAMPAIGN – The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday afternoon that it’s postponing all fall sports because of uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic. The sports affected at the University of Illinois are football, volleyball, women’s soccer, and cross country. Field hockey and men’s soccer, which are not varsity sports at Illinois, are also affected by the…
CHICAGO – As the number of COVID-19 cases trends upwards in Illinois, state officials want to see better enforcement of mask-wearing and other public health guidance. The average daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the state is up 31% compared to two weeks ago. The seven-day positivity rate stands at 4.1% Dr. Ngozi Ezike,…
Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis is quarantining at his home in Taylorville, after testing positive on Wednesday for COVID-19. The 13th District lawmaker says he feels fine, and that even the elevated temperature that led him and his wife Shannon to get a coronavirus test has gone back down. (Davis says his wife’s test came back…
CHAMPAIGN – Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been analyzing COVID-19 data to help the state — and campus — make decisions throughout the pandemic. Nigel Goldenfeld, professor of physics, and Sergei Maslov, professor of bioengineering and physics, spoke at a live-streamed COVID-19 briefing Thursday. Goldenfeld said that at the start of…
CHICAGO – Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 28-year-old Mayra Ramirez was working as a paralegal for an immigration law firm in Chicago. She enjoyed walking her dogs and running 5K races. Ramirez has a condition requiring medication that could’ve suppressed her immune system but was otherwise healthy. When the Illinois governor issued a shelter-in-place order…
Schools across Illinois are finalizing their reopening plans for the fall term amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Some parents of students with disabilities are concerned about how these plans will take their needs into account. Rebekah Strate has three children at home — all with special needs. Her family lives south of Jacksonville in a rural…
CHAMPAIGN – In a change of direction, the Champaign Unit 4 school district has announced that fall classes will be held on a remote basis only, through at least mid-October, as a continuing precaution against spreading COVID-19. Unit 4 Superintendent Susan Zola said in a statement released Wednesday evening that the district will use Distance…
The University of Illinois’ Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has announced the cancellation of all public, in-person performances this fall. Illinois Newsroom’s Brian Moline spoke with Krannert Center Director Mike Ross about the decision. Ross says they consulted with many different stakeholders before making the decision, and considered several factors. “As the understanding about…
As schools across Illinois finalize their plans to reopen this fall, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is urging students, teachers and school staff members to wear masks at all times and stay at least six feet apart. The C-UPHD recently released guidelines and recommendations for schools and families as they prepare to begin the next…
URBANA – As universities prepare to welcome students back to campus for the fall semester, some are counting on widespread COVID-19 testing to help clamp down on potential outbreaks. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, large white tents, with signs reading “Walk-Up COVID-19 Testing,” have been popping up across campus. On a sunny summer…
As Covid-19 surges again in the U.S., the high percentage of “recovered” cases might be cited as a sign that a vast majority of those infected quickly rid themselves of the virus. But the “recovered” statistics are incomplete, inconsistent and call into question the accuracy of any total number of recovered cases, according to a…
Each month throughout the pandemic, Illinois Newsroom has received questions from listeners about whether maximum SNAP benefits will be issued. To find out more about how the program works and what SNAP recipients in Illinois can expect going forward, Illinois Newsroom reporter Dana Cronin spoke with Leslie Cully, who oversees the SNAP program for the…
CHICAGO – Thousands of workers travel to Illinois each year to work on farms, with the largest influx to central Illinois in the summer and fall. Amid concerns about COVID-19, the state’s department of public health is partnering with medical clinics to make testing available to farmworkers. The Community Health Partnership of Illinois, based in…
CHAMPAIGN – The Champaign Unit 4 School District is changing their reopening plans for this fall. At a meeting this week, the district’s Board of Education asked school administrators to target special education, emergent bilingual learners and other vulnerable students for in-person instruction — with everyone else beginning the school year virtually. The district released…
URBANA – The Champaign County Clerk’s office and the Danville Public Library are both closed temporarily, after an employee at each location tested positive for COVID-19. But a staff member will be at the county clerk’s office on Tuesday to accept petitions from candidates seeking to get their names on the November 3 election ballot….