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 – Four Illinois nursing homes already identified by federal medical authorities as having a history of serious quality issues have suffered outbreaks of the coronavirus in the past two months. Twenty-four nursing homes are listed under the federal Special Focus Facility program, which is overseen by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Four Illinois nursing…
CHICAGO — The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced 1,980 new cases of COVID-19 Monday. That brings the state’s total to 45,883. The state saw 50 deaths in the last day, bringing total fatalities to 1,983. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-Illinois) also responded to news that an Illinois judge had ruled against the extended stay-at-home…
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…
Many of America’s rural counties have just a handful of COVID-19 cases. And health experts say that may be giving residents a false sense of security….
STATEWIDE Gov. J.B. Pritzker has ordered the state’s residents to remain in their homes except for essential needs, March 21 at 5:00 p.m.-May 31. Starting May 1, there will be major modifications to the plan, click here to read about them. All schools — Gov. JB Pritkzer’s order closing all schools in the state has…
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…
Lisa Marlow is worried about her students. Marlow is a school nurse and educator with the Murphysboro Community Unit School District 186. The district serves primarily low-income students in a rural part of southern Illinois. When school is in session, Marlow says having eyes on students, especially those with chronic conditions like Type 1 diabetes…
Champaign Unit 4 Schools Superintendent Susan Zola says the district is on track to meet the digital needs of its families as e-learning continues through the end of the school year. In general, she has a positive outlook on the remainder of the school year, as well as what might be in store for the…
Construction work is considered a critical trade under Governor Pritzker’s Stay-At-Home order, so it’s been continuing while other activities have been curtailed. But preventing the spread of the coronavirus remains important. So in Champaign, city officials are asking construction companies to have COVID-19 safety plans in place. The COVID-19 jobsite safety plans are required for…
Many of the public health labs determining whether people have COVID-19 have become at least overworked or, at worst, overwhelmed. Some of the country’s…
DECATUR – Nine residents at the Fair Havens Senior Living facility in Decatur have died after contracting COVID-19. So far, all COVID-19 related deaths in Macon county have been residents at the long-term care facility. The latest casualties from the virus are a woman in her 90s and another woman in her 70s, according to…
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 1,585 new cases of COVID-19 statewide on Saturday, and an additional 125 deaths. The total number of cases across Illinois stands at 29,160 cases with 1,259 deaths across 93 of the state’s 102 counties. Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced during a news conference Saturday that the state has yet…
Champaign Unit 4 Schools Superintendent Susan Zola wrote in a message to families last Friday that the district will continue to ensure students have access to meals and learning materials while at home. The message came shortly after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade schools statewide would remain closed through the end…