* Press release…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 30,319 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 178 additional deaths since reporting last Friday, August 27, 2021. More than 78% of Illinois adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and more than 61% of Illinois adults are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,538,324 cases, including 24,067 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Since reporting on Friday, August 27, 2021, laboratories have reported 609,585 specimens for a total of 29,177,890. As of last night, 2,286 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 551 patients were in the ICU and 302 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 27-September 2, 2021 is 5.0%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from August 27-September 2, 2021 is 5.4%.

A total of 14,005,857 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 26,431 doses. Since reporting on Friday, August 27, 2021, 185,014 doses were reported administered in Illinois.

*All data are provisional and will change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at http://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19.

Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19 vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov.

Testing is way up. We need more testing centers, like, yesterday. Hospitalizations and ICU admittance are gradually increasing. We’ve passed this spring’s peak and we haven’t had this many in the hospital since early February. Positivity rates are still good overall, but that’s mainly because of Chicago and the suburbs. But Sangamon County is at 5.9 percent, which ain’t horrible.

* Refusing to institute mitigations like vaxing and indoor masking (or even prohibiting them) is not only horrible for public health, it’s also bad for business…

America’s employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring at a time when the delta variant’s spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out. […]

The August job gains the government reported Friday fell far short of the roughly 940,000 that employers had added in each of the previous two months, when widespread vaccinations allowed the economy to fully reopen from pandemic restrictions. Still, the number of job openings remains at record levels, and hiring is expected to stay solid in the coming months.

With COVID cases having spiked in July and August, Americans have been buying fewer plane tickets and reducing hotel stays. Restaurant dining, after having fully recovered in late June, has declined to about 10% below pre-pandemic levels.

Some live shows, including the remaining concerts on country star Garth Brooks’ tour, have been canceled. Businesses are delaying their returns to offices, threatening the survival of some downtown restaurants, coffee shops and dry cleaners.

* What kind of a parent brings her four quarantined kids to school?…

The Sangamon County Department of Public Health is seeking a court order authorizing the quarantine of four siblings who are students in the Pleasant Plains School District after they came in close contact with a middle school student who recently tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a court document filed Thursday in the Seventh Circuit Judicial Court, Marcie Skinner of Pleasant Plains initially agreed to the written order for home quarantine for her children, but later contacted the health department and withdrew her consent, demanding the department obtain a court order.

All four children are minors and not referred by names in the petition.

The quarantine order went into effect at 11 a.m. Wednesday, but the health department was seeking an emergency order declaring it enforceable after it learned that Skinner had planned to bring her quarantined children to school on Friday.

* Silver Lake Group is Tom DeVore’s firm…

Members of the Beecher City Unit 20 School District Board of Education voted 7-0 Wednesday night to hire Silver Lake Group, LTD as special legal counsel to represent the school district in all legal proceedings to fight the mask mandate.

The district is on probation for not providing the Illinois State Board of Education with a return-to-school plan that requires the use of masks.

By approving the motion, the school district would be responsible for all legal expenses to determine if the ISBE has the lawful authority to take away the district’s recognition status for failing to require masks as mandated by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Office of the Governor.

* Looks like most schools are getting themselves together, but not all…

Besides Carlyle, the only other school outbreak denoted as having more than 16 cases in the last 30 days is Staunton CUSD 6 in Macoupin County. Staunton went remote for an “adaptive pause” in August after nearly 100 students had to quarantine, and returned to school in-person on Monday.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s summary, Red Bud and Carlyle were sent their probation notice letters Aug. 12. Since then, the state board has continued to send out notice letters to others, with the most recent being sent to Brownstown CUSD 201 in Fayette County on Aug. 27.

Of the 59 school districts listed, 19 have not yet had their recognition status fully restored.

* More…

* What We Actually Know About Waning Immunity: Reports of vaccines’ decline have been greatly overstated.

* Health officials “keeping a very close eye” on COVID-19 Mu variant

* Wanted: More contact tracers as cases rise

* Spring Break Caused COVID-19 Outbreak at Chicago University, CDC Officials Announce: None of the students who contracted COVID-19 were hospitalized or died, according to the report. Three of the students who got sick, two of whom experienced symptoms, were fully vaccinated. Vaccines did not become available to all Chicagoans until April 19.