The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Thursday November 19, 2020

Olivia Butts
 

Courtesy of Carle Foundation Hospital.

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Thursday November 19, 2020

Today’s headlines:

  • Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s longtime confidante is facing federal corruption charges.

  • COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death in Illinois as the state sinks deeper into the second wave of the pandemic.

  • Champaign County reported 225 new COVID-19 cases yesterday. There are nearly 1.600 active cases in the county, up from 772 on Monday. Officials reported one additional death, pushing Champaign County’s total to 41.

  • Macon County health officials reported two more deaths from COVID-19 yesterday and 132 new cases.

  • In Vermilion County, officials announced the 29th COVID-related death, a person in their 60s. They announced 61 new positive cases, and the number of active cases increased slightly to 261.

In today’s deep dive, Carle’s five central Illinois hospitals are seeing a rise in COVID-19 patients in recent weeks. Carle recently launched a program aimed at freeing up hospital beds --by providing virtual monitoring to COVID-positive patients safely at home. We learn more about that program from Christine Herman.

217 Today is produced by Olivia Butts and hosted by Brian Moline. Reporting today contributed by Dave McKinney, Mary Hansen, and Christine Herman.