Coronavirus

Thursday’s coronavirus live updates for Illinois: School closure extension may occur

By Mike Koziatek

Updated March 20, 2020 8:06 AM

Keep up with all the coronavirus news in southwestern Illinois

Stay updated with the events in southwestern Illinois that have been canceled or postponed because of coronavirus concerns.

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Here’s a roundup of coronavirus news on Thursday. We will be frequently updating this story throughout the day.

School closures

Gov. J.B. Pritzker had a message for parents: Make a plan in case the school shutdown is extended.

“We’re obviously evaluating that every day,” Pritzker said during a news conference Thursday when asked about whether the school closures will be extended. “...right now we’re sticking with the March 31st date.”

Pritzker previously ordered that all public and private schools close from March 17 until March 31 in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

In Kansas, schools already have been ordered to remain closed for the remainder of the school year.

Three deaths announced in Illinois

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced on Thursday that three people with COVID-19 have died and the state has recorded 422 cases of the respiratory disease.

The total number of deaths stands at four in Illinois.

The individuals who died include a Will County resident in his 50s, a Cook County resident in her 80s, and an out-of-state resident in her 70s who was in Sangamon County. The previous death occurred in Cook County.

“I am saddened to announce three more people in Illinois with coronavirus disease have passed away,” said department Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a news release. “We ask everyone to please, stay home as much as possible so we can reduce the number of people who are infected and potentially suffer serious illness, including death.”

There are 134 new cases of coronavirus disease across Illinois. Five additional counties are now reporting cases: Jackson, Kankakee, LaSalle, Washington and Williamson counties.

On Wednesday, the state said there 288 cases statewide so with the 134 cases announced Thursday, the latest total is 422 cases.

As of Thursday, the state health department reports there are COVID-19 cases in 22 counties in Illinois. Cases have occurred in persons from 9 to 99 years old.

Three cases have been reported in Clinton and St. Clair counties and one in Madison.

SWIC moves classes to online, cancels commencement

Southwestern Illinois College students will take classes online for the rest of the semester, and commencement ceremonies are canceled to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

SWIC previously extended spring break for a week; students would have been returning the week of March 23.

But the college announced Thursday that instruction would move online until May 13. Then, students’ degrees will be mailed to them.

Some classes that are not conducive to online instruction will be suspended until April 18.

More St. Louis County cases reported

Five additional coronavirus cases were reported Thursday in St. Louis County.

So far, the county has 10 confirmed cases, the St. Louis County Health Department said in a release.

Thirty-eight tests for the virus have been negative, according to the department.

Drive through testing

A drive-through testing site for the coronavirus began at noon Thursday in Swansea.

You will only be allowed to go to the “specimen collection” site if you have prior authorization from your doctor and your local health department.

“Before coming to this collection site, community members need to first contact their primary care physician who will work with the local health departments to pre-screen and validate if you need to come to the specimen collection site,” Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Anne Thomure said in an email.

The COVID-19 specimen collection site will be opened by Memorial Hospital in cooperation with the St. Clair County Health Department.

Here are the details:

Location: 4000 North Illinois Lane in Swansea (former location of Siteman Cancer Center)

Time: Noon to 6 p.m., seven days a week, beginning Thursday, March 19

Note: If you have not completed the pre-screening process with your physician and health department, you cannot go to the drive-through collection site.

Other information about the testing site was not released.

Drive-through testing sites have opened up across the nation, including in St. Louis County. In these other sites, patients have had nasal and oral swabs taken.

Drive-in theater will stay open

The Skyview Drive-in in Belleville will not be deterred by the coronavirus outbreak as it plans to show movies and have church’s conduct Easter services.

The drive-in theater will show some old favorites movies on April 3-4. To keep up with “social distancing” guidelines, theater owner Steve Bloomer said cars will be spaced farther apart than usual.

For more information about the theater at 5700 North Belt West, go to the theater’s Facebook page.

The first movies to be shown will be “The Goonies,” “Beetlejuice,” “Grease” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Bloomer said Union United Methodist Church and First United Presbyterian are planning Easter Sunday services.

