After over 1.5 million COVID-19 tests at ten community-based testing sites in Illinois, officials are shutting them down as demand sharply drops. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced on Friday that operations at all ten community-based COVID-19 testing sites will end on March 31. The drive-thru sites were established in April 2020. Testing […]
Tag: COVID-19
Posted inLocal News
Health department closing McHenry County COVID-19 call center due to ‘steady decline’ in calls
The McHenry County Department of Health said they are shutting down their COVID-19 call center due to a decline in the demand for assistance. The call center was launched in February 2021 and helped McHenry County residents in scheduling COVID-19 vaccination and testing appointments for those with accessibility barriers. The call center, which will no […]
Posted inState News
Head of Illinois Department of Public Health stepping down, governor announces
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of Illinois’ health department and face of regular COVID-19 updates, will be stepping down from her post this month, Gov. JB Pritzker announced. Pritzker made the announcement Tuesday afternoon during a COVID-19 press conference at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “For over three years, Dr. Ngozi Ezike has served […]
Posted inState News
Pritzker lifting school mask mandate on Monday after Illinois Supreme Court declines to hear his appeal in lawsuit
Gov. JB Pritzker will remove Illinois’ school mask mandate effective Monday after the Illinois Supreme Court declined to take up his appeal in a lawsuit filed against the state’s school COVID-19 measures. Friday evening’s order by the Illinois Supreme Court canceled the Sangamon County Circuit Court’s restraining order against the governor’s mandates, but the attorney […]
Posted inState News
Lilly’s new COVID-19 antibody drug to begin being distributed in Illinois
A new monoclonal antibody treatment designed to keep people diagnosed with COVID-19 out of the hospital is beginning to be distributed in Illinois, health officials said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization on February 11 for a new monoclonal antibody called bebtelovimab. Bebtelovimab will join another monoclonal antibody treatment, […]
Posted inState News
Gov. Pritzker to appeal to Illinois Supreme Court after appellate court dismisses his appeal in school mask case
(The Center Square) – Gov. Pritzker is expected to file an appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court in an effort to get the state’s school mask mandate reinstated. The Fourth District Court of Appeals late Thursday found Pritzker’s appeal of a lower court blocking mask and exclusion rules for students and vaccine or testing mandates […]
Posted inState News
Appeals court dismisses Gov. Pritzker’s school mask order appeal
(The Center Square) – The temporary restraining order blocking Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mask and exclusion policies in schools remains in place after an appeals court dismissed the governor’s appeal Thursday evening. “Because the emergency rules voided by the TRO are no longer in effect, a controversy regarding the application of those rules no longer […]
Posted inLocal News
Highland Park proof of COVID vaccination order expires after city council decides not to renew it
Private businesses in Highland Park are no longer required to check patrons’ proof of COVID-19 vaccination after the city council decided not to extend the order. The City of Highland Park issued a statement Friday saying Mayor Nancy Rotering and the city council members determined that the city would not extend the emergency declaration. The […]
Posted inState News
Bipartisan legislative committee blocks Gov. Pritzker’s emergency mask rule for schools
(The Center Square) – A bipartisan legislative committee has blocked Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest school mask mandate rule that he filed on Monday, which comes after a judge temporarily halted the state from enforcing the mandate. The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) is a bipartisan committee of Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the Illinois […]