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: If you refuse to be vaccinated or comply with workplace covid mandates, you could be fired from your job in Illinois, according to a new law in the state. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed into law an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act allowing employers to penalize employees if they refuse to follow workplace rules about covid, including mandatory vaccinations, testing, and other mandates. The Illinois Senate voted 31-24 to approve the proposal; the measure passed out of the House on a 64-52-2 vote. Pritkzer signed the amendment into law Monday. The... Read More

If you refuse to be vaccinated or comply with workplace covid mandates, you could be fired from your job in Illinois, according to a new law in the state. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed into law an amendment to the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act allowing employers to penalize employees if they refuse to follow workplace rules about covid, including mandatory vaccinations, testing, and other mandates. The Illinois Senate voted 31-24 to approve the proposal; the measure passed out of the House on a 64-52-2 vote. Pritkzer signed the amendment into law Monday. The Health Care Right... 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: Good news this week for Illinois covid-19 numbers as Illinois became one of just six states nationwide to move from the high level of covid transmission (the highest) down to the substantial level. The state is now at 95 cases per 100,000 people; the cutoff for substantial is 100 per 100,000. The positive move has prompted speculation that the mask mandate and other restrictions Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker implemented late in the summer as numbers began to surge. “We’re watching to make sure that we’re on a good downward trajectory,” Pritzker said in a press conference. “That’s... 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: New Illinois covid numbers for the past week show modest improvement for the fourth consecutive week, but some schools are closing and going to remote learning and Gov. JB Pritkzer’s mitigations remain in place, with no indication of the mask mandate ending soon. Covid numbers statewide continued to show improvement over the month of September, as the positivity rate for last week, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, dropped to 2.7 percent statewide. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 18,735 new COVID-19 cases in the past week, along with 236 additional deaths and over 159,000... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: With Illinois covid-19 numbers finally starting to trend in the right direction, will Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker relax any of his mandates and restrictions regarding masks and other measures about the virus? Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady spoke with media today, and was cautious about any removal of mask mandates, and in fact talked about the potential for a return to more restrictions if numbers take a downtown when colder weather sends more people indoors. “First of all, as always, this is the first day we have been back down in this substantial... 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

BREAKING NEWS: Vaccines could be available to schoolchildren ages 5-11 throughout Illinois as soon as later this year, according to reports out of Frankfurt, Germany. The company behind the vaccines, BioNTech will be requesting approval for its covid-19 vaccine use in kids 5-11 across the globe over the next few weeks and preparations for a launch are on track, the biotech firm’s two top executives told German newspaper Der Spiegel. “Already over the next few weeks we will file the results of our trial in five to 11 year olds with regulators across the world and will request approval... Read More