217 Today — Nov. 24, 2020
Tuesday November 24, 2020 Today’s headlines: As the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois continues to climb, the state health department is changing how it defines hospital capacity. The average cost of all the ingredients for a classic Thanksgiving meal is the lowest it’s been in a decade, despite the economic fallout of the COVID-19 […]
IDPH Preps For Expected Initial 400,000 Doses Of Vaccine
After Pfizer submitted its application for a COVID-19 vaccine to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week, Illinois public health officials have…
Pritzker Extends Eviction Moratorium, Secretary Of State To Close Driver Facilities
As the state once again reported a one-day high for COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Gov. JB Pritzker announced he would extend a temporary ban on…
Illinois Urges Residents To Stay Home For 3 Weeks
Illinois residents are being urged to stay at home as much as possible for at least the next three weeks as the second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks…
Illinois Records Highest COVID-19 Death Count Since May
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health reported Wednesday that 145 people in the state had died of COVID-19 over the previous 24 hours, the highest single-day death toll since the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in May, while overall hospital usage in the state reached its highest level. Those numbers […]
IHSA Invites State Officials To ‘Collaborate’ On Basketball Plans; Many Schools Opt Out
The Illinois High School Association has invited Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and representatives from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to…
Pritzker Warns Of Additional Restrictions As COVID-19 Cases Soar
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker warned Thursday that additional social and economic restrictions may need to be imposed statewide in the near future if the surge in new COVID-19 cases continues on its current path. “If the current trajectory continues, if our hospitals continue to fill up, if more and more people continue to lose […]
State Smashes One-Day COVID-19 Case Record With 9,935 As Death Toll Surpasses 10K
The state’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed 10,000 Thursday as the number of new confirmed cases smashed a one-day record by more than 2,000. The 9,935…
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Continue to Reach New Second-Wave Highs
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to climb as the entire state is either subject to increased mitigation measures or will be starting Wednesday. A…
East-Central Illinois Makes 10 Of 11 Regions Mitigated as Restaurants Push Back
Illinois is down to one region that is not facing increased COVID-19 mitigations after east-central Illinois’ Region 6 reached an 8 percent positivity…
Mitigations Triggered In 9th Of 11 Regions As COVID-19 Rages
A ninth of the state’s 11 COVID-19 reopening regions triggered increased mitigations Thursday as the governor touted the release of federal funding for…
GOP Pushes Back On Pritzker’s Mitigation Efforts
Republicans in the Illinois House and Senate pushed back Wednesday against Gov. JB Pritzker’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, arguing that…
Two More Regions To See COVID-19 Mitigations As Pace Of Hospitalization Growth Quickens
Six of the state’s 11 coronavirus mitigation regions will be under escalated restrictions starting Wednesday as hospitalizations for COVID-19 show a…
Number Of Regions Slated For Added COVID-19 Mitigations Jumps To 4
Two more of the 11 regions of the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan have reached a threshold necessitating increased restrictions, joining two other…
‘A High Degree Of Suffering In Silence’: Opioid Overdoses On The Rise In Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – Opioid overdoses are on the rise in Illinois, according to state health officials. The year 2019 saw a 22% increase in opioid-related emergency room visits compared to the prior year — and a 3% increase in overdose deaths, from 2,167 in 2018 to 2,233 in 2019. Preliminary data for the first half of […]