Thursdays coronavirus updates: 7 staffers at Danville prison among active cases; 3 test positive in Rantoul schools; Champaign County 7-day rate holds at 1.3% – Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

Two more staff members at the Danville Correctional Center have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

That makes 10 staff cases in all at the facility, only three of which are classified as recovered, according to IDOC. No inmates have tested positive at the Danville prison, records show.

State prisons have been among the hardest-hit facilities throughout the pandemic. The totals, according to IDOC:

— Inmates with confirmed cases: 1,448, with 958 of those now recovered. The most widespread outbreaks occurred in:

  • Stateville: 275 confirmed, 273 recovered
  • East Moline: 280 confirmed, 111 recovered
  • Jacksonville: 215 confirmed, 202 recovered

— Staff members with confirmed cases: 704, with 558 of those now recovered. The most widespread outbreaks occurred in:

  • Stateville: 115 confirmed, 108 recovered
  • Menard: 96 confirmed, 83 recovered
  • Graham: 43 confirmed, 30 recovered



Thursday positivity

Of 9,460 new tests in Champaign County, 127 came back positive Thursday, a rate of 1.3 percent.

The third straight day of triple-digit new cases raised the county’s seven-day positivity rate to 1.6 percent.

Also up, for the second straight day: hospitalizations. A week that started with one county resident hospitalized with COVID-19 will go into the weekend with seven, up two from a day earlier.

Recovered cases grew by 98 (to 3,615); active cases were up 29 (to 439).



Thursday active




Here’s an updated rundown of county ZIP codes with active cases followed by their total number of cases, according to C-U Public Health District data:

  • 61820/Champaign: 242 active (up 13 from Wednesday), 1,880 total (up 82)
  • 61822/Champaign: 40 active (up three from Wednesday), 284 total (up nine)
  • 61801/Urbana: 39 active (up two from Wednesday), 376 total (up 14)
  • 61821/Champaign: 35 active (up five from Wednesday), 406 total (up seven)
  • 61802/Urbana: 21active (down two from Wednesday), 313 total (up two)
  • 61874/Savoy: 13 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 105 total (up one)
  • 61853/Mahomet: 14 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 135 total (up two)
  • 61873/St. Joseph: 14 active (up four from Wednesday), 73 total (up five)
  • 61866/Rantoul: 8 active (up two from Wednesday), 293 total (up one)
  • 61880/Tolono: 2 active (down one from Wednesday), 48 total (unchanged)
  • 61859/Ogden: 2 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 9 total (up one)
  • 61843/Fisher: 1 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 35 total (unchanged)
  • 61877/Sidney: 1 active (up one from Wednesday), 18 total (up one)
  • 61864/Philo: 1 active (up one from Wednesday), 15 total (up one)
  • 61863/Pesotum: 1 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 12 total (unchanged)
  • 61847/Gifford: 1 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 9 total (unchanged)
  • 61849/Homer: 1 active (up one from Wednesday), 7 total (up one)
  • 61816/Broadlands: 1 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 2 total (unchanged)
  • 60957/Paxton area: 1 active (unchanged), 1 total (unchanged)
  • 61845/Foosland: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 10 total (unchanged)
  • 61878/Thomasboro: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 10 total (unchanged)
  • 61875/Seymour: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 6 total (unchanged)
  • 60949/Ludlow: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 6 total (unchanged)
  • 61840/Dewey: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 5 total (unchanged)
  • 61871/Royal: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 5 total (unchanged)
  • 61872/Sadorus: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 4 total (unchanged)
  • 61810/Allerton: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 1 total (unchanged)
  • 61851/Ivesdale: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 1 total (unchanged)
  • 61862/Penfield: 0 active (unchanged from Wednesday), 1 total (unchanged)

Over the course of the pandemic, 401,004 tests have now produced 4,074 confirmed cases in Champaign County.




Thursday county cases




Here’s an updated breakdown of confirmed county cases by age group, according to CUPHD data:

  • 11 to 20: 1,643 cases (up 55 from Wednesday); 32.3 percent of all tests in Champaign County
  • 21 to 30: 1,077 cases (up 50 from Wednesday); 31.8 percent of tests
  • 31 to 40: 429 cases (up 10 from Wednesday); 10.5 percent of tests
  • 41 to 50: 301 cases (up five from Wednesday); 8.4 percent of tests
  • 51 to 60: 239 cases (up three from Wednesday); 7.7 percent of tests
  • 10 and under: 154 cases (up two from Wednesday); 1.5 percent of tests
  • 61 to 70: 127 cases (up two from Wednesday); 4.7 percent of tests
  • 71 to 80: 59 cases (unchanged from Wednesday); 1.8 percent of tests
  • 81 to 90: 33 cases (unchanged from Wednesday); 0.9 percent of tests
  • 91 to 100: 12 cases (unchanged from Wednesday); 0.3 percent of tests

One student and two Rantoul City Schools staff members have recently tested positive for COVID-19, Rantoul Press Editor Dave Hinton reports.

On Wednesday, J.W. Eater Junior High officials were made aware a student had tested positive for the virus. The student was last at school on Sept. 10.

The school district and the C-U Public Health Department have determined no students or staff to be at higher risk due to close contact with the student.

