Twenty-six people incarcerated at the McLean County Jail and six staffers have tested positive for COVID-19, Sheriff Jon Sandage said on Thursday.
The first positive test result came back on Dec. 11 from a person slated to be transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections. That person, as well as "a majority of the others have been asymptomatic and those who do have symptoms are reporting mild cold and flu type complaints," Sandage said in a news release.
Sandage told WGLT it's the largest outbreak at the jail since COVID tracking began last year.
"We've been fairly lucky up to this point," he said. But "we kind of knew it was a matter of time. I mean, you can have the best policies and procedures in the world and, unfortunately, with this virus, it's going to get in eventually."
Sandage said the origin of the outbreak is unclear. Staffers undergo medical screenings before each shift that register their temperature and whether they have any symptoms consistent with COVID; those who do are then subject to testing.
"There's a lot of people in the jail every day, so it's hard telling," he said. "With the current strain going around, a lot of people are asymptomatic, so it's hard to tell."
Those have tested positive in the jail are currently in isolation, Sandage said, and "with the assistance of the McLean County Health Department, the McLean County Emergency Management Agency and jail medical staff, testing of all inmates will be conducted every three days."
In the meantime, there will be "no non-essential movement" within the jail and court hearings will move to a virtual format unless a judge specifically requests an in-person appearance.
According to the release, there have been "no changes to the onsite video visitation schedule."
As of Thursday, there are 206 people being held at the jail.
All intensive care unit beds full — again
For the second time in December, the McLean County Health Department (MCHD) is reporting that all ICU beds in the area are full, along with 99% of all available, staffed beds.
Between Carle BroMenn and OSF St. Joseph medical centers, 44 people are hospitalized as COVID-19 patients. An internal dashboard from Carle Health indicates there are 26 such patients at its Normal-based hospital; five COVID patients are in intensive care.
OSF Healthcare does not share the same data, but in a recent update, the Peoria-based system said 251 people across its 15 hospitals were admitted due to COVID; of those, 176 patients are unvaccinated.
MCHD also said 34 county residents are hospitalized at sites either in or outside of McLean County as COVID patients.
Another 162 cases were reported in the past day, bringing the total number confirmed in the county to 27,237 since the pandemic began.
Of all known cases, MCHD considers 25,698 people as "recovered."
More than 1,200 people in the county are reported as isolating at home due to exposure to the virus; MCHD did not report any additional deaths on Thursday.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported a slight bump in local vaccinations Thursday; 57.5% of the overall population is considered "fully vaccinated," up from 57.4% on Wednesday.
That percentage represents about 99,424 people in McLean County.
