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US Postal Service Dealing with ‘Historic Volume of Holiday Mail If you mailed-out holiday gifts weeks ago thinking the packages would arrive in plenty of time for Christmas Day, you may want to check the status of the delivery. “This negative impact is compounded by the temporary employee shortage due to the COVID-19 surge, as well as ongoing capacity challenges with airlifts and trucking for moving this historic volume of mail,” said USPS spokesperson Tim Norman. The American Postal Workers Union said nearly 19,000 postal employees are currently in quarantine after either contracting, or being exposed to, the coronavirus. “You have to understand that we’ve had people exposed to the virus. They’ve had childcare issues or they’re not able to come to work,” said APWU Local 1 Chicago president Keith Richardson. ....
Illinois Reports 4,699 New Coronavirus Cases, 98 Additional Deaths Monday According to the latest numbers from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois now has 905,069 probable or confirmed cases of coronavirus during the pandemic. Monday s 98 additional fatalities bring the state to 15,299 deaths as a result of the pandemic, with another 1,228 deaths classified as “probable” COVID-19-related fatalities, according to IDPH data. Over the last 24 hours, 86,454 test specimens were returned to state laboratories, according to IDPH data. In all, 12,520,979 tests have been performed in the state since the pandemic began. The state saw its hospitalization numbers continue to decline on Monday, with 981 currently in intensive care units and 546 of patients on ventilators. ....
St. Clair County officials called Friday the “best day” the county has seen since Nov. 6, COVID-19-wise, at a daily briefing Friday. According to officials, St. Clair County had a daily COVID-19 positive rate of 6.9%, the lowest its been since Nov. 6. No new deaths were announced Friday, and 127 new COVID-19 cases were reported, down from Thursday’s total of 224. The county’s seven-day rolling average was 10.1%. St. Clair County has done an amazing job. Mitigations work, public education works. But they’ve successfully lowered their positivity rates before, only to shoot back up again when mitigations were eased. But not everyone in the county was spared, of course. A heartbreaking loss… ....