The McDonough County Health Department, in cooperation with Western Illinois University, will host a COVID-19 vaccination clinics (including boosters) for WIU faculty, staff and students, as well as members of the general public, in December as the Fall 2021 semester comes to a close. The clinic will be held in the University Union Sandburg Lounge from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7. Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be available at no cost. NOTE: If the Dec. 7 date at WIU does not work for an individual’s schedule, the McDonough County Health Department will host vaccine... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid cases continue to explode, reaching their highest levels in a year, as the omicron variant has spread to 16 states nationwide and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker hints at future restrictions for the state. New covid cases statewide have raged over the past two weeks, with over 7,100 cases per day — the highest numbers since December 2020 — according to the Illinois Department of Public Health data. Over 11,000 new cases were reported statewide over the weekend, and Illinois has been reporting more new tests per day than it has at any point during the pandemic,... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Iowa covid-19 cases are skyrocketing, hitting their highest numbers in over a year, prompting some to call for a return to restrictions including a statewide mask mandate. According to the website coronavirus.iowa.gov, there were 9,362 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, an average of 1,337 new cases per day, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 528,221. Over the last 24 hours, there were 125 patients hospitalized in Iowa, for a statewide total of 721 (up from 623 last week), and 172 are in the ICU (up from 146 last week), and 67 are on ventilators (up from 57 last... Read More

BREAKING: Illinois covid-19 numbers exploded yesterday, almost doubling from the day before and posting the worst day for covid since Dec. 1, 2020, when 12,542 new cases of the virus were reported. As Illinois was getting the bad news, Gov. JB Pritzker reiterated that current restrictions are here to stay for the foreseeable future, and more restrictions could be coming as the state begins to see numbers hit the trigger markers for a potential shutdown. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 11,524 new confirmed and probable cases Thursday, based upon 231,876 tests conducted over the... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois has become a new “hot spot” for covid, according to CDC and Illinois Department of Health data released today, prompting officials to consider new restrictions in the state. The Midwest is experiencing the highest surge in covid over the past month, data shows. Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin “currently have the highest rates of COVID-19 in the country per capita.” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady called Illinois a “covid hot spot” and added, “The Midwest is the current COVID hot spot as temperatures... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid-19 cases are hitting the worst numbers they’ve seen over the last year, and with winter approaching and a new omicron variant rising worldwide, officials are looking at new restrictions for the state. Illinois reported 21,034 new COVID-19 cases since last Friday, along with 87 additional deaths and over 311,000 new vaccine doses administered, according to data released Friday from the Illinois Department of Public Health — an increase of almost 125 percent over the last month. Since the pandemic began, 1,784,900 cases of coronavirus have been reported in... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid-19 numbers are raging out of control despite all mitigations, causing some to call for even stronger restrictions and a potential lockdown and closure of schools statewide. Over the previous three weeks, the state has seen a massive surge of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, according to Illinois Department of Health numbers, and the latest data released today showed a spike beyond those numbers. Illinois has averaged 4,618 new cases of coronavirus per day over the last seven days, according to the latest IDPH statistics, representing an incredible 122% increase... Read More

The Rock Island County Health Department reports one COVID-19 death: a man in his 70s who had been hospitalized. The total number of deaths is now 383. “We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends,” said Janet Hill, chief operating officer and public information officer of the Rock Island County Health Department. The health department also reports 166 cases of COVID-19 since the last report on Friday. The total number of cases is 20,009. Currently, 25 patients are hospitalized in the county with the virus. The average age of newly infected patients is 32. “We crossed... Read More

Genesis Health System has released its latest numbers for covid-19 hospitalizations in the Quad-Cities. As of today, the hospitalization numbers are as follows: Genesis Medical Center, Davenport @ 36 Genesis Medical Center, Silvis @ 3 Genesis Medical Center, DeWitt @ 2 Jackson County Regional, Maquoketa @ 1 Total @ 42 COVID-19 Patients in ICU   Genesis Medical Center, Davenport @ 9 Genesis Medical Center, Silvis @ 2   Age Range of COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients   30-39 = 4  40-49 = 1 50-59 =  10 60-69 = 14 70-79 = 9 80+ = 4 Total = 42   7-day Symptomatic Positive Rate =... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Iowa covid-19 numbers continue to soar, with the Iowa Department of Public Health reporting 9,132 new COVID-19 cases in the past week, an average of 1,304 per day, prompting some to call for new mask mandates in schools and statewide. There were 102 deaths reported last week as well, bringing the state’s total to 7,268 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic. In addition, hospitalizations due to covid also continued to increase, rising to 544, including 123 patients in intensive care and 57 on ventilators. Children under 18 make up over 20 percent of the positive case... Read More