BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid numbers soared to record highs yesterday, with almost 12,000 new cases of the virus, record hospitalizations and deaths, and with more omicron cases being identified in the state, both Gov. JB Pritkzer and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot are talking about more restrictions being put in place. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 11,858 new confirmed and probable cases of covid over the last 24 hours, a record high for 2021, and the highest since Dec. 1, 2020, when 12,542 new cases were reported. The state is now averaging more than 8,000 new cases per day,... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: For the third week in a row, covid-19 hospitalizations in Iowa have hit their highest numbers for the year, as the state’s positivity rate roars upward and deaths continue to rise. According to the latest numbers from the Iowa Department of Public Health, there are 823 patients in hospitals with covid, including 173 in intensive care and 103 on ventilators. There were 10,476 new reported COVID-19 cases over the past week, an average of 1,497 per day, and the state’s 14-day positivity rate is 11.3 percent. As in neighboring Illinois, the numbers are largely driven by the... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Iowa covid cases have hit “in a dangerous zone” according to state health officials, as the first case of the omicron variant has been identified in the state, and infections, deaths and hospitalizations skyrocket. The Iowa Department of Public Health tweeted out today that the first case of the omicron variant has been detected in a child under 18 who lives in Black Hawk County, which includes Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas. The person was unvaccinated and was exposed to the new variant through travel. Black Hawk County health officials will continue to monitor the... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Iowa’s covid-19 numbers for infections, hospitalizations and deaths are at their highest in over a year, as the omicron variant has broken out in surrounding states, prompting many officials in Iowa to call for a statewide mask mandate and other restrictions. The latest data from the Iowa Department of Public Health shows COVID-19 case numbers and the death toll are accelerating, with 7,550 people dead from covid in Iowa since early 220, 777 people currently hospitalized, 185 people in intensive care, and a statewide average positivity rate of a whopping 12 percent over the... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: The omicron covid variant has invaded Illinois, infecting at least one person in Chicago, prompting fears of a wide spread in the third-largest city in the United States and throughout Illinois, and spurring some to dread potential new restrictions hinted at by Gov. JB Pritzker, including requiring proof of vaccination to enter certain public spaces or activities. The Chicagoan infected by the omicron variant was both fully vaccinated with two shots and had gotten their third booster dose. They were tested at the hospital and dinged positive but did not require hospitalization and... 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

BREAKING NEWS (UPDATED): Iowa has been slammed with a civil rights investigation by the Biden administration’s Education Department over Gov. Kim Reynolds’ move to ban mask mandates. The federal government investigation levels the charge that Iowa, and Gov. Reynolds’ actions, “create an unsafe learning environment for students with disabilities who are at heightened risk of severe illness from covid-19.” Iowa is one of five states to get hit with the investigations, the other four being Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. “We’re advocating for... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: As the covid-19 delta variant rips through Iowa, a fierce battle is raging between Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Supreme Court over mask mandates and further mitigations. On Friday, the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, Susan Christensen, whom Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed in 2018, signed an order making masks mandatory in public areas controlled by the court ruling — regardless of vaccination status —  clashing with Reynolds’ state law banning mask mandates in public schools and other public areas. Christensen based her order on recommendations... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said today “greater mitigations” are coming if covid-19 numbers continue to spike massively in the state. Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported 4,451 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 40 related deaths Wednesday, that news following the state hitting its highest one-day total in covid cases since late January and its highest week for infections in months last week. “If we are not able to bring these numbers down, if hospitals continue to fill, if the hospital beds and ICUs get full like they are in Kentucky... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Covid-19 numbers in Illinois are soaring again this week, pushing many regions at or near the same triggers which brought shutdowns during previous surges, according to the latest CDC numbers released today. Covid numbers have leapt tenfold since late July, led by the more infectious delta variant. Over 96 percent of all new cases are among unvaccinated individuals. All Illinois state zones are in the red, “high” levels of transmission and hospitalizations. All 102 counties are now into the red, “high” levels. The rate of new covid-19 cases per 100,000... Read More