CU-CitizenAccess.org - Community online news

CU-CitizenAccess.org (https://www.cu-citizenaccess.org/)

Returning international students from countries with lower infection rates of COVID-19 than the U.S.

By Samantha Boyle/For CU-CitizenAccess | August 7, 2020

Most of the international students from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s 2019-2020 academic year are from countries with lower daily Covid-19 infection rates than the United States, according to a CU-CitizenAccess analysis.

Last spring, 9,824 international students attended the University from more than 100 countries, according to university data.

More than 20,000 university students may return from zip codes with higher positivity rates for COVID-19

Champaign County has had about 2 percent of those tested for the virus receive positive results, which means the person should self-quarantine for 14 days.

But a comparison of state public health test data on August 3 and ZIP code data for students who attended the University in the last academic year shows that 20,000 out of 28,000 students from Illinois may arrive from ZIP codes with positive percentages above 5 percent, according to a review of the data by CU-CitizenAccess.org.

Many returning university students may come from high-risk states for COVID-19

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began in January, Champaign County – home to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and about 50,000 faculty, students and staff – has experienced a low number of positive cases when compared to many other areas of the state and the U.S.

A comparison of university data on where out-of-state students are from as of the last school year and data on the positivity rates in those states show as many as 5,000 students may be arriving from 32 states that have positivity rates higher than 5 percent, according to a review of the data by CU-CitizenAccess.org

Six years and Tuscola residents still waiting on Cronus fertilizer plant

In 2014, in the midst of a gubernatorial election, the construction of a $1.4 billion fertilizer plant in Tuscola was announced with much fanfare and the promise of state subsidies.

Eight years later, no piece of dirt has been overturned since former Gov. Quinn poked a shovel into an open field in a symbolic groundbreaking.

Now Tuscola officials say the outbreak of coronavirus will add to the long delays.

More Headlines

Champaign County jail bookings show racial disparity over eight years

Reports on “recovered” Covid-19 cases inconsistent and incomplete. Numbers elusive and may mislead on real medical impact of virus

Champaign Park District revenue declines

Featured

Reports on “recovered” Covid-19 cases inconsistent and incomplete. Numbers elusive and may mislead on real medical impact of virus

By Dylan Tiger, Isaiah Baba, Daria Makhneva and Samantha Boyle / For Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | July 10, 2020

As Covid-19 surges again in the U.S., the high percentage of “recovered” cases might be cited as a sign that a vast majority of those infected quickly rid themselves of the virus.

But the “recovered” statistics are incomplete, inconsistent and call into question the accuracy of any total number of recovered cases, according to a review of 50 state public health sites by the Midwest Center for Investigative reporting.