McLean County health officials announced the county’s first confirmed COVID-19 case in four days as the rate of new cases continues to slow.
According to data from the McLean County Health Department, the county has 87 confirmed COVID-19 cases; seven patients remain in isolation and one is hospitalized. Seventy-six patients have recovered.
McLean County’s rate of new coronavirus cases continues to lag behind the rest of the state. Illinois announced another record high on Friday with 2,724 cases and 108 deaths, including a Sangamon County man in his 70s. The state has a total of 39,658 cases and 1,796 deaths.
Reopening By Region
Several Republican lawmakers in Illinois are arguing for Gov. JB Pritzker to start reopening the economy by region, citing some counties have only a handful of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
“I remain baffled as to why he continues to oppose phased regional openings in areas of the state where there are little to no known positive cases of COVID-19,” said state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet. “You can responsibly and safely ‘dial up’ or ‘dial down’ restrictions as circumstances warrant in areas with little or to no cases.”
But McLean County Health Department Director Jessica McKnight said it's too soon to suggest any area is safe from the coronavirus.
“Without us having the increased capacity to test more, it’s difficult for us to say that we are seeing the curve completely flattened because we don’t have all the data available to us,” McKnight said.
So far, about 1% of McLean County's population has been tested. About 1.5% of the statewide population has been tested.
McKnight added Pritzker’s decision to extend the shelter-in-place order through May is another sign the fight to stop the coronavirus is nowhere near finished.
“We are in some difficult times, but being in this together, I think that’s a message we want to make sure and get out there,” McKnight said. “We are all in this together and supporting one another during this time. It’s probably most important for us.”
Walk-up Testing
McLean County health officials say they are exploring ways to help those who don't have a car get tested for COVID-19.
County spokesperson Dion McNeal acknowledged the clinic at the McLean County Fairgrounds in Bloomington limits access since it's drive-thru only.
“There isn’t a viable solution to really get those folks there who are in most need of that, who are transportation insecure,” he said. "What we are doing now is to try to make sure we are promoting folks who have the symptoms to go get tested.”
McKnight added the U.S Department of Health and Human Services establishes testing guidelines at the site, but there may be other options.
“Even if it’s not through the community-based testing site, we are talking about how to reach those populations that cannot drive to the testing site. So we are talking about it and know it’s a need,” she said.
The mobile clinic in Bloomington has been testing an average of about 100 people per day. It can give up to 250 tests per day.
Daily testing continues at the fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for anyone who is exhibiting symptoms.
A new testing clinic in Peoria that took walk-ins used nearly all of its testing kits in the few days after it opened. Peoria is adding two more testing sites this week that accept walk-ins.
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