Tuesday’s coronavirus updates: Three new St. Clair cases and 16 deaths in Illinois
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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 is the latest news on coronavirus:
Confirmed cases increase in Illinois; four more deaths reported
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Illinois as of Tuesday was 1,535, according to Illinois Department of Public Health figures announced at Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily news briefing at 2:30 p.m. That is an increase of 250 cases from Monday. Officials also reported a total of 16 deaths statewide, an increase of four.
The number of cases in St. Clair County increased from four to seven, according to an Illinois Department of Public Health map. That increases the number of metro-east cases from 11 to 14.
The latest numbers available as of Tuesday showed:
▪ In the metro-east: 14 coronavirus cases total, including seven in St. Clair County, three in Clinton County, two in Madison County, one in Monroe County and one in Washington County. There have been no deaths reported in southwestern Illinois.
▪ In Illinois: 1,535 cases in 32 counties and 16 deaths.
▪ In St. Louis city: 22 cases and one death.
▪ In St. Louis County: 90 cases and one death.
▪ In the U.S.: 49,619 cases and 615 deaths.
▪ In the world: 409,014 cases and 18,246 deaths.
Five members of St. Louis family have coronavirus
Five members of a St. Louis-area family have all been diagnosed with COVID-19 and one of them works at a preschool where several teachers were found to have the virus, according to a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday.
Jane Weinhaus, who teaches at Deutsch Early Childhood Center at Congregation Temple Israel in Creve Coeur, Missouri, was hospitalized on a ventilator for more than a week, and her husband, Michael Weinhaus, is hospitalized on high-flow oxygen, son Jason Weinhaus told the newspaper.
Jane Weinhaus is now off the ventiliator, according to an update from her husband Tuesday.
Jason Weinhaus, his brother Ryan Weinhaus and Ryan’s wife, Dr. Brittanie Weinhaus, have also tested positive, but they have nearly recovered, Jason Weinhaus said.
“The Weinhaus family has been outspoken about its experience, identifying themselves by name and speaking publicly about what led to their diagnosis and the impact of the virus,” the Post reported.
“Michael Weinhaus said that their goal was to make people aware of the dangers of the virus, thank the community for their support and to thank ‘the brave and heroic health care workers who have put themselves on the line to help us.’”
MCT reduces bus service to Saturday levels
Madison County Transit will reduce its fixed-route bus service to a “modified Saturday service level” seven days a week, beginning Sunday, March 29, and continuing until further notice. The service reduction was prompted by sharp declines in ridership due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release on Tuesday.
Here are details of the reduced service:
All MCT fixed-routes in Madison County will operate on their Saturday schedule, seven days a week.
MCT will temporarily discontinue all MCT Express service to downtown St. Louis, including the #1X Riverbend Express, #5 Tri-City Regional trips to St. Louis, #14X Highland Express, #16X Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Express and #13X Highland–SIUE Express from Highland to SIUE.
The #13 Troy-Glen Carbon bus, which doesn’t operate on Saturdays, will operate on its weekday schedule.
The #20X Gateway Commerce Center Express will operate on its weekday schedule.
To ensure driver and passenger health and safety during the period of reduced service and to keep the entire MCT driver workforce employed, some drivers will be designated as “assistants,” according to the news release. They will clean buses mid-route as passengers get on and off. MCT asks that passengers limit trips to essential travel only, avoid touching commonly-used surfaces and follow social distancing protocols on buses and at bus stops.
For more information, visit www.mct.org, call 618-797-INFO (4636) or e-mail info@mct.org.
It should get easier to apply for unemployment
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state has upgraded the online system for people to apply for unemployment benefits while they are out of work during the coronavirus outbreak. He said the system had been overloaded with the number of applications coming in at one time.
“... This is just an unprecedented number of people that are seeking unemployment claims during this time period. I don’t think we’ve ever seen this before even in periods during the 2008-2009 crisis,” Pritzker said during his daily news conference Monday.
Anyone who is laid off due to closures, such as restaurant and bar employees, can apply for benefits at https://bit.ly/33qI5sx.
New local coronavirus cases announced
On Monday, state and local health officials announced new coronavirus cases in Monroe and St. Clair counties.
A woman in her 40s who had traveled within the U.S. recently is the first person in Monroe County to test positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus respiratory disease. She is recovering at home.
A woman who contracted the virus through community spread is St. Clair County’s fourth COVID-19 patient. County health officials did not release any more details about her.
Dawn Harper on potential Olympics delay
Dawn Harper-Nelson, the Olympic champion and East St. Louis High School graduate, told the Belleville News-Democrat she was “in shock” after hearing about the possibility of the Tokyo Olympics being postponed until 2021.
The International Olympic Committee announced that it was considering a postponement because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
Harper-Nelson is planning to compete at the Olympic trials again after winning the Olympic Gold Medal in 2008 followed by a silver medal in 2012.
“The goal is to get ready for and to be at my best for the Olympics in 2021,” she said.
Postponed and canceled events
The News-Democrat has compiled a list of events in Illinois and St. Louis that have been canceled due to concerns about coronavirus.
You can find the list at BND.com.
Get the latest news on coronavirus
BND.com will keep you updated through the day with information about the spread of coronavirus through southwestern Illinois.
You can also find the most complete and up-to-date information from government sites including:
▪ State of Illinois’ coronavirus page: coronavirus.illinois.gov
▪ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html
▪ Federal government’s coronavirus page: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
How to contact the BND with tips, concerns
If you have suggestions about something for the BND to cover regarding the coronavirus pandemic or if you see a report that sounds suspicious on social media or anywhere else, please drop us a note at newsroom@bnd.com and include a link. We’ll check it out.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Tuesday’s coronavirus updates: Three new St. Clair cases and 16 deaths in Illinois."
