Saturday live coronavirus updates: What class of 2020 said about pandemic at graduation
Local child may have COVID-related syndrome
A 10-month-old in St. Clair County has the symptoms of an illness associated with COVID-19 that was first seen in the U.S. among children in New York City, local officials said Saturday.
St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern called it a “disturbing new statistic” in the county’s daily update, streamed on Facebook, on the COVID-19 respiratory disease.
Health authorities in New York on May 4 issued an alert about the multi-system inflammatory syndrome seen in children. At the time, about 15 children in New York City hospitals had fevers, and many reported rashes, abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhea. Some also had respiratory symptoms.
Much is still unknown about the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Samantha Bierman, the St. Clair County Health Department’s emergency response coordinator, said public health officials received a report stating the 10-month-old had antibodies for COVID-19, which means the child had the disease in the past.
“And now, they are experiencing systemic issues, so whole body-wide issues,” Bierman said. “Obviously that’s scary for anyone at any age, but when you’re that young ... you don’t understand why you’re being stuck with needles, and why you can’t be with Mom or Dad. It’s a very scary thing.”
93 deaths related to residential care outbreaks in southwestern Illinois
At least 93 deaths during the coronavirus pandemic were related to outbreaks at southwestern Illinois residential care facilities, according to state and local data.
The St. Clair County Health Department and the Illinois Department of Public Health each released updates Friday on the number of people affected by the outbreaks.
They are reporting 26 additional deaths since last week, when the data was last updated at both the state and local level.
A total of 23 facilities are now reporting coronavirus outbreaks in St. Clair, Madison, Randolph, Clinton, Monroe and Macoupin counties. Ten of those facilities have reported deaths.
Class of 2020 on challenges created by pandemic
During Collinsville High School’s virtual graduation ceremony Saturday, students from the class of 2020 referenced the coronavirus pandemic in speeches to their classmates and families.
Micayla Klein, the 2020 class president, opened the ceremony by saying, in part, “We are currently living through history, and these are moments that we will tell our children and grandchildren for the rest of our lives.”
Graduating senior McKenna Laing said the last time she saw her friends in a classroom was two months ago. It has been a challenge to miss out on a typical senior year, she said.
“We have all had entirely different experiences from one another throughout high school — different interests, different successes and different disappointments,” Laing said. “But while this new challenge — COVID —might affect each of us in a different way, it is a challenge we all have in common.”
“It is a challenge to come to terms with the fact that the ending we were promised was ripped away from us and is completely out of our control,” she added. “It is a challenge to miss out on the memories that we were expected to be making right now. And it is a challenge to find the closure that allows us to move on with our lives and into the next chapter. But it is a challenge we will overcome. How we face this challenge and every challenge that will come our way in the future is what defines us as a class as a whole and as people individually.”
Laing ended her speech with advice for the graduating class.
“Never let a challenge be the end of your dreams,” she said. “Let this challenge and all others make you stronger. Learn to appreciate the little things when all the big ones are gone.”
What’s reopening in St. Louis next week?
St. Louis city and county leaders are easing coronavirus restrictions for some businesses starting Monday.
Malls, including South County Center, West County Center, St. Louis Galleria and Plaza Frontenac, will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Radio reported.
Goodwill is opening 10 locations in the city and county. Two other locations will be open only for donations. For a list of locations and addresses, visit mersgoodwill.org/store-reopenings.
Barbershops and hair salons can also reopen Monday. Salon Lofts, a space for independent beauty professionals, is opening locations across the region, according to the public radio station.
To reopen, the businesses are required to follow safety guidelines. Eleven Eleven Mississippi, Vin de Set and Hamilton’s Urban Steakhouse, for example, will open with a new capacity limit, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Customers will be expected to wear face coverings, such as a mask, while visiting the businesses, officials say.
Illinois coronavirus positivity rate decreasing
The number of coronavirus tests that come back positive is decreasing statewide, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday.
The positivity rate can show how widespread COVID-19 infections are among the population, the governor said. A declining rate is one of the guidelines to determine when a region moves to the next phase in Pritzker’s reopening plan.
In the 24 hours prior to the governor’s daily news conference, 9.2% of the more than 26,000 tests performed statewide came back positive, Pritzker said.
That’s down from the state’s peak positivity rate on April 4, when 23.6% of tests came back positive on a rolling average — or an average over time. Over the past seven-day rolling average, 12% of the tests came back positive.
But Pritzker warned against “reading too far into this decline” because the lower rate can be caused by increased testing, a statistical concept called inverse correlation.
Financial trouble closes three St. Louis Catholic schools
Most Holy Trinity, Christ Light of the Nations and St. Joseph Catholic schools in St. Louis will close because of financial difficulty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis is working with families, staff and faculty to help them with transitioning to another school.
Southwestern Illinois coronavirus cases
Since the pandemic began, the metro-east has had 1,950 cases and 140 coronavirus-related deaths.
Here are the statistics for southwestern Illinois counties as of Saturday:
- St. Clair County: 850 positives, 67 deaths, 47 hospitalizations, 433 recoveries, 4,642 tests administered, 21 tests pending
- Madison County: 484 positives, 43 deaths, 224 recoveries
Randolph County: 243 positives, three deaths, five hospitalizations, 175 recoveries, 1,297 tests administered
- Clinton County: 160 positives, 13 deaths, five hospitalizations, 48 recoveries, 768 tests administered
- Monroe County: 87 positives, 11 deaths, 12 hospitalizations, 33 recoveries
Macoupin County: 41 positives, one death, three hospitalizations, 28 recoveries, 1,646 tests administered, nine tests pending
Perry County: 38 positives, 29 recoveries
- Jersey County: 18 positives, one death, 12 recoveries
- Washington County: 16 positives, 14 recoveries
- Bond County: 12 positives, one death, one hospitalization, six recoveries, 214 tests administered, one test pending
- Calhoun County: One positive, one recovery
State, nation, world coronavirus cases
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Saturday announced 2,088 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 74 more people have died since Friday.
There have been a total of 4,129 deaths across Illinois during the pandemic. And a total of 92,457 people have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
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 7:45 p.m. Saturday:
- United States: 1,466,682 people tested positive; 268,376 people recovered; 88,730 people died
- World: 4,629,575 people tested positive; 1,691,613 people recovered; 311,425 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 16, 2020 at 10:22 AM.
