How Do We Protect Our Children?

There has been much talk about the lack of tests available and the unwillingness to test certain segments of the population if they or their symptoms don't check off each of the symptom boxes. We applaud State Rep. Ford for being a part of a dynamic consortium that reacted a rapid testing facility on the West Side of Chicago, in Austin that has increased the number of affected, suspected and exposed victims of the virus. We encourage you to advocate for your young children that have been around family/friends exposed to this virus. Don’t ignore the symptoms. Like anything else, early detection and treatment are the precautions that will save lives. Below are several testing sites that conduct rapid testing:

McCormick Place

Roseland Hospital

67 W 111th St.

Loretta Hospital

645 S Central Ave

Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lavin Family Pavillion

259 E. Huron

Drive Thru Testing

3824 West 159th Place in Markham- NEW!

Rush Oak Park Hospital

520 S. Maple, Oak Park, IL

Friend Health

5843 S. Western

Friend Health Cottage Grove

800 E. 55th St.

Innovative Express Care

2400 N. Ashland

NorthShore University HealthSystem

9977 Woods

Chicago Family Health Center

9119 S. Exchange

Walgreens

695 W Boughton Rd, Bolingbrook

Walmart

2424 W. Jefferson, Joliet, IL

Illinois National Guard drive-thru testing site

3824 W. 159th Place, Markham

Shelter in Care - Extended or Not

Many providers have been asking the question if the Shelter in Care will be lifted or extended. Currently the Shelter in Care is in place until April 30th meaning all non-essential businesses are to remain closed. If we look at what China did, then Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, the efforts were 10 times more aggressive than what we are practicing. In those countries it was not just families being isolated together in Wuhan but individuals being isolated away from their friends and families, coronavirus rules were established requiring residents to have a formal pass to get in and out of their apartment buildings and homes. At the outbreak's height in Wuhan, nobody was allowed in or out of the city, and access to food stores was limited to once every few days. They went door to door checking temperatures and separating people with even mild symptoms. Here, we have something called civil liberties that shun againsts top down dictatorship. So while we see people continuing to disrespect social distancing, continue to move freely and travel, the answer to this question is, even with factoring science, WE JUST DON’T KNOW.

1. Illinois reports, 23,247 people have been infected and over 868 have died,

2. Globally, 593,621 cases have been reported with 25,070 deaths. according to a tally kept by Wikipedia