Health & Medicine

The next time an unfamiliar number pops up on your phone, Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker says you might want to take the call.

A blood drive next week in Carbondale will also check donations for COVID-19 antibodies.

Blood will be collected from 10am to 3pm on August 4 at the Carbondale Civic Center.

A Jackson County bar is closing temporarily due to the recent hike in local COVID-19 cases and the exposure in the establishment last weekend.

More southern Illinois establishments are voluntarily closing for precautionary measures to ensure the safety of customers and employees.

The Frankfort Unit School District office in West Frankfort is closing for the time being to track COVID-19 cases.

Superintendent Matt Donkin reports staff in closest contact will remain isolated at this time.

Health officials are sending out a warning about the sustained widespread community transmission of COVID-19 in Cape Girardeau County.

The emergency department at a southeast Missouri hospital is in what it calls crisis mode after two ER doctors tested positive for COVID-19.

Perry County in southeast Missouri is strongly discouraging social gatherings of any kind after it jumped into the top 10 counties in the State of Missouri for the highest number positive cases of COVID-19 per capita.

Illinois has 646 new confirmed cases and 15 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 141,723 confirmed cases and 6,888 deaths in the state.

The State of Illinois reported an additional 786 additional cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. This bring the state's overall total to 141,077.

Illinois also reported 26 deaths to bring that total to 6,873.

30,237 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. Illinois has now performed 1,521,189 tests since the pandemic started.

The entire State of Illinois is set to move into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan on Friday.

The Illinois Department of Insurance is reminding there's help for those who have lost their job...and subsequently their health care.

The Perry County Missouri Health Department reports its seeing a second wave of COVID-19.

Congregate facilities have resulted in a large number of COVID-19 cases in Illinois.

One location in deep southern Illinois to experience an outbreak is the federally-run Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin, which is a field office for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

There remains confusion about how the Illinois Department of Public Health determines if COVID-19 was the primary factor in a person's death.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing assistance to the Jackson County Housing Authority in a fourth wave of CARES Act funding.

One southern Illinois county has experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases in the past week.

Union County's total number of cases has nearly doubled since May 7. On the 7th, the county had 57 cases. In just the past week, the county has recorded 51 cases...including 38 on Wednesday.

Southern Illinois Healthcare has opened a new COVID-19 testing site at the former Region’s Bank building at Rt. 13 and Poplar in Carbondale.

The drive-through location is in addition to a similar testing site at SIH Urgent Care in Marion. Both are open seven days a week.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is tracking COVID-19 cases at the state's veteran's homes.

IDPH director Dr. Ngoze Ezike says there are 30 residents and ten workers at Manteno and one resident in the LaSalle facility who have tested positive.

The Carbondale Warming Center is seeking donations.

The facility is staying open through the warmer months to help those in need of a place to stay during the state's stay at home order.

City of Carbondale spokesperson Roni LeForge says the center needs men's clothing.

The son of an emergency room doctor in Cape Girardeau is doing what he can to help protect his father from COVID-19.

Saxony Lutheran High School senior Andrew Hyatt built an intubation box for his dad to use while working on patients.

The Jefferson County Health Department says a man in his 70's has died due to COVID-19.

The man had been hospitalized since April 14 and was a resident of a long-term care facility in Jefferson County.

The Jefferson County Health Department reports 38 new cases of COVID-19 at a single long-term care facility.

Officials say four others tested positive bringing the total to 42 additional cases in the county within the last 24 hours.

The State of Illinois is trying to ramp up testing for COVID-19.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has hired a consulting group to help find additional staff for state labs in Carbondale, Chicago and Springfield. The Carbondale lab needs 56 workers.

The Illinois Poison Center urges people to use caution with cleaning products, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The center says exposures to cleaning products are up 30-percent as people try to disinfect their homes.

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker and some state and federal health officials are stressing the need for contact tracing as one of the pillars for helping re-open the economy.

Older adults are at the highest risk for complications, including death, from Covid-19.

So, extra precautions are in place to protect this age group.