Flash Index Shows Record Jump In Illinois Economy
URBANA — For the first time in 13 months, the Illinois economy is expanding, according to the University of Illinois Flash Index. The Flash Index reading for April is 101.5, surging above 100 for the first time since February 2020, when it was at 105.7. The COVID-19 pandemic sent the Flash Index below 100 starting […]
Black Americans Face Widening Life Expectancy Gap, Biggest Since 1998
The COVID-19 pandemic lowered the life expectancy of the typical American, a recent CDC report says. And it seems that Black Americans have been affected the most.
Pritzker Reflects On COVID-19 Year: ‘The Politics Will Take Care Of Itself In The End’
Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of Illinois’ first reported death from COVID-19. In the next 12 months, Illinois would go on to report nearly 21…
DOL Watchdog: OSHA’s Virtual Inspections During Pandemic Likely Led To Dangerous Workplaces
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 […]
Industry Lobbying Left Nursing Homes Vulnerable In Pandemic
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 […]
Weeks Into Vaccine Rollout, Some Worry About Being Left Behind
Many Midwest states are now weeks into distributing coronavirus vaccines to residents who are 65 or older. With demand still far outstripping supply,…
Telemedicine Sounds Great, But There Are Barriers, Too
As soon as COVID-19 hit, there was a massive jump in telemedicine visits. A Centers for Disease Control study found that in March 2020 there was a 154%…
‘I’ve Tried Everything’: Pandemic Worsens Child Mental Health Crisis
When schools closed last spring, children with severe mental illnesses were cut off from the services they’d come to rely on. Many have since spiraled into emergency rooms and even police custody.