Tuesday live coronavirus updates: Clinton County Board asks cops to not enforce order
The Clinton County Board has passed a proclamation calling for local police officers, prosecutors and the health department to not enforce Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
Pritzker’s stay-at-home order placed on residents and ``nonessential” businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus remains in place until the end of May.
The Clinton County Board voted 12-1 on Monday in favor of the proclamation. Deb Wesselman cast the lone dissenting vote while Keith Nordike was absent.
Here are highlights of the proclamation:
▪ Board members say Clinton County is a rural place with 40,000 people and is “dissimilar” to large metropolitan areas of the state.
▪ “Many” residents have told the board members about their “dissatisfaction of the ongoing imposition of restrictions on their personal liberties.” Businesses and residents have suffered “undue and unnecessary personal distress and economic hardship” during the pandemic, according to the proclamation.
▪ The board acknowledged that it did not have the legal authority to tell local agencies not to enforce the stay-at-home rules.
The Madison County Board has passed a resolution calling for a phased plan to allow businesses to reopen in the county.
State lawmakers from the metro-east and elected officials in St. Clair County have asked Pritzker to let the metro-east advance to phase three of the state’s reopening plan. They wanted this to happen last Friday but Pritzker did not approve the request.
Instead, his administration on Friday filed emergency rules that state if business owners defy the stay-at-home order, they can face a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $2,500.
Salvation Army to give out food, cleaning supplies in East St. Louis
The Salvation Army will distribute free prepackaged food boxes and cleaning supplies on Saturday in East St. Louis.
Here are the details you need to know:
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Where: The Salvation Army St. Clair County, East St. Louis Community Center at 616 N. 16th St.
This distribution was made possible by The COVID-19 Regional Response Fund, Edgewell Personal Care, Emerson, St. Louis Community Foundation, Tarlton, The Staenberg Group and the United Way, according to a news release from The Salvation Army.
St. Louis Zoo hopes to reopen in June
The St. Louis Zoo hopes to reopen in early June, according to a report by KMOX radio.
Visitors will be required to make a reservation to get a “timed ticket” to enter the zoo but admission will remain free. They also will be required to wear masks, the station reported Tuesday.
The exact opening date has not been announced but zoo officials are working with city leaders
The zoo closed March 16 in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
St. Louis businesses see steady stream of customers
While “nonessential” businesses remained closed to foot traffic in the metro-east due to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order issued to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, St. Louis and St. Louis County malls and shops opened to eager customers on Monday.
St. Louis Public Radio said malls, retail shops, salons, gyms and restaurants were allowed to open on Monday if they followed rules that required people to wear masks and limited on the number of customers allowed inside.
A Great Clips manager in south St. Louis County told the radio station that customers were lined up before the shop opened at 9 a.m.
“We are extremely busy right now,” Sloan told St. Louis Public Radio.
And instead of takeout and drive-thru service, restaurant customers were allowed to dine inside restaurants.
“Some of our regulars were showing up, they’re all showing their support, and they’re dying to get out and do something and go get a good meal,” said John Favazza, co-owner of Favazza’s restaurant on the Hill in south St. Louis. “We’ve had probably almost a regular flow of business.”
State anticipates emissions testing will resume June 1
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it expects emissions testing to resume on June 1.
The testing sites had been closed in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Vehicles are required to pass the emissions test before the state will allow the owner to register the vehicle.
“The Secretary of State’s Office has extended vehicle registration expiration dates at least 90 days, allowing motorists to wait to have their vehicles tested and renew vehicle registrations,” the IEPA said in a statement on its website.
BJC says furloughs affect nearly 3K employees
St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare previously has announced that it would furlough employees and on Tuesday it said the move affected nearly 3,000 employees, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
BJC HealthCare owns Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Memorial Hospital East in Shiloh and Alton Memorial Hospital in the metro-east.
BJC spokesowman June Fowler told the newspaper that 2,962 employees were furloughed. This represents nearly 10% of the BJC staff of 31,000.
The financial strain of COVID-19 caused BJC HealthCare to cut expenses, including furloughing employees across its system, the health care provider announced May 4.
BJC initially did not disclose the number of employees it would furlough.
BJC also suspended 401(k) and 403(b) matching funds for the remainder of 2020, delayed annual salary increases for employees, cut salaries of senior executives and other leaders and reduced work hours for some employees in an effort to offset the loss of money from the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump takes drug unproven to help patients
President Donald Trump has called a drug taken by people with lupus and malaria a “game changer” in the fight against coronavirus and said Monday that he now is taking it.
But hydroxychloroquine, which is sold as Plaquenil, may not be safe for use, the BBC reported.
”I’m taking it for about a week and a half now and I’m still here, I’m still here,” Trump said Monday according to the BBC report.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month issued a safety warning about hydroxychloroquine and another anti-malaria drug called chloroquine.
The drugs have not been proven to help COVID-19 patients, the Times reported.
Later on Monday, Fox News Channel anchor Neil Cavuto told viewers that they should not follow Trump’s example by taking hydroxychloroquine, The Associated Press reported.
Cavuto warned viewers with vulnerable health conditions that they could face serious consequences if they took the drug, the AP reported
Southwestern Illinois coronavirus cases
Since the pandemic began, the metro-east has had 2,037 cases and 146 coronavirus-related deaths.
Here are the statistics for southwestern Illinois counties as of Tuesday:
- St. Clair County: 905 positives, 69 deaths, 62 hospitalizations, 433 recoveries, 5,070 tests administered, 88 tests pending
- Madison County: 502 positives, 45 deaths, 94 hospitalizations, 242 recoveries
Randolph County: 248 positives, three deaths, four hospitalizations, 1,353 tests administered, 200 recoveries
- Clinton County: 162 positives, 15 deaths, seven hospitalizations, 768 tests administered, 56 recoveries
- Monroe County: 89 positives, 11 deaths, 12 hospitalizations, 33 recoveries
Macoupin County: 41 positives, one death, three hospitalizations, 1,732 tests administered, , 28 recoveries, 16 tests pending
Perry County: 39 positives, 29 recoveries
- Jersey County: 20 positives, one death, 14 recoveries
- Washington County: 18 positives, 15 recoveries
- Bond County: 12 positives, one death, one hospitalization, 214 tests administered, six recoveries, one test pending
- Calhoun County: One positive, one recovery
State, nation, world coronavirus cases
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced 1,545 new positive COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, and reported that 146 more people have died since Monday.
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 p.m. Tuesday:
- United States: 1,527,355 people tested positive; 289,392 people recovered; 91,845 people died
- World: 4,892,550 people tested positive; 1,686,448 people recovered; 322,821 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 19, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Tuesday live coronavirus updates: Clinton County Board asks cops to not enforce order."
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