SIUE postpones commencement

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the SIU School of Dental Medicine have postponed all spring commencement ceremonies because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are actively exploring options for reimagined commencement ceremonies, to ensure our students are rightly honored for their incredible achievements,” the school said on Facebook on Thursday. “Eligible graduates will be surveyed soon to provide thoughts and suggestions for this spring’s commencement exercises.”

The school said it will make additional announcements about how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting students at siue.edu/commencement and siue.edu/dental.

The SIUE commencement ceremonies had been scheduled for May 8-9.

Madison County courts and state’s attorney to curtail business due to coronavirus

Madison County Chief Judge William A. Mudge has signed an order that will curtail court business in the Third Judicial Circuit and limit operations of the state’s attorney’s office to essential staff only for 30 days due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“All case management and status dockets, all Tuesday IV-D (child support) dockets, all DUI and DVAC compliance dockets, all Probate and Landlord-Tenant cases, all Petitions to Revoke and Bond Preliminary hearings, all Traffic appearance dockets, and all civil and criminal motion dockets or settings that are scheduled for the next 30 days are to be continued by the assigned judges,” according to a news release from State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons’ office.

“The court will continue to conduct hearings on essential or timely matters if the presentment of a motion or petition cannot be conducted remotely by email, video or telephonic means. Individuals who wish to file an order of protection should visit the Madison County Law Library located in the basement of the Madison County Courthouse, 155 North Main Street, Edwardsville, where they will be able to find forms.

“The State’s Attorney’s Office will continue to work daily with law enforcement departments for criminal felony warrants,” the release stated.

People who need immediate assistance from the state’s attorney’s office are asked to call 618-296-5354 and leave a voicemail with name, phone number and a brief message so the request can be forwarded to the right person or department.

Lindenwood athletics staff losing jobs sooner than planned because of coronavirus

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, Lindenwood University is laying off its Belleville athletics staff sooner than planned as the college consolidates Belleville’s programs with those at its St. Charles location.

Lindenwood canceled intercollegiate athletics during the COVID-19 pandemic, so the staff will be terminated effective Friday instead of working through the end of the semester as planned, university spokesman Chris Duggan said in an email.

Lindenwood announced plans last year to stop offering daytime undergraduate academic programs in Belleville and to consolidate with the St. Charles campus by May 2020. The decision was made because of “financial and enrollment challenges” in Belleville, the university said at the time.

For more on this development, go to bnd.com.

Confirmed coronavirus case in Williamson County

A Williamson County resident tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday evening, the Franklin-Williamson Bi-County Health Department announced Thursday.

The patient, a woman in her 50s, “is doing well and is at home on isolation,” the release stated. The case is the first coronavirus case in the county. The woman is thought to have been exposed to the virus during her travel to another state.

Public health officials have started investigating the case and are speaking with anyone who may have had contact with the woman, the release stated. The department may place others in quarantine.

Scott Air Force Base raises health protection level

Scott Air Force Base raised its health protection condition from “Alpha” to “Bravo” on Wednesday night, indicating an increased exposure risk and calls for strict hygiene measures, as well as identification and self-quarantine of potentially exposed personnel.

The change was implemented following a confirmed non-travel-related case of coronavirus at a local hospital off the base. According to the release, the patient is not connected to Scott Air Force Base.

The base declared a public health emergency on Tuesday and reduced manning to mission-critical tasks only.

“The declaration provides the commander with additional tools necessary to protect Airmen and families and limit the spread of the virus,” the release stated. “This includes restricting movement of personnel and access to the installation as necessary and implementing quarantine or isolation procedures for affected individuals.”

Illinois launches new coronavirus website

The state on Wednesday launched a new coronavirus website at coronavirus.illinois.gov to give residents tips on how to help prevent the spread of the virus.

The site has a locator map to show where confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported. However, the numbers on the map were slightly behind the number of cases that officials had announced.

For instance, three cases have been reported in St. Clair County but on Wednesday the map showed there were two cases.