Some call me a pessimist. Some call me a cynic. Some call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love. I prefer to think of myself as, no, not Maurice, but, rather, a pragmatist. A realist. And realistically, I don’t see the next few months going well in terms of covid-19. Today, Kim Reynolds is going to talk about potentially pulling back restrictions she put in place a month ago in regard to the pandemic ripping its way through the Midwest, and especially Iowa. Many think she’s going to pull back the restrictions. I don’t think she should. I know everyone wants to get back to... Read More

This morning, the first covid-19 vaccines to arrive in the Quad-Cities were administered to Genesis Health employees in Davenport. Dr. Robert Mixsell, Medical Director of Convenient Care and Alli Edmunds, R.N., emergency department at Genesis Medical Center, Davenport were the first two to receive the vaccine. It’ll be a while before the general public is able to receive the vaccine, with subsequent batches coming in being administered first to health care workers who are on the front lines of battling the disease. Still, there’s a lot of confusion and misinformation out there in regard... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: The first batches of the covid-19 vaccine are in the Quad-Cities and have been given to local health care workers. This morning, vaccinations in the Quad-Cities were administered to Genesis Health employees in Davenport. Dr. Robert Mixsell, Medical Director of Convenient Care and Alli Edmunds, R.N., emergency department at Genesis Medical Center, Davenport were the first two to receive the vaccine. Genesis Health System employees will take the lead in being vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the hospital. In a Genesis survey, 72 percent of all employees and 97% of independent... Read More

There’s been in incredible number of questions in regard to an upcoming covid-19 vaccine, what it means, when it’ll get here, and how it’ll impact the Quad-Cities and beyond. In an effort to, as usual, present the latest FACT-BASED reporting and research on the topic, we at QuadCities.com are presenting a question and answer session on the topic, courtesy of the Rock Island County Health Department. The first questions were answered by Edward Rivers, director of the Scott County Health Department Vaccine 101: What we know now The first questions were answered by Edward Rivers,... Read More

The Rock Island County Health Department is reporting five additional deaths from COVID-19: a man in his 90s, a man in his 80s, a woman in her 90s and a woman in her 80s, all of whom had been living in long-term-care facilities; and a woman in her 80s who died at home. The total number of deaths now is 192. “We offer our sincere sympathies to the loved ones of these five Rock Island County residents,” said Janet Hill, chief operating officer of the Rock Island County Health Department. In addition, the health department reports 124 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 9,522. Currently,... Read More

BREAKING: As Iowa continues as a hot spot for covid-19 cases, Governor Kim Reynolds is extending mitigations for “at least another week” on the state. “We look at it on a daily basis, we review it on a daily basis, we review it on a weekly basis,” Reynolds said in a press conference today. “We still have a long ways to go on our hospitals, but they are seeing some relief. I’ve said all along, we’ll dial up and we’ll dial back as appropriate and so that’s the same thing that we’ve done from the beginning of the pandemic.” Iowa... Read More

Health officials on both sides of the river encourage Quad-Citians to continue to mask up and be diligent in regard to preventing the spread of covid-19, warning we still have a long way to go before the pandemic is under control. Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said numbers from the aftermath of the Thanksgiving holiday have still not fully emerged, and that we “have a long way to go” before the disease is settled. “To be clear, the numbers still have a long way to go to move away from what could reasonably be called the danger zone. In other words,... Read More

A Chicago nurse and immunology and infection expert is sounding an alarm about covid-19 in Illinois and nationwide and offering a first-person look at what’s really going on in hospitals. Jenny King is a Legal nurse consultant at AALNC – American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants, Public Health/ER Registered Nurse at Illinois Nurses Association and Administrator at COVID19 Coalition for HealthCare Workers. She studied Immunology and Infection at CDC Global and studied Covid-19 Dynamics & Clinical Surveillance at Johns Hopkins University. King posted the following... Read More

BREAKING: Covid-19 is raging through Iowa and Illinois, with Iowa in the midst of a “severe outbreak” and Illinois surging upward into the “extreme” danger category, according to the latest statistics. Iowa covid-19 cases and deaths are continuing to triple the number in Illinois, which continues to experience a rise in cases of its own, despite Illinois’ much larger population. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, there were 30,328 new confirmed and probable cases of covid-19 in Iowa on Dec. 3, with 258 deaths reported; and even more cases and deaths... Read More

UPDATED: Iowa covid-19 cases and deaths continued to have a massive surge after the Thanksgiving holiday week, tripling the number in Illinois, which continues to experience a rise in cases of its own. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, there were 30,328 new confirmed and probable cases of covid-19 in Iowa on Dec. 3, with 258 deaths reported; and even more cases and deaths Dec. 4, with 30, 629 cases and 340 deaths. The numbers dwarf those in the larger neighboring state of Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health today reported 10,959 new confirmed and probable cases of... Read More