COVID Roundup: Mandates, Push Back, Latest Area Cases

Illinois’ governor says all students and staff members in schools will be required to wear face coverings effective immediately.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday the action is necessary to thwart the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus. He also said he will require all state employees who work in highly populated facilities such as prisons to be vaccinated.

The required vaccination for state employees applies to those who work in prisons and juvenile detention facilities, veterans’ homes and state facilities for the mentally and developmentally disabled.

Each must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4.

With Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker issuing a mask mandate for all state schools Wednesday, one state senator takes exception to the governor’s go-it-alone decision making style.

In a press release, Quincy Republican State Senator Jil Tracy says that Pritzker has been running the state for almost a year and a half with little or no input from lawmakers or the local officials who know their communities best.

Tracy says the phrase “All in Illinois” should mean bringing people to the decision making table, not making decisions unilaterally.

Area health departments report another 147 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the region Wednesday.

85 of those new cases were reported in Adams County, with 43 hospitalized, six in ICU and two new COVID related deaths, bringing the Adams County death toll to 131.

The Marion County Health Department reported 58 new coronavirus cases Wednesday. Their case total grows to 4,469, with 223 active, 15 hospitalized and 74 deaths.

And, four new COVID cases were reported Wednesday in Brown County, running their case total to 818, with eleven active and seven deaths.