Tag: coronavirus

News Around Illinois – July 2, 2020

From Tight Hallways To Packed Elevators, Urban Campuses Are Grappling With Social Distancing Colleges and universities in downtown Chicago often use their urban location as a selling point when attracting students. Now, those campuses — located in the densest part of the city — are turning into a potential liability as schools plan to reopen

News Around Illinois – June 30, 2020

‘We Are Burying Our Future’: Chicago Mayor Mourns Kids’ Deaths From Weekend Shootings Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the last two Mondays she’s woken up with an “incredible sense of dread” after reading emails, text messages and media reports about the number of Chicagoans shot and killed over the weekend. On Monday morning, Lightfoot took a

News Around Illinois – June 29, 2020

Illinois Reports 646 New Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, 15 Deaths CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois public health officials reported 646 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday and 15 deaths. The latest Illinois Department of Public Health figures show nearly 24,000 tests were administered in the past 24 hours. Overall, there have been 141,723 total confirmed cases in

Ask The Newsroom: Playgrounds Reopening, Nursing Home Visits, Weddings In Phase 4

The Illinois Newsroom team is answering questions from listeners to navigate this unprecedented time. Have a question you want answered? Ask here. In today’s edition of “Ask the Newsroom,” we sought answers — regarding the state’s moving into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan today — from Julie Pryde, administrator of the Champaign-Urbana Public

UPDATE: Champaign COVID-19 Testing Site To Remain Open With New Contractor

UPDATED June 25, 2020: C-U Public Health Administrator Julie Pryde says the Trump administration’s move to withdraw federal funding from some COVID-19 testing sites will not affect Champaign’s public drive-through testing site at Marketplace Mall. But come July, it will no longer be staffed by the Illinois National Guard. Pryde says she does not expect

Undocumented College Students Excluded From COVID-19 Relief Find Help From Their Schools

Even before the pandemic began, Lisbeth Hernandez says she was exhausted. Hernandez is heading into her senior year at Dominican University, a small Catholic college in Chicago’s western suburbs. Hernandez is undocumented, and she has temporary legal protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Even so, she’s unable to receive federal financial

U Of I Officials Share Plans To Prevent, And Prepare For, Possible COVID-19 Spread

URBANA – Despite the precautions that will be taken when the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reopens this fall, campus officials acknowledge outbreaks could still occur.  In a webinar Wednesday, campus officials provided more detail about reopening plans as they pertain to housing, in-person and online instruction and other aspects of campus life. Precautions to

COVID-19 Financial Losses Could Mean More Financial Aid For Illinois College Students

SPRINGFIELD – Prospective and currently enrolled college students may be eligible for additional financial aid if their economic circumstances have changed significantly since they first filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  Jacqueline Moreno, managing director of college access and outreach for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), says her office has

U Of I, Carle Work To Meet Demand For Protective Gear During Pandemic

CHAMPAIGN – At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign began meeting daily with health care professionals from Carle Health System to discuss how to meet urgent needs in the health care community. Among those needs: personal protective equipment, or PPE, including N95 respirator masks, surgical gowns and