Coronavirus cases in Illinois may be flattening out

Public Health Officials Announce 1,293 New Cases of Coronavirus Disease, which is less than yesterday. Maybe it is starting to turn

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,293 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 81 additional deaths.

– Champaign County: 1 male 70s
– Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 males 40s, 1 female 50s, 3 males 50s, 3 females 60s, 7 males 60s, 9 females 70s, 4 males 70s, 7 females 80s, 8 males 80s, 7 females 90s, 2 males 90s, 1 female 100s
– DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s
– Jackson County: 1 female 90s
– Kankakee County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s
– Lake County: 2 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
– McHenry County: 1 male 60s
– St. Clair County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
– Will County: 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
– Winnebago County: 1 male 90s

McDonough, Perry and Warren counties are now reporting a case. Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 19,180 cases, including 677 deaths, in 86 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years.

The State of Illinois is closely monitoring all of our state facilities. The Illinois Department of Veterans Affair (IDVA) is reporting a single employee at the Illinois Veterans Home at Manteno has tested positive for COVID-19. The employee is isolating at home and a full contract tracing investigation is underway to determine potential exposures. At this time, there are no positive cases in residents at any of the Illinois Veterans homes.

Additionally, a separate stand-alone facility on the Manteno grounds, the Prince Home that serves homeless veterans, has seen four employees and two homeless veterans also test positive for COVID-19. A contract tracing investigation is underway to determine potential exposures.

On March 11, the staff at IDVA implemented agency-wide enhanced safety protocols to protect our veteran heroes and staff. Those measures include health screenings of staff and residents, maintaining social distancing practices, and intensified cleaning and disinfection protocols. This also includes minimizing movement within the facility including restricting outside visitor and encouraging residents to remain in their rooms.

For all personal protective equipment (PPE) donations, email [email protected]. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email [email protected].

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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