The Four Points by Sheraton hotel is now incorporated into the city's COVID-19 plan as an alternate housing site. Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said the city's largest hotel will take in people who are symptomatic and require isolation, but can't due to their current housing circumstances. The hotel will also admit exposed but asymptomatic people for quarantine, and people living in shelters who have health factors that put them at higher risk for the worst of COVID-19's negative health impacts.
"Those who are able to utilize the hotel will be referred by the hospitals or the Continuum of Care. People won't be able to just walk in and admit themselves," Ardis said. "We're expecting to have this in place, I am told, at the latest, by the first of the week."
The county is paying the initial upfront costs for the rooms, with the expectation the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse those costs under the emergency declaration.
"Proactive placement of these individuals in hotels helped to reduce their risk, increase the ability for social distancing within the shelters, and also reduce the strain on the healthcare system," said the mayor.
No new local COVID-19 cases reported Thursday
For the first time in days, the Tri-County region reported no new positive COVID-19 tests on Thursday. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said there is some evidence the state is slowing the virus down. Peoria City/County Health Department administrator Monica Hendrickson credits that to social distancing measures. But she said it's too early to consider returning to normal life. "It's not a reason to take off these policies, or remove these restrictions. In fact, it is another demonstration of why they are working," she said. Pritzker said it is unlikely his stay-at-home order will end before April 30 - because while the curve is bending, it's still heading upwards.
UnityPoint doctor optimistic about ICU capacity
UnityPoint Health's executive medical director of acute care services, Dr. Samer Sader, said he's confident Peoria has enough intensive care unit beds to handle the COVID-19 pandemic locally.
"If you asked me this two weeks ago, I probably would have said, ooh, that's a little scary. I'm not so scared right now," he said. Sader credited that confidence to a slowdown in the virus' spread due to social distancing measures and the stay-at-home order. The region has just over 300 ICU beds currently. Nineteen people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases are in the ICU currently, and 29 confirmed or suspected patients are in non-ICU beds. There are 39 confirmed cases in the Tri-County area.
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