Month: March 2021

CHICAGO — Illinois health officials reported 1,068 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Sunday, including 14 additional deaths. Illinois has set a record-high 7-day average for vaccine administration, with an average of 93,183 doses administered daily over the past week. The deaths were reported in the following counties: Cook County: 2 males 40s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s Kankakee County: 1 male 60s Kendall County: 1 female 70s Lake County: 1 male 70s Livingston County: 1 female 60s Madison County: 1 female 40s, 1 female 60s Massac County: 1 male 70s Peoria County: 1 female 80s Will County: 1 male 80s Illinois health officials are currently reporting a total of 1,198,335 cases, including 20,763 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. Within...

because it was kind of dropped on us last night. We haven't We haven't sent our plan for sure on how we will serve that population. Specifically, Buchanan County Department of Public Health director Tie Burkhardt says all 400 shots they have to give out next week are already scheduled. We're trying to make it as widely available as possible, but some of the other clinics for that tiered group, um, is already set, and I can't take that vaccine back to change direction right now. The state's announcement Thursday night that vastly expands who can get the shot didn't come with much advance notice to the county Health Department's. Burkhardt says they've been planning clinics weeks in advance and need time to make the necessary changes. A week or two would have been better than we ...

Public heath experts have been critical of states such as Texas and Mississippi that tossed aside mask mandates  last week at a critical juncture in the nation's pandemic. They also warn of another threat to hard-fought gains in recent weeks – the number of Americans getting tested for coronavirus has dropped significantly since January. Though the testing slowdown may be the result of fewer infections, it also might signal too many Americans are growing complacent as the second year of COVID-19 marches on and millions get vaccinated every week.   Testing remains a staple of the effort to control COVID-19, along with wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding crowded indoor places and hand hygiene. Though officials are optimistic vaccines will offer protection, some warn the nation might ...

Spring break partying could spell the “perfect storm” for triggering the spread of new coronavirus variants across the US, an expert warned. “It’s the perfect storm,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN. Hotez said he feared that college kids hitting the party scene in Florida could accelerate the spread of the highly-contagious UK variant, which is known as B.1.1.7. “You’ve got the B.1.1.7 variant accelerating in Florida. You’ve got all these 20-year-old kids,” he said. “None of them are going to have masks. They’re all going to be drinking. They’re having pretty close, intimate contact. And then, after that’s all done, they’re going to go back to their home states and spread the ...