Monday live coronavirus updates: New testing site opening in East St. Louis this week
Graduation ceremonies going virtual
Collinsville High School announced plans Monday for its Saturday, May 16, graduation ceremony.
The ceremony, including music, speakers and the reading of each graduate’s name, will be live streamed at 10 a.m. on the school district’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Family and community members can also watch on Collinsville District 10’s and Tomahawk Studios’ YouTube channels.
Instead of walking across a stage, the graduates will drive through the high school campus in alphabetical order wearing their caps and gowns to receive their diplomas. For a schedule and instructions, visit kahoks.org/headlines/celebrating-the-class-of-2020.
Belleville District 201 also has plans for virtual graduation ceremonies for students at Belleville East and West high schools. The district is tentatively planning an in-person graduation event in early August, too.
No Memorial Day ceremony at Jefferson Barracks
The Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America announced Monday that Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery will not have a Memorial Day Ceremony this year. And the Boy Scouts will not place flags on veterans’ graves.
It would have been the 70th year the Boy Scouts had honored war veterans with the flags, according to a post on the council’s social media.
2 businesses sue St. Louis city, county
A St. Louis antique store and a St. Louis County gym filed a lawsuit Monday over officials’ stay-at-home orders, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s statewide stay-at-home order expired, allowing economic and social activity to begin Monday, according to the governor’s office. But stay-at-home orders are still in place in St. Louis city and county, which account for more than half of state’s 8,754 COVID-19 patients and about two-thirds of the 358 deaths, the Associated Press reported.
Mayor Lyda Krewson and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page have said they will revisit their stay-at-home orders in mid-May, according to the Post-Dispatch.
The St. Louis newspaper reported that the owners of Anytime Fitness and Elder’s Antiques wanted to reopen on Monday and are arguing in their lawsuit that only the director of the Missouri Department Health and Senior Services has the authority to order businesses closed.
New testing site opening in East St. Louis
A new drive-thru and walk-up testing site is opening Wednesday at the Jackie Joyner Kersee Community Center.
The state announced the site through a news release distributed Monday. Testing will be free and can be obtained without a doctor’s referral, according to the release.
The center’s testing site at Argonne Drive in East St. Louis will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. while daily supplies last seven days a week.
Visitors will be asked to show photo identification. Health care workers and first responders will also be asked to show a badge or ID from their employer.
Employee furloughs announced at BJC
BJC HealthCare on Monday announced plans to cut expenses, including furloughing employees across its system.
BJC said that over the next two weeks, it will furlough an undisclosed number of employees, suspend 401k and 403b matching funds for the remainder of 2020, delay annual salary increases for employees, cut salaries of senior executives and other leaders and reduce work hours for some employees in an effort to offset the loss of money from the coronavirus pandemic.
BJC includes Memorial Hospital East in Shiloh, Memorial Hospital Belleville and Alton Memorial Hospital.
Last week, Springfield-based Hospital Sisters Health System, which operates St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon and the two St. Joseph’s Hospitals in Breese and Highland, announced it would furlough employees as well but did not disclose how many employees would be affected.
Illinois hospitals are losing $1.4 billion a month in revenue because of COVID-19 costs, including canceled elective surgeries and procedures as well as fewer people going to the emergency room because of virus fears, according to Danny Chun, spokesman for the Illinois Hospital Association.
Skyview Theater in Belleville to reopen
The Skyview Drive-In Movie Theater in Belleville plans to reopen on May 8.
The theater originally planned to open May 1 before Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order was extended to the end of May and only essential businesses were allowed to remain open.
On Friday, the Skyview Drive-In said in a social media post that it had gotten the OK to reopen from the governor’s office, and that it would implement measures during the pandemic to ensure the safety of its customers.
Those measures include:
A drop in prices to minimize the exchange of money and operating at half-capacity. Adults will be charged $10 per ticket. The theater asks customers come with exact change if possible. One car will be allowed at each pole.
Providing trash bags to customers. The theater asks that customers bag all trash and take it home with them so that employees don’t have to risk cross-contamniation.
Closing of bathrooms. The theater said it would double the amount of port-a-potties and that those would be sanitized every 15 minutes.
Closing of the concessions stand. A limited menu of cheeseburgers, hot dogs, popcorn, bottled soda, water, lemonade, sno cones, coffee and hot chocolate will be available on the theater’s patio.
Southwestern Illinois coronavirus cases
Here’s a breakdown of the 1,422 COVID-19 cases in southwestern Illinois as of Monday. These numbers are updated by 4 p.m. daily at BND.com.
- St. Clair: 570 positives, 49 deaths, 2,345 tests administered, 35 tests pending
- Madison: 369 positives, 26 deaths, 75 hospitalizations, 102 recoveries
- Clinton: 113 positives, six deaths, 524 tests administered, 20 recoveries
- Randolph: 197 positives, two deaths, 75 recoveries
- Monroe: 74 positives, 11 deaths
- Macoupin: 32 positives, 616 tests administered, 12 tests pending, 27 recoveries
- Perry: 32 positives
- Jersey: 14 positives, one death, nine recoveries
- Washington: 14 positives, nine recoveries
- Bond: Six positives, one death, 109 tests administered, nine tests pending, three recoveries
- Calhoun: One positive, one recovery
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.
Want to help? Here’s what you need to know
The BND has compiled a list of ways you can help during the coronavirus pandemic.
Go to BND. com to learn about the opportunities to volunteer your time or donate to help communities in the metro-east without putting yourself or others at risk.
You can sew face masks, read stories for people with vision loss and deliver meals to seniors.
If you know of a recognized charitable organization looking for help that isn’t listed, please tell us about it; send an email to newsroom@bnd.com or fill out the BND’s Southwest Illinois coronavirus service and assistance guide online 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
Who to call if you need help with mental health
Here are some resources from mental health professionals for anyone struggling during the coronavirus pandemic:
- Touchette Regional Hospital’s new Mental Health Support and Resource Line to talk to trained therapy staff: call 618-482-7158
- Illinois Human Services Mental Health Division’s Call4Calm to text with a mental health care professional for free: text the word “talk” to 552020.
Centerstone of Illinois, Inc. for virtual mental health services: call 618-462-2331.
Chestnut Health Systems for virtual mental health services: call 618-877-4420.
Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous for virtual meetings: call 618-398-9409 or email metroeastnapr@gmail.com.
Regional Disaster Mental Health Volunteer response team’s new Support Line for health care professionals: call 618-381-5173.
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.
If you’re a health-care worker, we’d like to hear from you
The BND would like to speak with nurses, doctors and other health care professionals who are on the front lines caring for patients in doctor’s offices, clinics and hospitals during this difficult time. We’re interested in hearing about your challenges and rewards, frustrations and accomplishments. How is this affecting you? Send us an email at newsroom@bnd.com.
Recovering from COVID-19? The BND would like to talk to you
Have you recovered from coronavirus or are you in the process of recovering from COVID-19? We would like to hear from you on how you dealt with the respiratory disease. Send us an email at newsroom@bnd.com.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Monday live coronavirus updates: New testing site opening in East St. Louis this week."
.jpg)