Health & Medicine

The Carbondale Driver Services facility will reopen on Tuesday, October 13.

Due to the order of the Franklin-Williamson Bi-county Health Department, employees at the facility were directed to quarantine until Saturday, October 10 due to an employee who tested positive for COVID-19. The facility has been thoroughly disinfected and sanitized.

Illinois health officials and southern Illinois lawmakers are concerned about a COVID-19 outbreak at the Choate Developmental Center in Anna.

The Illinois Education Association called for the Illinois Department of Public Health to identify verified COVID-19 outbreaks in schools.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's office says four of his staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

Two Union County school districts are reporting positive COVID-19 test results.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says he has been cleared to return to the office after battling COVID-19.

Heartland Regional Medical Center has expanded COVID-19 testing capabilities in southern Illinois with new lab equipment and a drive-through testing site.

Southern Seven Health Department is holding a flu shot clinic for the public Monday morning in Alexander County.

The regular and high dose vaccines will be available.

The Illinois Department of Labor is launching free COVID-19 safety training for small businesses in the state.

State labor director Michael Kleinik says the “Back to Business Illinois” program helps businesses protect their workers and customers as the pandemic continues.

Southeast Missouri State University has seen an uptick in active COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks.

As of Tuesday, Southeast Missouri State University reported 130 active cases. 121 are students and the other nine employees. There are 45 students in quarantine/isolation on the Cape Girardeau campus.

The Egyptian Health Department has released the results of the COVID-19 Community Mobile Testing events last weekend in Carmi and Harrisburg.

Officials report about 10 percent positivity rates at the two locations.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican who has steadfastly refused to require residents to wear face coverings, has tested positive for COVID-19.

His office confirmed the positive test Wednesday. Parson was tested after his wife, Teresa, tested positive earlier Wednesday.

Drive-thru COVID-19 testing events are being held around southern Illinois in the next several days.

Two areas in southeast Missouri having trouble containing the spread of COVID-19 are hosting community testing events.

In-person learning is being paused this week for eighth grade students at Murphysboro Middle School.

The district notified parents Monday about a second eighth grade teacher and one eighth grade student who tested positive for COVID-19.

Routine mosquito testing has identified the first batch of mosquitoes positive for West Nile virus in Jackson County in 2020.

The county health department reports the mosquitoes were collected on September 10, in and around Murphysboro.

The Southern Seven Health Department is hosting a drive-thru COVID-19 testing unit at its Pulaski County office this weekend.

A drive-thru COVID-19 testing site is coming to Jefferson County this weekend.

No appointment is needed and anyone can be tested. You must have a valid telephone number since you will be called with the test results.

After a second student tested positive for COVID-19, Centralia High School is switching to remote-only learning until September 21.

More than 7,000 college-age people in Missouri have tested positive for COVID-19 since colleges and universities opened for the fall semester, fueling spikes in cases in college towns across the state.

Additional COVID-19 mitigation efforts will be implemented in the Metro East as the area shows a seven-day positivity rate of 9.6% as a result of COVID-19 testing.

The SIH Primary Care Clinic in Harrisburg will re-open Tuesday.

Being closed Monday due to COVID-19 exposure allowed time to complete testing and contact tracing of all employees as well a professional comprehensive cleaning.

The Herrin School District is warning if COVID-19 cannot be contained in its schools, the district will be forced to pivot quickly to remote only learning.

Over the weekend, district officials posted on Facebook they want to keep their schools open to in-person learning, but they need the public's help.

The Cape Girardeau County Public Health Board is extending its Face-Covering Order until September 22 for businesses and residents of the County.

SIU-Carbondale has updated its COVID-19 active case count.

The university's web page dedicated to tracking active cases now shows six total cases. They include three on-campus students, two off-campus students and one faculty/staff member.

The burnout experienced by Illinois nurses on the front lines of the pandemic is apparently nothing new.

In a survey of hospitals in Illinois and New York taken just before the arrival of COVID-19, half of nurses scored in the "high-burnout" range as the result of their workloads.

SIU softball coach and senior woman administrator Kerri Blaylock is leading the Saluki athletic department's task force for COVID-19 testing and return to practice and competition.

Several members of the West Frankfort Fire Department are in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.

Currently, it says everyone is well and are only experiencing mild symptoms, if any.

A Union County bank branch is temporarily closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.