Inman talks about Tier 1 possibility
Patrick Stout
Voice Correspondent
MACOMB With last Friday s placement of McDonough County in Restore Illinois Tier 2 status, Mayor Mike Inman said the county is very close to a Tier 1 declaration and resumption of limited indoor dining. The mayor spoke from Macomb City Hall and his comments were posted to the city s YouTube channel.
Inman said the county meets all but one of the Tier 1 requirements. He said a coronavirus positivity rate of under eight percent for three days is required. The positivity rate was 7.9 percent on Friday. Mitigation efforts are paying off, the mayor said. He also mentioned that hybrid learning classes in Macomb schools would begin January 19, as would classes at Western Illinois University.
Patrick Stout
Voice Correspondent
MACOMB On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, McDonough District Hospital completed the second round of coronavirus vaccinations of medical personnel on its campus. Public Information Officer Patrick Osterman confirmed Friday that 246 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were used.
Shots were given just inside the hospital emergency room. Osterman said 13 people received their first shots, but that 233 received the second and final vaccination.
Vaccine inoculations are coordinated by the McDonough County Health Department. The Illinois Department of Public Health is working with the county to conclude its 1A phase, the inoculation of all frontline medical personnel. The next round of vaccinations, phase 1B, will involve police officers, firefighters, teachers, corrections officers, dentists, and any other essential employees..
Listen to the radio story, which features brief interviews with Wanda Foster and Raeva Farris
Farris urged people to take advantage of the Illinois Department of Public Health s free COVID-19 testing offered in Macomb on Monday, December 21; Wednesday, December 30; and Saturday, January 2. The testing will be done in Q lot on the Western Illinois University campus from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.
Farris said she can see a light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic. But she said we are not out of the woods yet. It will only get better when everybody takes part and follows what the CDC and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) recommend, she said. We all have to cooperate and work together.
MDH writes tribute to Dr. Donald Dexter
Patrick Stout
Voice Correspondent
MACOMB McDonough District Hospital has written a tribute to Dr. Donald Dexter, who died recently at age 92. He was one of the original physicians at the hospital when it opened in 1958.
After retiring from his medical practice in 1989, Dr. Dexter became one of the longest-serving members on the MDH Board of Directors. He served from 1995 to 2011 and was a past chairman. He served as board chairman during the hospital s 50th anniversary in 2008. Everything you hear about Dr. Dexter is just stellar, said Hospital President Brian Dietz.
Dexter was also deeply involved with Western Illinois University. He was on the faculty in the Department of Health Sciences and served as team physician for WIU Athletics. Dexter later served as chief of staff at WIU s Beu Health Center.