Thursday live coronavirus updates: Gateway Regional to resume some suspended services
Madison County cities sticking with Pritzker’s stay-at-home order
The mayors of most of Madison County’s largest cities are asking residents and business owners to continue to follow the statewide stay-at-home order after county board members passed a resolution aimed at reopening ahead of schedule.
On Tuesday, the Madison County Board of Health, which is comprised of county board members, approved a set of guidelines by which businesses could open, defying Governor J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home executive order put in place to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
By Wednesday, Mayors in Edwardsville, Troy, Collinsville, Alton, East Alton and Maryville had issued statements urging citizens to continue complying with Pritzker’s executive order this week. The city of Highland was the only one to publicly back the county’s resolution.
Illinois launches new website for job seekers
Job seekers and employers can connect through a new website Illinois introduced this week as the state deals with record unemployment applications because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The financial stability and success of our residents is key to getting Illinois’ economy back on its feet,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at his daily news briefing Thursday. “Illinois won’t be restored until our workers and families have the opportunities and resources they need to build and fill their lives.”
Get Hired IL provides an interactive search option for both workers and employers and can be found at www2.illinois.gov/GetHired/Pages/default.aspx.
Senate Republican leader calls for hearings on Restore Illinois plan
Illinois Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady is requesting hearings be held to discuss and amend Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Restore Illinois Plan.
Brady requested the hearings through a letter to Senate President Don Harmon, a democrat. In Brady’s letter, he suggested debate over the plan be held in a public setting with social distancing and available technology when lawmakers reconvene in Springfield.
“I am requesting a public hearing to invite staff from the governor’s office to attend. This would allow members from both sides of the aisle to inquire about how they came to the conclusions in their plan, and what revisions they would accept to help get our economy back on track more quickly,” Brady wrote in his letter. “While our constituents are doing their part to contain the spread of this deadly disease, they are also concerned with the economic toll this plan will have on their businesses and communities.”
Gateway Regional to resume some services previously postponed due to COVID-19
Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City will resume services that had previously been restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hospital announced Wednesday.
A phased reactivation began May 11 in accordance with Illinois Department of Health guidelines, a news release stated.
“Like so many hospitals across the country, we have focused our services on the pandemic while managing the financial pressures associated with pausing elective procedures,” said Patrick Garvey, Interim CEO of Gateway Regional Medical Center. “But unlike hospitals in more populated regions, we have treated very few COVID-19 cases and look forward to resuming our full range of essential services.”
The hospital’s reactivation plan will include resuming surgical procedures, ambulatory surgery center, outpatient clinics, lab services, primary care clinics and behavioral health units, according to the release.
Imaging centers will resume May 18.
To meet state guidelines and requirements on personal protective equipment supply, infection control and support services, patients receiving surgical procedures must test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of a scheduled procedure and self-quarantine until the day of surgery after being tested.
Illinois granted more than half a million dollars for telehealth services
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services granted Illinois $586,159 to seven state organizations to increase telehealth capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The award was funded through the CARES Act enacted by President Donald Trump on March 27.
“These investments will train students, physicians, nurses, physician assistants, allied health and other high-demand professionals in telehealth,” the department stated in a news release Wednesday. “This will enable these professionals to maximize telehealth for COVID-19 referrals for screening and testing, case management, outpatient care, and other essential care during the crisis.”
Of the Illinois programs that received the grants, there was one in southern Illinois at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.
U.S. District Court of Southern Illinois extends grand jury suspension
The U.S. District Court of Southern Illinois has extended the suspension of the grand jury in the district until June 8.
On Wednesday, Chief Judge Nancy Rosenstengal issued an administrative order to extend the amendment that was put in place in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The order affects the district courthouses in East St. Louis and Benton.
State says lower numbers on the weekend are due to delays
The Illinois Department of Public Health said Tuesday that the reason it has been reporting lower numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths on the weekend are due to a multitude of factors.
In an email to the BND, the state said those factors include fewer specimens collected, delays in lab testing and reporting and delayed data entry by those reporting the data, like labs, hospitals, health departments and coroners.
On Monday, the state reported its lowest number of new cases since April 20 and lowest number of new deaths since April 19, but those numbers were especially low because IDPH did not receive reports from several of the big labs that usually report to it, the email stated.
That delay was the reason Tuesday saw the single biggest daily increase in new case numbers since the pandemic began, the email stated.
Southwestern Illinois coronavirus cases
Since the pandemic began, a total of 1,863 people in the region have tested positive for COVID-19 and 135 have died.
Here are the statistics for southwestern Illinois counties as of Thursday:
- St. Clair: 805 positives, 66 deaths, 4,203 tests administered, 28 tests pending
- Madison: 465 positives, 39 deaths, 89 hospitalizations, 194 recoveries
- Clinton: 148 positives, 13 deaths, 768 tests administered, five hospitalizations, 41 recoveries
- Monroe: 83 positives, 11 deaths, 29 recoveries
- Washington: 16 positives, 14 recoveries
- Randolph: 237 positives, three deaths, 1,188 tests administered, five hospitalizations, 159 recoveries
- Bond: 11 positives, one death, 203 tests administered, six tests pending, six recoveries
- Jersey: 18 positives, one death, 10 recoveries
- Calhoun: One positive, one recovery
- Macoupin: 39 positives, one death, 877 tests administered, 22 tests pending, three hospitalizations, 28 recoveries
- Perry: 38 positives, 29 recoveries
Nation, world coronavirus cases
According to data from John Hopkins University, this is how many people have been affected by COVID-19 across the nation and world as of 5 p.m. Thursday:
- United States: 1,411,466 people tested positive; 246,414 people recovered; 85,489 people died
- World: 4,426,937 people tested positive; 1,578,135 people recovered; 301,160 people died
Want to help? Here are some ideas
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 about mental health
Here are some resources from mental health professionals for anyone struggling during the coronavirus pandemic:
- Touchette Regional Hospital’s 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 Support Line for health care professionals: call 618-381-5173.
Contact 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.
We’d like to hear from health care workers
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.
Willing to share your COVID-19 story?
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 14, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Thursday live coronavirus updates: Gateway Regional to resume some suspended services."
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