North Central Illinois Update

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul says he has tested positive for COVID-19, has mild symptoms and is self-isolating on the advice of his doctor. Raoul announced the test results Tuesday, saying he was tested a day earlier after experiencing symptoms. Raoul, a former state ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois governor on Tuesday approved a massive expansion in voting by mail, a plan derided by Republicans nationally.Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said allowing mail-in ballots for the November presidential election would limit polling place crowds and COVID-19 ...Read more

PERU – Visitor restrictions at Illinois Valley Community Hospital have been loosened further as the number of new coronavirus cases in the area goes down.   IVCH announced Monday that patients on the hospital’s medical floor and in the intensive care unit will each be allowed to have ...Read more

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois’ Democratic governor is being sued by the state’s Republican Party, which is seeking exemption from the 10-person limit on public gatherings issued on May 29. The GOP says in the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago that Gov. J.B. ...Read more

MIAMI (AP) — More than 40,000 cruise ship workers are still stuck at sea because of concerns about the coronavirus. The Miami Herald reports that at least 42,000 workers remain trapped on cruise ships without paychecks. Some are still suffering from COVID-19 three months after the industry shut ...Read more

STREATOR- The Illinois Department of Public Health updated the statewide figures of infections of the novel Coronavirus on Sunday.  They now say they have had a total of 6 positive cases in the Streator zip code area since the pandemic began. There was no information available as to how many of ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the Du Quoin State Fair have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday said in a statement canceling the fairs is the right choice that was based on the guidance of the Illinois Department of ...Read more

  OTTAWA – The LaSalle County Health Department Friday confirmed two women have tested positive for COVID-19.   The women, one in her 30’s and the other in her 60’s are in isolation.   Since the pandemic began there have been 177 cases.  116 people previously diagnosed with the ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health Friday announced 595 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease in Illinois, including 77 additional confirmed deaths.  Of the reported deaths, 10 were from outside Chicagoland.  Since the pandemic began there have been 131,198 cases, ...Read more

SHERIDAN – For the first time since early April, the Sheridan Correctional Facility reports no active COVID-19 cases among inmates or staff.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 8 staff and 18 inmates had come down with the novel coronavirus.  During the outbreak, the Illinois ...Read more