On Tuesday, one staff member at Pleasant Acres Elementary and another at Broadmeadow Elementary tested positive for the virus.

Only one staff member, at Broadmeadow, had to be quarantined for close contact.

COVID-19 cases have cropped up at schools across the area in recent weeks:

On Tuesday, both the grade school and high school in St. Joseph reported confirmed cases. Families with students at St. Joseph Grade School and St. Joseph-Ogden High School were informed of the news in separate letters.

The grade school case involved a student who “came down with symptoms over the weekend and has not been in school this week,” Superintendent Todd Pence wrote.

“Due to social distancing in our classrooms, the rest of the students in class will not have to be quarantined,” Pence added.

For the second time in as many weeks, SJ-O Superintendent Brian Brooks also informed families, students and staff of a positive test from the weekend prior.

“We were notified late yesterday, and the student has not been in school since last week. This is not related to the previous student case,” Brooks wrote. “We did have a few students who have been identified as having prolonged close contact to this particular COVID-19 case. Those students have been placed in a 14-day quarantine to assist in preventing further spread of COVID-19 within SJO. Those families have already been contacted.”

On Monday, students at Salt Fork High School resumed in-person classes after two weeks of remote learning following four confirmed cases.

After recording four positive tests for COVID-19 last week, the Blue Ridge school district announced last week it would shift to all-remote learning through at least Sept. 25.

— Oakwood Grade School closed for three days — Aug. 31, Sept. 1-2 — after three positive cases were confirmed. The school reopened for in-person instruction on Sept. 3, with Superintendent Larry Maynard writing in a letter to families and staff: “According to the Vermilion County Department of Public Health, our quick responsiveness to the concern and our temporary closure of in-person instruction at Oakwood Grade School was a helpful precautionary measure of prevention that has successfully helped mitigate this situation.”

On Sept. 6, Cerro Gordo officials announced that the high school classes was shifting to remote learning until at least Sept. 21 after seven people tested positive for COVID-19. Four were reported on Sept. 3-4, with another three on Sept. 5-6.

— On Sept. 4, families in the Mahomet-Seymour school district were informed that a Lincoln Trail Elementary teacher and Middletown Prairie Elementary student had tested positive, leading to 18 people being quarantined.

Two weeks earlier, on the first day of classes, two Middletown Prairie students tested positive.

— On Sept. 3, Paxton-Buckley-Loda announced that a high school student tested positive. Superintendent Cliff McClure sent a similar note to families on Aug. 21, when a fourth-grader at Clara Peterson Elementary gave the district its first confirmed case.

— On Aug. 28, families and staff were notified of a student testing positive at Rantoul High.

A day later, it was revealed that two students at Eater Junior High had tested positive but that no other students or staff were at risk from being in close contact with either case, according to Principal Scott Woods.




Thursday Vermilion

The number of new cases in Vermilion County grew by one — with an asterisk.

“The ‘one new case’ is misleading,” public health Administrator Doug Toole reported Thursday. “Our communicable disease staff focused on immunizations and checking in with our active COVID cases this morning, and began contacting new COVID cases after lunch. The people we talk with this afternoon will appear on tomorrow’s update.”

For now, the county’s confirmed case total stands at 476, after adding a resident in their 50s Thursday. Ninety-two of those are considered active, with four residents hospitalized.

Vermilion’s positivity rates are 1.99 percent (single-day) and 3.8 percent (seven-day).




Thursday Ford

Ford County’s total case count now stands at 130 after three were added Thursday.

Eight residents are isolating at home, none are hospitalized and 118 have been released from isolation, according to the county’s public health department.




Thursday county tests




Of 57,800 new tests statewide, 2,056 came back positive Thursday, a rate of 3.6 percent.

The state’s seven-day positivity rate is also 3.6 percent. How that compares to nearby states, according to Johns Hopkins data:

  • Michigan: 2.7 percent
  • Kentucky: 3.2 percent
  • Ohio: 3.5 percent
  • Illinois: 3.6 percent
  • Indiana: 6.1 percent
  • Minnesota: 8.2 percent
  • Nebraska: 10.6 percent
  • Missouri: 10.8 percent
  • Iowa: 13.6 percent
  • Wisconsin: 14.7 percent

The Illinois Department of Public Health also reported 25 lives lost to the coronavirus:

  • Cook County: 1male 70s
  • DeKalb County: 1 male 30s
  • DuPage County: 1 male 30s
  • Green County: 1 male 90s
  • Kane County: 1 female 90s
  • Kankakee County: 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s
  • Lawrence County: 1 female 90s
  • Madison County: 1 male 50s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s
  • McLean County: 1 female 80s
  • Randolph County: 1 male 70s
  • Sangamon County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s
  • Shelby County: 1 male 70s
  • Tazewell County: 1 male 60s
  • Will County: 1 female 80s
  • Williamson County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
  • Winnebago County: 1 male 90s
  • Woodford County: 1 male 90s

Daily statewide hospitalization totals, according to IDPH: 1,558 people hospitalized (down seven from a day earlier), 345 patients in ICU beds (up 14) and 143 patients on ventilators (up one).

Pandemic totals, according to IDPH: 4,920,938 tests, 268,207 cases and 8,392 deaths.

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