McLean County reported its biggest surge in new coronavirus case since mid-May on Wednesday with 130 new weekly cases.
The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) also announced one of its youngest COVID-related deaths to date: a woman in her 30s who was not associated with long-term care.
The health department also said it will resume daily COVID-19 updates on weekdays.
MCHD urges the public to follow the CDC’s new guidance that calls for fully vaccinated people to wear masks in indoor public settings in areas where there is significant or high coronavirus spread. McLean County meets the definition for “substantial” community spread, with a seven-day average of 62 new cases per 100,000 residents.
“Though vaccinated individuals represent a very small amount of transmission occurring around the country, people who are fully vaccinated can get the Delta variant in a breakthrough infection and may be infectious,” MCHD public affairs coordinator Marianne Manko said in a news release.
Eight McLean County residents are hospitalized with COVID-19. That’s down from 10 last week. There are 13 COVID patients currently receiving care at Carle BroMenn Medical Center and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center.
The county reported 111 patients are isolating at home and 106 people have completed their time in quarantine since last week and are considered recovered. According to MCHD, 18,403 residents have recovered since the start of the pandemic.
The county has reported 241 COVID-related deaths since the pandemic began.
The county’s seven-day testing positivity rate rose to 2.9%. That’s still better than state and national averages. The county’s cumulative positivity rate rose stands at 4.8%, based on more than 387,100 tests conducted since the start of the pandemic.
Vaccines
According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), vaccinations have been steady for the last three weeks in McLean County, but the rate of fully vaccinated has only marginally improved. The rate of fully vaccinated in McLean County is 48.6%. That trailed the state average of 50.6%, but still ranks ninth highest among Illinois’ 102 counties.
Thursday is the final day vaccinations will be available at Grossinger Motors Arena. MCHD has other mobile clinics planned, including one from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Bloomington and another all next week at the McLean County Fair (Aug. 4-7) at the Interstate Center grounds on Bloomington's west side.
The COVID testing site at the Interstate Center, scheduled to close July 31, will remain open because of the spike in new cases. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Another local testing site is Heartland Community College in Normal that is using the saliva-based PCR test developed by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The testing site, overseen by SHIELD Illinois, is open from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in room 1801 of the Instructional Commons Building (ICB). The test is free.
People can make an appointment at heartland.edu/coronavirus/testing.html, but walk-ins are welcome.
