By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.comSPRINGFIELD – A continuing sharp spike in COVID-19 cases being driven by the omicron variant has pushed the state’s hospital capacity to its limits and is […]
Young Jimmy has a muscle car, and he likes to drive it fast.He cannot understand why the police tell him not to drive 90 mph on Main Street.Sure, he would […]
By PETER HANCOCKCapitol News Illinoisphancock@capitolnewsillinois.comSPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health said Friday that the state had recorded 201,428 new cases of COVID-19 over the previous week, a 57 […]
At mid-year, 2021 was shaping up to be the year of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in Woodstock.Vaccines had been available for more than six months and the weekly number […]
By GRACE KINNICUTTCapitol News Illinoisgkinnicutt@capitolnewsillinois.comAs omicron surges across the state, Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned Monday that hospitalizations are about as high as they were last winter before vaccines were widely available. About 85 percent of those hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state are unvaccinated.“It is frustrating and tragic that two years into the pandemic, with multiple widely available and free, life-saving vaccines, that we are once again in this horrible position,” Pritzker said during a news conference in Chicago.The Illinois Public Health Department reported 6,294 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Sunday, the most since the pandemic began. Dr. Ngozi Ezike, IDPH director, said an average of 550 people are being admitted to hospitals each day.With hospital beds for other emergencies “frighteningly limited,” Pritzker joined the Illinois Health and Hospital Association in urging health care providers to postpone non-emergency surgeries and procedures as needed to accommodate the influx of COVID-19 cases.“This surge is testing our health resources yet again,” said A.J. Wilhelmi, CEO and president of the IHA.Though hospitals have become accustomed to managing bed capacity and the needs of COVID-19 patients over the course of the pandemic, Wilhelmi said the best way for people to provide relief for health care workers and facilities is to get vaccinated and boosted.More than 19 million vaccines have been administered with about 60 percent of Illinois residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19.Pritzker fears the rise in COVID-cases will continue to increase as the virus incubates in those who were exposed during the holidays. He urged individuals to get tested as soon as possible.Pritzker also announced that starting this week, free community-based testing sites will expand operations to six days a week. There is a full list of site locations and times on IDPH’s website.Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and […]
Staff Reportnews@thewoodstockindependent.comMcHenry County residents are urged to get tested for COVID-19 if they plan to gather for the holidays.In a news release, the McHenry County Department of Health said everyone, regardless of […]
As of last Friday, McHenry County had only about 5 percent of medical/surgical beds available, according to numbers tracked by the Department of Health.Intensive care units reported about 73 percent […]
The McHenry County Department of Health reminds residents that the best way to prevent COVID-19 infection and severe illness is to get vaccinated. In a news release Tuesday, health officials urged […]
Six months in, what do you think of 2021?Considering where we were 12 months ago, the new year has to receive high marks, if only by contrast.Social and economic life […]
While the COVID-19 pandemic has critically affected many youth organizations, Woodstock’s Boy Scout Troop 329 has been hit especially hard.“The COVID pandemic has been the most challenging problem in the […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
