Read more about the article Mass testing at meat plant finds 27 more coronavirus casesPam Dempsey, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Medical staff prepare to test workers for Covid-19 at Rantoul Foods on Friday, May 8, 2020, as part of a two-day mass testing event. The meat processing plant had 55 confirmed cases as of Friday.

Mass testing at meat plant finds 27 more coronavirus cases

Rantoul Foods, one of Central Illinois’ largest meat processing plants, will partially shut down Monday to undergo additional sanitization following a mass testing event at the plant Friday and Saturday that found 27 more cases of Covid-19 among employees, according to a company release. Though yet to be confirmed by health officials, this pushes the total number of employees who have become sick to 82.

Continue ReadingMass testing at meat plant finds 27 more coronavirus cases
Read more about the article Testing accelerated at Rantoul meat processing plant hit by coronovirus outbreakPam Dempsey, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Medical staff prepare to test workers for Covid-19 at Rantoul Foods on Friday, May 8, 2020, as part of a two-day mass testing event. The meat processing plant had 55 confirmed cases as of Friday.

Testing accelerated at Rantoul meat processing plant hit by coronovirus outbreak

Rantoul Foods, one of Central Illinois’ largest meat processing plants, accelerated its mass testing Friday as the number of confirmed cases at the plant rose to 55.

Continue ReadingTesting accelerated at Rantoul meat processing plant hit by coronovirus outbreak

Processing plant hit with Covid-19 under scrutiny since March

Public health officials said they visited Rantoul Foods - which had 47 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as of May 5 - on April 27th after receiving reports of Covid-19 cases among company employees. “All of this was completely preventable,” Pryde said in an interview Tuesday, noting had the plant taken action earlier.

Continue ReadingProcessing plant hit with Covid-19 under scrutiny since March
Read more about the article Covid-19 outbreak hits Rantoul meat processing plant
A livestock truck in line at the Rantoul Foods plant in Rantoul, Il on Tuesday, December 18, 2018. photo by Darrell Hoemann/The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Covid-19 outbreak hits Rantoul meat processing plant

Just days before President Trump ordered meat packing plants to remain open to mitigate food shortages, Rantoul Foods in Central Illinois saw its first case. There are now 21. One of the largest meat processing plants in central Illinois is battling an outbreak of coronavirus in which 21 cases of  Covid-19 have been already been counted, a company official confirmed Monday

Rantoul Foods, which is based in Rantoul and processes between 30 million and 35 million pounds of pork each month, saw its first case on April 25, said Jerry Jacobsen, the company's director of human resources, safety and business administration. Since then 20 more cases have been reported.

Jacobsen said the company is taking safety measures to bring the outbreak under control.

“The first thing is the health of our employees," Jacobsen said, “because without our employees we don’t have a business.” 

The first worker identified with Covid-19 has now recovered and returned to work, he said. 

Continue ReadingCovid-19 outbreak hits Rantoul meat processing plant
Read more about the article Most Illinois county jail facilities lacked isolation cells for disease, documents showDylan Tiger
A summary of IDOC county jail inspection report answers regarding isolation cells. One report marked both 'Yes' and 'No'. Some jails have not been inspected since 2018.

Most Illinois county jail facilities lacked isolation cells for disease, documents show

As the coronavirus outbreak hit Illinois, many county jails lacked a standard cell needed to isolate infected inmates who had a respiratory illness, according to a review by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting of annual jail inspections. The Covid-19 outbreak at the Cook County Jail and other metropolitan jails across the country has received wide attention, but jails in downstate Illinois have come under little scrutiny. In addition, officials at many jails contacted by telephone by the CU-CitizenAccess and the Midwest Center about their efforts to combat the virus did not return calls, abruptly hung up, or told reporters to call later with no additional information given.

Continue ReadingMost Illinois county jail facilities lacked isolation cells for disease, documents show
Read more about the article Coronavirus leaves international students scrambling to get home
International travelers needed to wait in long lines for hours at Delhi International Airport on March 20, 2020. "We were made to wait behind glass doors to join the actual line which led to the immigration counters," said Maheshwari.

Coronavirus leaves international students scrambling to get home

Yashovardhan Maheshwari, a freshman at the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign campus, was aboard one of the last planes allowed to fly to India on…

Continue ReadingCoronavirus leaves international students scrambling to get home
Read more about the article First-person account of my travel experience during Coronavirus
The line before the first immigration counter line and after the thermal screening at Delhi International Airport in Delhi on March 20, 2020.

First-person account of my travel experience during Coronavirus

Yashovardhan Maheshwari shares his travel story to India during spring break amidst uncertainty from the University of Illinois and air travel policies.

Continue ReadingFirst-person account of my travel experience during Coronavirus