BREAKING NEWS: Illinois school shutdowns have begun, along with shutdowns of various businesses and performances, and Chicago area businesses are beginning to require vaccination for entry, as covid continues to ravage the state and the omicron variant begins to spread rapidly. Yesterday set the record for the most covid cases in one day since Dec. 1, 2020 as 12,328 new cases of the virus were reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Today, Illinois public health officials reported 10,264 new cases and 63 covid-related deaths. The seven-day statewide test positivity rate is 7.6 percent.... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: The omicron covid variant has begun ripping through Iowa, with the number of confirmed cases leaping across seven counties, as for the third week in a row covid numbers have soared across the state, prompting some to wonder if new restrictions including mask mandates and remote learning for schools may be on the way. Omicron has now infected people in Black Hawk, Jefferson, Johnson, Linn, Polk, Scott and Story counties, according to the latest numbers from the Iowa Department of Public Health. The total number of confirmed infections has gone from one to almost two dozen in a little... 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: Illinois covid cases continue to explode, reaching their highest levels in a year, as the omicron variant has spread to 16 states nationwide and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker hints at future restrictions for the state. New covid cases statewide have raged over the past two weeks, with over 7,100 cases per day — the highest numbers since December 2020 — according to the Illinois Department of Public Health data. Over 11,000 new cases were reported statewide over the weekend, and Illinois has been reporting more new tests per day than it has at any point during the pandemic,... Read More

BREAKING: Illinois covid-19 numbers exploded yesterday, almost doubling from the day before and posting the worst day for covid since Dec. 1, 2020, when 12,542 new cases of the virus were reported. As Illinois was getting the bad news, Gov. JB Pritzker reiterated that current restrictions are here to stay for the foreseeable future, and more restrictions could be coming as the state begins to see numbers hit the trigger markers for a potential shutdown. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 11,524 new confirmed and probable cases Thursday, based upon 231,876 tests conducted over the... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois covid-19 cases are hitting the worst numbers they’ve seen over the last year, and with winter approaching and a new omicron variant rising worldwide, officials are looking at new restrictions for the state. Illinois reported 21,034 new COVID-19 cases since last Friday, along with 87 additional deaths and over 311,000 new vaccine doses administered, according to data released Friday from the Illinois Department of Public Health — an increase of almost 125 percent over the last month. Since the pandemic began, 1,784,900 cases of coronavirus have been reported in... Read More