Jersey, Madison virus deaths noted Tuesday

WOOD RIVER — The Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 1,466 new coronavirus cases and 20 deaths, while Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced $245 million in grants for businesses and communities affected by the pandemic.

Tuesday’s COVID-19 figures include two local fatalities, a Jersey County woman in her 90s and a Madison County man in his 70s.

According to the IDPH website, there have now been 8,332 deaths and 264,210 cases recorded statewide. In the past 24 hours, 39,031 tests have been completed for a statewide total of 4,810,827.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test Sept. 8-14 is 3.6 percent. As of Monday night, 1,584 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 373 were in intensive care units and 144 were on ventilators.

Late Monday, the Madison County Health Department announced 62 new cases for a total of 4,965 with 2,499 of them active. No deaths were reported, keeping that total to 114.

Monday’s positivity rate for the county was 10.05 percent. The three-day average was 12.15 percent, the seven-day average was 13.63 percent, and the 10-day average was 12.11 percent.

Twenty-three people were in Madison County hospitals with COVID, four of them on ventilators.

IDPH information by ZIP code on Tuesday showed additional cases in Alton, Bethalto, Godfrey, Brighton, Jerseyville, Wood River, Hartford, Cottage Hills, East Alton, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Troy, Granite City/Pontoon Beach, Collinsville, Highland, Hamel, Staunton, Carlinville and White Hall areas. The number of cases went down one each in Madison, to 113, and Carrollton, to 11.

A total of 15 new cases was reported in Alton Monday.

The IDPH is releasing case numbers by ZIP code for areas with more than five cases. Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients. The information is online at www.dph.illinois.gov.

Additional cases also were reported Tuesday in Jersey, Greene, Macoupin, St. Clair, Clinton, Bond, Monroe and Washington counties in the Metro East. The number of cases in Montgomery County was reduced by one to 287.

In his Tuesday announcement, Pritzker said $220 million in grants will be offered to small businesses hurt because of the ongoing pandemic, as well as communities impacted by civil unrest. Applications for the second round of the Business Interruption Grants program are to be available Thursday afternoon.

“Support for small businesses has been one of the central features of our COVID-19 response,” Pritzker said. “Helping entrepreneurs stay afloat, giving business owners the help necessary to keep the lights on and payroll flowing, is vital to preserving jobs and businesses until we get to the other side of this pandemic.”

The second round of BIG builds on more than $49 million in grants awarded last month with initial grants allocated to about 2,800 businesses in 400 communities. Application information for the second round of funds and can be found online at Illinois.gov/dceo.

The second wave of funds from BIG aims to provide relief for all types of small businesses, with a focus on businesses located downstate or in disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs), including:

• Heavily Impacted Industries: $60 million for industries such as movie theatres, performing arts venues, concert venues, indoor recreation, amusement parks, event spaces located at banquet halls and hotels.

• Disproportionately Impacted Areas: $70 million for DIAs, defined by ZIP codes identified as the most economically distressed and vulnerable to COVID-19.

• Downstate Communities: More than $100 million is reserved for businesses in downstate and rural communities.

• Priority Businesses: Apart from the $60 million for heavily impacted industries, applications from the following types of businesses will be prioritized for review for remaining funds: businesses directly affected by regional mitigations implemented by the state or local governments, independently owned retail, tourism- and hospitality-related industries.

• Agriculture: $5 million will be set aside for livestock production disruptions.

• Grants and Loan Forgiveness for Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan recipients: DCEO will offer grants for businesses that have incurred eligible costs to offset loans received under the Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan program.

Earlier this year, DCEO issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity and identified a qualified administrator to disburse the remaining funds for BIG throughout the rest of the year. Working with administrators Accion and the Women’s Business Development Center, the department will take a tailored approach to processing grants in this round. Grants will range from $5,000 to $150,000.

Eligible businesses will include for-profit and nonprofit entities with $20 million or less in annual revenue in 2019 (annualized for businesses that started after January 2019). All businesses that receive a BIG award must have experienced losses due to COVID-19 that exceed the size of the award.

“The hotel industry has been an integral part of the state’s economy and the anchor of our tourism industry. Unfortunately, this pandemic has decimated our industry overnight,” said Michael Jacobson, President of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association. “As hundreds of hotels throughout the state struggle to survive, some of whom remain shuttered altogether, this is a positive step towards providing much needed assistance to the Illinois hospitality community.”

For the latest information on COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department online at www.madisonchd.org or on Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us for more news and a daily update or on Facebook @MadisonCountyIL.

Local and statewide information is also available on the IDPH website www.dph.illinois.gov. Click on the coronavirus banner.

For health-related questions about COVID-19, people can call the IDPH hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email [email protected].