BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid-19 numbers, up 30 percent over the past week, have exploded and are up more than 70 percent in the last three weeks, according to the latest numbers from the Illinois Department of Public Health. IDPH numbers released today show the state is averaging 3,560 new cases of COVID per day over the last week. That is 72% more than the 2,069 new cases that the state was seeing each day on Oct. 27. Hospitalizations are also rising quickly statewide, with 1,627 patients currently hospitalized with covid statewide, an increase of 36 percent in the last three weeks. There are... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid-19 numbers exploded over the last week, roaring up almost 30 percent, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Despite a statewide mask mandate and other mitigations in place, Illinois Department of Public Health recorded a 29% increase in cases from the week prior, with numbers jumping from 17,462 to 22,600 cases in one week. Illinois health officials also reported 129 additional deaths and over 439,291 new vaccine doses administered. Since the pandemic began, 1,735,586 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state, according to the latest data... Read More

BREAKING: Illinois employers could very soon be allowed to fire employees who refuse to get vaccinated or comply with other covid-19 regulations. The Health Care Right of Conscience Act amendment bans employees from using their moral beliefs as a reason to refuse to comply with a workplace’s covid mandates, which could include mandatory vaccinations. The Illinois Senate voted 31-24 to approve the proposal late Thursday night. This measure passed out of the House on a 64-52-2 vote Wednesday. The new amendment now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker to be signed into the law, and it certainly looks... Read More

Even as covid numbers slowly decline in the state, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said there may be tougher covid restrictions ahead. At a press conference this week, Pritzker noted that rather than a removal of the mask mandate and a pulling back of mitigations, covid restrictions may remain and be tightened up if numbers begin to rise like they did last fall. “If you go look at the hospitalizations – the new hospitalizations, as well as the ones that are, you know, existing in total – they are not dropping at the rate that they were dropping even a couple of weeks ago,” Pritzker said.... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois won’t be lifting its mask mandate or any other covid restrictions any time soon, Gov. JB Pritzker said in his press conference Monday, adding that the covid numbers need to be “on a good downward trajectory” before he’d even consider removing any of the restrictions. “We’re watching to make sure that we’re on a good downward trajectory,” Pritzker said. “That’s what we were looking for back in May leading into June; it’s what we’re looking for now in order for us to possibly make changes.” Pritzker said the number of ICU beds being... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid-19 numbers are “going in the wrong direction fast, and looking bad for fall,” according to Covid-19 Illinois, a not-for-profit group which presents and analyzes statewide data on the pandemic. The group released its latest analysis for the previous week, two weeks, and month, on Monday. According to Covid-19 Illinois,497 Illinoisans died from Covid-19 in the last 15 days; and 506 in the entire month of August. “Last September before the vaccine, 307 died from Covid-19 in the first 15 days of September, this is a 40% increase this same period,”... Read More

Restaurants around the Illinois Quad-Cities opened their doors for indoor dining today for the first time in months, as customers began to slowly return, wearing masks and being careful, but happy for the opportunity. Today, the Illinois Quad-Cities, and its surrounding Region 2, was moved up to Tier 1 covid mitigations, meaning that indoor dining is allowed in restaurants at 25% capacity in the Quad-Cities and all Region 2 counties, including Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell,... Read More

It was 350 days ago when Illinois announced its first case of covid-19. Today, the state went over one million in cases, meaning almost one in 12 people in the state have tested positive for the virus, according to statistics from the Illinois Department of Health. As of Thursday night, 3,777 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 780 patients were in the ICU and 422 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators, according to statistics from the Illinois Department of Health. Illinois health officials reported 9,277 new COVID-19 cases and 126 deaths Friday. The... Read More