September 25 : 2514 New COVID-19 Cases in Illinois

25 additional fatalities in Illinois.  11 new COVID-19 cases in Boone County.

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Here's where each health region in northern Illinois stands as of Friday

State's positivity rate increases slightly to 3.6%, hospitalizations decrease

By JOHN SAHLYFollow12:15 PM

Nam Y. Huh

Caption

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The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,514 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional deaths Friday.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate increased slightly to 3.6%. The state received the results of 69,793 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon.

Illinois has seen 283,885 total cases of the virus, and 8,563 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 5,363,471 tests since the start of the pandemic.

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As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,637 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease of 76 patients over the previous 24 hours. Of those currently in the hospital, 371 were in intensive care units, and 124 were on ventilators. This is the lowest number of COVID-19 patients on a ventilator since mid-August.

Regional update: Additional restrictions can be placed on any of the state's 11 health regions if the region sustains an increase in its average positivity rate for seven days out of a 10-day period.

A region may also become more restrictive if there is a seven-day increase in hospital admissions for COVID-19-related illness or a reduction in hospital medical/surgical beds or ICU capacity below 20%. If a region reports three consecutive days with greater than an 8% average positivity rate, additional infection mitigation will be considered through a tiered system of restriction guidelines offered by the IDPH.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen one day of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate decreased slightly to 5.0%. Currently, 36% of medical/surgical beds are available and 49% of ICU beds.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen one day of positivity increases and one days of hospital admission increases, a decrease in both metrics. The region's positivity rate decreased to 5.3%. Currently, 27% of medical/surgical beds are available and 38% of ICU beds.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen two days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate remained flat at 5.7%. Currently, 28% of the region's medical/surgical beds are available and 33% of ICU beds.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen four days of positivity increases and one day of hospital admission increases, a decrease in both metrics. The region's positivity rate decreased for the first time in four days, this time to 7.6%, still the highest rate of any of the state's 11 regions. Currently, 38% of medical/surgical beds are available and 50% of ICU beds.

If Region 1 hits 8% positive for three consecutive days, IDPH will put the region on additional mitigations.

The North-Central region (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) has seen zero days of positivity increases and two days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate decreased slightly to 5.3%. Currently, 39% of medical/surgical beds are available and 41% of ICU beds.

Chicago has seen two days of positivity increases and one day of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate remained flat at 4.6%. Currently, 23% of medical/surgical beds are available and 32% of ICU beds.

Suburban Cook County has seen two days of positivity increases and zero days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate decreased slightly to 4.6%. Currently, 26% of medical/surgical beds are available and 34% of ICU beds.

To see how other regions across the state are doing, see the full IDPH dashboard here.

Above is from:  https://www.shawlocal.com/2020/09/25/heres-where-each-health-region-in-northern-illinois-stands-as-of-friday/aac0z9h/

Missouri governor, opponent of mandatory masks, has COVID-19

Missouri governor, opponent of mandatory masks, has COVID-19

DAVID A. LIEB and JIM SALTER

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Associated Press•September 23, 2020

0:27

2:31

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tests positive for COVID-19

FOR COVID-19
Gov. Mike Parson/ Missouri
Right now I feel fine, no
symptoms of any kind but right
now we have to take the
quarantine procedures in

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican who has steadfastly refused to require residents to wear masks, tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Wednesday.

Parson was tested after his wife, Teresa, tested positive earlier in the day. Teresa Parson had experienced mild symptoms, including a cough and nasal congestion, spokeswoman Kelli Jones said. She took a rapid test that came back positive and a nasal swab test later confirmed the finding. The governor's rapid test showed he tested positive and he is still awaiting results from the swab test.

“I want everybody to know that myself and the first lady are both fine,” Parson said in a video posted on his Facebook page.

“Right now I feel fine. No symptoms of any kind,” Parson said in the video. “But right now we just have to take the quarantine procedures in place.”

