PEORIA, Ill. - As we move into Fall, are Covid-19 numbers on the rise? Dr. Brian Curtis, with OSF HealthCare in Peoria, says not necessarily. He says the virus has definitely hit an endemic phase. "We did maybe see a spike a little earlier in the month, but it then kind of tapered off...which is kind of typical of...

(Reuters) -The U.S. CDC plans to drop its five-day COVID-19 isolation recommendations under new guidance planned by the agency, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The health agency plans to recommend people who test positive for COVID-19 to take a call on when to end isolation based on their symptoms. People with...

PEORIA, Ill. - While viruses like COVID-19, RSV, and the flu have been on the way down so far this year, some lingering effects remain. Effects like a nagging or near constant cough. It could be a six to eight week cough for some, 100 days for others. "A lot of patients have displayed symptoms that would justify g...

(Capitol News Illinois) - Health experts warn respiratory illnesses are still circulating, even as numbers trend down after a brief post-holiday surge. Outbreaks of COVID-19, Flu, and RSV have been reported in state facilities in the Bellwood, Champaign, Marion, Metro East, Peoria, Rockford and West Chicago regions in ...

(Capitol News Illinois) -The Illinois Department of Public Health is advising Illinoisans to take precautions to avoid spreading respiratory illnesses as cases around the state and country are on the rise. IDPH issued a health alert last week to hospitals, long-term care facilities and local health departments advising...

PEORIA AND TAZEWELL COUNTIES, Ill. - There are once again visitor restrictions in place at local hospitals because of an increase in cases of various illnesses including COVID-19. That's according to the Peoria City/County and Tazewell County Health Departments, who says both OSF HealthCare and Carle Health Greater Peo...

TAZEWELL COUNTY, Ill. - Area doctors and health professionals are once again urging vaccinations with the holidays starting now that Hanukkah is under way - not just for COVID-19, but other respiratory-type viruses as well. COVID-19 hospitalizations remain at "medium" levels in Peoria and Tazewell Counties ac...

(Reuters) - U.S. babies born in 2022 gained roughly a year in life expectancy compared with babies born a year earlier, federal data showed on Wednesday, marking progress after two consecutive years of declines largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Life expectancy at birth for 2022 newborns was 77.5 years, up from 76.4...

CHICAGO, Ill. - State officials are sounding a cautionary alarm as they claim a few counties in Illinois, including in this area, are seeing an uptick of COVID-19 and respiratory virus cases. The CDC says Peoria and Tazewell Counties are among 20 counties statewide that are at a "medium" level of hospitalizat...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) - Illinois received another credit upgrade Tuesday, the same day a legislative committee once again scrutinized Gov. JB Pritzker's administration for its handling of unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic. The upgrade came from Fitch Ratings, the last remaining holdou...

PEORIA, Ill. - Two Peoria residents are going to prison while a third gets time already served after federal prosecutors say they made false statements related to the federal Paycheck Protection Program started during the COVID-19 pandemic, and after two of them fraudulently collected unemployment insurance. The U.S. A...

PEORIA, Ill. - With COVID-19 cases rising slightly nationally, a local health expert says there's no need to panic. Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows the highest COVID-19 numbers right now are in the Southwest. But, locally, Dr. Doug Kasper says we're seeing far less hospitalizations than w...

PEORIA, Ill. - A Peoria dentist is getting fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for firing someone who ended up being a federal whistleblower. OSHA says a federal judge in Peoria issued a judgment requiring Dr. Monzer Al-Dadah to pay $20,000 in back wages to the employee in question. The whistlebl...

(Capitol News Illinois) - At Ludeman Developmental Center in Park Forest, 37 employees have been fired, resigned or face pending disciplinary action after a state watchdog found that they defrauded a federal pandemic-era small business loan program. The employees who work at the state-run developmental center in south ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) - Illinois overpaid unemployment benefits to the tune of $5.2 billion during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with much of it paid to fraudulent claimants, according to a comprehensive new audit. Included in that sum was $6 million paid to 481 dead people and $40.5...

PEORIA, Ill. - Medical professionals are in a better position to deal with the effects of COVID-19 now and in the future. Dr. Doug Kasper, Infectious Disease Specialist at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria, tells WMBD's "Greg and Dan" the potency of the virus is not what it once was, wh...

PEORIA, Ill. - Medical experts are reflecting on what was learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, three years after it began, and as the public health emergency phase of the pandemic comes to an end. Doctor Doug Kasper with OSF HealthCare and the University of Illinois College of Medicine says the pandemic caused a system ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) - In the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. JB Pritzker recalls being handed a report from researchers at the University of Illinois. The analysis was written by scientists and mathematicians who were trying to estimate how many deaths and hospitalizations would occur...

UPDATED 4:34 P.M. WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, a top health official who oversaw the agency's contentious response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is leaving the institution at the end of June, the CDC said on Friday. Walensky led the institution ...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) - Medicaid recipients in Illinois should be on the lookout for correspondence from the state regarding their coverage as the normal renewal process resumes for the first time in three years. Medicaid is a health insurance program for low-income and disabled people that is joint...

CHICAGO, Ill. - COVID-19 is, in a sense both up and down in the State of Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health says compared to only two counties last week, now there are four counties now that have elevated levels of COVID-19 spread. Unlike last week, though, when the counties were in the eastern part of ...

CHICAGO, Ill. - The COVID-19 situation in Illinois continues to improve. That's according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, which says as of Friday, only two counties have elevated spread levels of COVID-19 in the state. Iroquois and Kankakee Counties in the east central part of the state are listed at "...

CHICAGO, Ill. - COVID-19 cases and transmission are almost the same this past week, as they were the week prior, which the state considers to be relatively low. The Illinois Department of Public Health says thirteen Illinois counties are at elevated levels of COVID-19 spread -- up just one county from the week before. ...

PEORIA, Ill. - COVID-19 vaccine requirements at Bradley University are soon coming to an end. 25 News reports the requirement will end on May 11th for students, faculty, and staff. The university says the decision came "after careful consideration of the latest public health guidance, and is consistent with announ...

CHICAGO, Ill. - The risk of COVID-19 spread in Illinois is up slightly from a week ago. The Illinois Department of Public Health says 12 counties are at medium level of risk of spreading the virus. That's compared to nine counties the week prior. But there are no counties at a high risk, compared to one last week. The ...

PEORIA, Ill. - Two Peoria residents are wanted by federal authorities after allegedly lying in order to receive federal COVID-19 relief money. The U.S. Attorney's office says Andre Johnson, 25, and Shon Smith, 33, are wanted on counts of Mail Fraud and Making a False Statement, while Smith also faces a count of Wire Fr...

CHICAGO, Ill. - Some changes once again this week in the number of COVID-19 cases statewide, and in how the virus is being spread. The Illinois Department of Public Health says while the number of counties in the state transmitting COVID at elevated levels has increased from 18 to 26, there are no more counties in Sout...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously on Friday to require Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify information on the origins of COVID-19, increasing pressure on President Joe Biden's administration to allow its release. The vote was 419 to 0 in favor. Since the...

PEORIA, Ill. - The owner of a restaurant in Peoria's Campustown area says the location there is closing, with expansion elsewhere occurring. Dac's Smokehouse says as of Monday, the location on West Main in Campustown is closing. They say tried hard to make the location a success, but the cost of goods, inflation, and C...

CHICAGO, Ill. - COVID-19 transmission is once again moving upward -- at least in two of the three Tri-Counties. The Illinois Department of Public Health says 20 counties are at elevated levels of community transmission of the disease. While that's only one more county than the week before, Peoria and Tazewell Counties ...