BREAKING NEWS: Thousands of students and parents statewide in Illinois are defying Gov. JB Pritzker’s order for mask mandates in schools upon the announcement of Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow granting a request from downstate attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily halt the governor’s executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools. Across social media, parents from schools throughout the state posted pictures and messages about their children not wearing masks anymore, and the parents posted celebratory messages calling for a permanent end to masks in schools and during... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: An Illinois judge’s ruling prohibiting mask mandates has got schools statewide in a tizzy over whether or not to continue to enforce Gov. JB Pritzker’s mask rules and other covid restrictions. On Friday, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow granted a temporary restraining order effectively prohibiting mask requirements for students in numerous school districts across the state. A group of parents had filed lawsuits downstate against more than 140 school districts statewide, as well as Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education last year,... Read More

Iowa covid numbers remain high overall, with a positivity rate over 20 percent, leaving some to wonder if Gov. Kim Reynolds should be so quick to end all covid precautions. Over the last seven days, there were 19,161 positive tests reported. That’s down from 23,461 at last report on Monday, but still a high number. In addition, while the state’s 14-day positivity rate fell from 22.9 percent, it only slipped a bit to 21.5 percent. Other covid numbers continue to fall, but not a huge amount. For example, there are currently 794 patients hospitalized with the virus, down from 849 on Monday. Just... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state is over the hump in terms of covid, and she’s taking down the covid websites and letting the Public Health Disaster Emergency Proclamation for the state expire. Reynolds announced Thursday that she has signed the final extension of Iowa’s Public Health Disaster Emergency Proclamation, letting it expire at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Reynolds first issued the public health emergency proclamation on March 17, 2020, as covid first began to bloom and spread throughout the U.S.  Iowa’s covid numbers continue to remain problematic,... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid numbers continued their rapid zoom downwards, as officials said the statewide mask mandate and other restrictions could be gone “quite soon” — perhaps even within the next week or two — if cases and hospitalizations continue to plummet, Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a press conference Tuesday. “We’re not going to keep the vaccination requirement just because we like it. We’re keeping it because the risk remains higher at this point,” Arwady said. “And yeah, I am feeling confident that it will be able... Read More

After a brief spike up late last week, Illinois covid numbers have plummeted down, as the state hit below the 10 percent positivity rate for the first time since Dec. 23, as officials signaled that an end to the statewide mask mandate could be coming soon. Illinois public health officials reported 6,664 new COVID cases and 28 related deaths Monday, a stark contrast to last week, when Illinois public health officials reported 15,732 new COVID cases and 143 related deaths Wednesday, and the positivity rate went to 14.6 percent. Numbers across the board swung mightily in a positive direction, as the... Read More

BREAKING: Illinois covid restrictions could be reduced or dropped within the next week or two if covid numbers continue to fall, Illinois Public Health Department director Dr. Ngozi Ezike told WQAD-TV8’s Jim Mertens in an interview this weekend. “As we pass the peak of Omicron and those numbers continue to fall,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike said, “As that number continues to go down, we will be at a level where we can think about taking off that mask because we can handle in our hospitals, the load of patients and everybody can get the care they need.” “We know that the... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Well, perhaps we spoke too soon on covid being over. Illinois cases spiked back up today almost 60 percent over yesterday, a new worldwide variant — the stealth omicron — has been detected and is spreading, and deaths and hospitalizations increased statewide. The new numbers according to the Illinois Department of Public Health were not good. After declining cases over the past week, and a day in which we were below 10,000 cases for the first time in several months, Illinois public health officials reported 15,732 new COVID cases and 143 related deaths Wednesday. In addition,... Read More

MACOMB/MOLINE, IL – Western Illinois University will continue with the mandatory gateway testing on the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses for the remainder of this week (through Thursday, Jan. 27). Mandatory weekly testing for individuals who are not vaccinated will resume Monday, Jan. 31. All students, faculty, and staff* who are physically on WIU’s campuses must complete a COVID test this week, regardless of vaccination status. Testing will be held on the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses. Gateway Testing Clinics WIU-Macomb, Student Recreation Center MAC Gym (south gym) Tuesday-Thursday,... Read More

The McDonough County Health Department, in cooperation with Western Illinois University, will host two COVID-19 vaccination clinics (including boosters) for WIU faculty, staff and students, as well as members of the general public, Jan. 25 and Feb. 22. Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be available at no cost, and an appointment is not needed. Booster recommendations are in place for the COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States. Individuals may choose which vaccine they receive as a booster dose. First and second shots, as well as boosters, will be available at the... Read More