Gov. Parson postponed several events through the remainder of the week. He and his wife had been traveling around the state this week for events that included a ceremonial bill signing in Cape Girardeau, where a photo posted Tuesday on the governor’s Facebook page showed both of them wearing masks.

On Friday, he and several other Missouri Republican candidates appeared together at an event called the “TARGET BBQ” in Springfield. A photo posted on Parson’s Twitter pages shows Parson on a stage with four other statewide officeholders seeking reelection: Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Attorney General Eric Schmitt. They appear to be a few feet apart from each other, but none are wearing masks.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said contact tracing efforts have begun, seeking out people who have had close contact with the governor or his wife, but despite Parson’s many recent public appearances, it is believed that involves “a relatively small number of people.”

“Surprisingly it’s not as big a number as you might think because while they might be in a room with 1,000 people, the number of people who were literally with them for 15 minutes, right up next to them, is actually a smaller number,” Williams said at a news conference.

Parson is self-isolating in the governor’s mansion, Williams said. His wife is isolating at their home in Bolivar in southwestern Missouri.

Spokespeople for Schmitt, Fitzpatrick and Kehoe said those elected officials all tested negative Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Ashcroft said his “recent interactions with the Governor and First Lady fall well short of the ‘close contact’ threshold.”

Parson, 65, is facing Democratic State Auditor Nicole Galloway in the November election. The two were supposed to debate Friday in a forum hosted by the Missouri Press Association, but it has been postponed, said Mark Maassen, executive director of the association. He said the forum will be rescheduled.

“I wish Governor Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson a safe and full recovery," Galloway said in a statement. "This is a stark reminder that this virus can reach anyone, anywhere and that this pandemic is far from over. We must all continue to do our part in preventing the spread of the virus by practicing social distancing, washing hands, and wearing a mask.”

Parson has repeatedly urged residents to wear masks and maintain social distancing, but he has been an outspoken opponent of mask mandates, sometimes appearing at functions without one. In July, speaking without a mask at a Missouri Cattlemen’s Association steak fry in Sedalia, he reiterated his stance.

“You don’t need government to tell you to wear a dang mask,” he said. “If you want to wear a dang mask, wear a mask.”

Parson’s opposition to statewide mask mandates has held strong even as the White House Coronavirus Task Force has recommended a face covering requirement in Missouri given the state’s escalating number of confirmed cases. When Parson allowed the state to reopen for business in mid-June, about 16,000 cases had been confirmed. The state health department on Wednesday added 1,580 new cases, bringing the total to 116,946 since the pandemic began.

The state also has reported 1,947 deaths, including 83 reported Wednesday. That single-day total was the highest since the pandemic began. The second-highest was the 57 announced Tuesday.

Asked Wednesday whether it was time for a statewide mask mandate, Parson's health director again deferred those decisions to local officials.

"We just think that if you’re too draconian everywhere ... it’s almost as if it creates more problems than it solves,” Williams said.

Parson would be considered a potential high-risk patient given his age and a preexisting condition. On Christmas Eve in 2016, Parson underwent heart surgery after doctors discovered a blockage during a routine checkup in Springfield.

Two other Republican governors also have tested positive for COVID-19, though one of those turned out to be a false positive. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt in July became the first governor to announce he'd tested positive. He recovered and returned to work less than two weeks later.

In August, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that a rapid test was positive. But a short time later, DeWine said a more sensitive test was negative.

Parson is a former county sheriff and state representative who was elected lieutenant governor in 2016.

On Tuesday, the Parsons attended the grand opening in southern Missouri of the first U.S. public golf course designed by Tiger Woods. Woods hosted an exhibition match that featured him and fellow pro golfer Justin Thomas playing against British stars Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose. Two other golf legends, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, also were in attendance.

A spokeswoman for Big Ceder Lodge, which operates the new Payne's Valley course, said the governor and first lady were there for “a limited amount of time and did not have direct interaction with the participants.”

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Salter reported from O'Fallon, Missouri. Associated Press writers Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; and AP golf writer Doug Ferguson in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/wife-missouri-governor-tests-positive-184025152.html