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

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

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 10,959 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 192 additional deaths. Some data reported to IDPH is delayed from the weekends, including this past holiday weekend. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 759,562 cases, including 12,830 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.  Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 106,778 specimens for a total 10,806,364.  As of last night, 5,653 in Illinois were reported... Read More

Covid-19 numbers in Illinois are soaring as post-Thanksgiving infections begin surging in, with infection numbers doubling and record-high death tolls reported. Illinois had 238 people die from covid-19 over the past 24 hours, marking the deadliest day for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. The previous high had been 192 deaths on May 13, during the first wave of the pandemic. The total number of deaths in the state recorded is now 12,639 deaths since March. Over the past week, numbers have spiked dangerously, with 116 fatalities per day over the past week, near the record high... Read More

The Rock Island County Health Department is reporting three additional deaths from COVID-19: two men in their 70s who had been hospitalized and a man in his 90s who had been living in a long-term-care facility. The number of deaths in the county from this virus, as of Dec. 1, is now 151. “We offer our heartfelt sympathies to their friends and family,” said Nita Ludwig, administrator, Rock Island County Health Department. “Throughout the pandemic, we have a seen about a three-week lag between a surge in cases and an uptick in deaths. We unfortunately are bracing for more COVID-19 deaths in... Read More

UPDATED: Illinois will remain under tier 3 covid mitigations for at least two to three more weeks, and could elevate to a more restrictive level if numbers get worse, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said during his press conference today. Illinois covid numbers leapt back up after a few days of numbers getting better. After yesterday’s report of just 6,190 new cases, today’s report listed 12,542 new cases in Illinois and 125 new deaths over the past 24 hours. It should be noted that today marks six days from “Blackout Wednesday,” that traditional unofficial day of inebriation... Read More