InFocus News

As the U.S. struggles with shortages of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers have jumped into action. Around the country people are sewing masks, for healthcare workers and community members at risk for contracting COVID-19. But sewing for a cause fits into a much bigger history.

On this edition of WSIU InFocus, we hear from Jean Rendleman Miner, Academic Advisor in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts at SIUC and Rita Medina, Coordinator for Recruitment and Retention at the College, about the anxiety and uncertainty many college students are going through.

Even the way a farmers market operates has changed since the pandemic started as social-distancing practices become more critical for maintaining public health. In Carbondale, Illinois the farmers market switched to a drive-thru allowing some local producers to sell their goods in a physically-distant manner with masks and gloves. Kurt Sweitzer, the President of Carbondale's farmers market, said the turn out has been good so far, considering the pandemic. But he wonders if it will persist if the

The spread of COVID-19 has forced park districts around the state to make some changes. Many people consider Memorial Day the official beginning of summer, marking the start of youth ball leagues, summer camps, and the opening of community pools. For park districts in the region the summer of 2020 is becoming one of uncertainty and revamping form the spread of COVID-19.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, some of the biggest outbreaks have been concentrated in urban areas, like New York City and Chicago. But rural America isn’t immune to the virus — and many rural areas are already dealing with a scarcity of health care. Ferrell Hospital, in Eldorado, is bracing for coronavirus. While most of Illinois’ cases have concentrated in the Chicago area, Dr. Joseph Jackson, a physician at Ferrell, said the virus spreading to rural areas like the ones his hospital

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with Interim SIUC Chancellor John Dunn about COVID-19's effects on university commencement, along with plans for Fall 2020.

On this month's feature, written and narrated by Ornithologist Dr. Mike Baltz, we hear about a book, published nearly 60 years ago, that has concepts still relevant today.