State s COVID-19 deaths surpass 14,000
Virus positivity rate continues to slowly tick downward
By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – The COVID-19 death toll surpassed 14,000 on Friday as the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 190 additional deaths in people from their 20s to over 100 years of age.
Gov. JB Pritzker took questions on the state’s response to outbreaks at state-run veterans homes and about the impending approval of a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the drug company Pfizer.
He praised a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel’s decision to recommend approval of the vaccine and said he expects quick official approval from the FDA.
Editorial: Response timeline for veterans home outbreak is a question thetelegraph.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetelegraph.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
JAMIE MUNKS, RICK PEARSON and DAN PETRELLA
Chicago Tribune
As a young man in the Army Air Forces during World War II, Jerome Liesse flew around the globe, delivering supplies to far-flung U.S. troops, his granddaughter said.
Because of the coronavirus, Liesse, 95 and no longer capable of getting around on his own, spent much of this year confined to his room at a state-run veterans home in LaSalle, a few miles from Starved Rock State Park.
Like other long-term care facilities across the state, the LaSalle Veteransâ Home shut down indoor, in-person visits in an effort to keep the deadly virus outside its walls. Liesse was only able to see Evelan, his wife of more than 40 years, twice during those eight months â once separated by plexiglass â and held her hand just one time, in August after she had a stroke, granddaughter Jill Funfsinn said.
Effingham, IL / Effingham Radio
Dec 13, 2020 8:26 AM
LaSalle, IL -(Mattoon Radio)-Â The Illinois Department of Veteransâ Affairs today announced that Acting Assistant Director Anthony Vaughn will serve as the interim Administrator of the LaSalle Veteransâ Home as a search begins for a permanent replacement. Vaughn is assuming responsibilities from former Home Administrator Angela Mehlbrech, who was terminated by the Department. Additionally, the Director of Nursing at the home has been placed on administrative leave pending the ongoing investigation.
These personnel changes follow the announcement of an independent investigation into the outbreak at the home led by the Acting Inspector General of the Illinois Department of Human Services. The response to the outbreak has also included site visits by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Veteransâ Affairs, with IDVA fully adopting all recommendations in both reports in the LaSalle Home
COVID-19 deaths surpass 14,000 commercial-news.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from commercial-news.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.