The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s decision during the COVID-19 pandemic to conduct many inspections virtually — instead of onsite — risked worker safety, the U.S. Department of Labor’s inspector general concluded in an audit report released Tuesday. The report does not specifically mention OSHA’s enforcement at meatpacking plants, which quickly became COVID-19 hotspots last year, but
Published in collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Workshop. Even before COVID-19, aides caring for elderly and disabled people in nursing homes often were overworked and underpaid, doing everything from changing linens to helping residents eat to physically rotating them to prevent bedsores. Ashley Ford often was one of four aides for as many as 42 residents
URBANA – The University of Illinois’ COVID-19 testing process has received Emergency Use Authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration. Authorization was granted in a February 24 letter to the university from FDA Chief Scientist, Rear Admiral Denise M. Hinton. Ben Taylor, spokesman for Shield Illinois, the U of I’s program for marketing
The Illinois Newsroom team is answering questions to help Illinois residents navigate this unprecedented time. Have a question you want to be answered? Ask here. Below you’ll find answers to questions about COVID-19 vaccines, schools and their response to the pandemic, as well as business and government aid. Please note: This information is accurate as
Leaders of Illinois’ hospitality sector are asking the state to work with them on a plan to help them recover from 2020’s pandemic shutdown. Representatives of Illinois’ hotel, restaurant and convention industry testified Thursday at a hearing before the state Senate Tourism and Hospitality Committee, asking for relief from state coronavirus restrictions. “We need to
The University of Illinois has backed down from an initial decision to dismiss a graduate student for a full year for not getting regular COVID-19 tests during the fall semester. Late last month, Yidong “Ivor” Chen, a fourth year physics PhD student from China, faced a disciplinary committee made up of students, faculty and staff
WATCH LIVE: At 2 p.m. today the Pritzker administration delivers a virtual State of the State and budget address. Tune in live below. The questions we receive from you directly inform the stories we tell and what we investigate. Let us know what you need to know!
The Illinois Newsroom team is answering questions to help Illinois residents navigate this unprecedented time. Have a question you want answered? Ask here. Below you’ll find answers to questions about schools and their COVID-19 response, business and government aid during the pandemic. Please note the information is accurate as of February 17, 2021. Schooling Q:
The Illinois Newsroom team is answering questions to help Illinois residents navigate this unprecedented time. Have a question you want answered? Ask here. Below you’ll find answers to questions about child care, businesses and schools. Please note: This information is accurate as of Feb. 12, 2021. Child Care and Schooling Q: Is there going to
URBANA – Within three weeks of having tens of thousands of students return to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the spring semester, the campus had identified more than 450 cases of COVID-19. This is fewer than half the number of cases identified by the same time last fall — and lower than U of
Steve Larimore was hoping to triple the size of his garden this year. Once the seed catalog arrived at his home near Bend, Ore., Larimore excitedly got…
The Illinois Newsroom team is answering questions from listeners to navigate this unprecedented time. Have a question you want answered? Ask here. Please note, the information is accurate as of Feb. 1, 2021. In today’s edition of “Ask the Newsroom,” we sought answers regarding… Electricity Nonpayment Q: Can my electricity be turned off due to nonpayment?
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Dr. Ngozi Ezike held a COVID-19 press briefing today as cases and hospitalizations in Illinois reach record highs. Read and listen to the latest update from the governor’s office on new cases, phased re-opening and closings of different regions and the state’s ongoing pandemic response. You can watch the most recent
URBANA – Despite more Champaign County residents becoming eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, one-third of health care personnel in the county still aren’t vaccinated due to their own concerns about the vaccine, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD). Champaign County is currently in the middle of Phase 1b of its vaccine rollout
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Dr. Ngozi Ezike held a COVID-19 press briefing today as cases and hospitalizations in Illinois reach record highs. Read and listen to the latest update from the governor’s office on new cases, phased re-opening and closings of different regions and the state’s ongoing pandemic response. You can watch the most recent