McLean County health officials announced one additional COVID-19 case on Monday, while indicating only one of the county’s 86 patients remains hospitalized.
According to the McLean County Health Department, 73 patients have recovered, while nine remain in isolation. Three patients have died.
County health officials said Monday that testing still isn't robust enough to get an accurate measure of how far the coronavirus has spread, but County Health Department Director Jessica McKnight said the numbers they have are encouraging, with only seven new cases in the last week.
“It’s too early for us to say exactly if we are through the worst of this yet,” McKnight said. “The measures the public is taking they are definitely helping.”
The department’s communicable disease supervisor, Melissa Graven, said data on infection rates is skewed because asymptomatic people aren't getting tested yet.
“We are really testing the sickest of the sick, if you will, people displaying symptoms,” Graven said. “So I think it’s really important to take that positivity rate in context of those who are reporting symptoms.”
Graven said at least 50% of the population should be tested before determining a community's risk of exposure. The health department said about 1,650 McLean County residents have been tested so far; that’s less than 1%.
McKnight said approximately 40 of the county's 86 cases came from the drive-up testing site at the McLean County Fairgrounds.
Nearly 62% of McLean County cases are female. The county continues to have a disproportionate number of coronavirus cases among African Americans. Nearly 35% of confirmed cases are among blacks, nearly three times their population rate. Hispanics make up about 8% of the county’s coronavirus cases.
The county reported Sunday two children have contracted the coronavirus, the first two in the county under age 10 to test positive.
Children are considered to be less at risk of severe complications from COVID-19 than adults. Graven said medical experts are still trying to figure out why.
“Is it because they (have) such an immature immune system, they are not having that overresponse that you’ll see in older individuals that your immune response is responding so strong that that’s what causes the poor outcomes?” Graven asked.
The state of Illinois reported 59 additional COVID-19 deaths on Monday, including a Livingston County woman in her 80s. Illinois has 1,349 COVID-19 deaths among 31, 508 confirmed cases, including 1,151 new cases announced on Monday.
We’re living in unprecedented times when information changes by the minute. WGLT will continue to be here for you, keeping you up-to-date with the live, local and trusted news you need. Help ensure WGLT can continue with its in-depth and comprehensive COVID-19 coverage as the situation evolves by making a contribution.
