McLean County health officials said Tuesday the county had no new cases of COVID-19, continuing a slower rate of infection over the last week.The county had added five COVID-19 cases over the last week. Approximately 85% of the county's 86 coronavirus patients have recovered. Based on McLean County Health Department data, nine remain in home isolation and one is in the hospital. Three patients died.
County health officials say just because you are showing symptoms, that doesn't mean you should get tested, even though the drive-up testing site in Bloomington is running well below capacity.
County Health Department Director Jessica McKnight said state and federal health experts still recommend staying home if your symptoms are mild.
“Guidance hasn’t necessarily changed about should the mildly ill self-quarantine or not,” McKnight said.
She explained you might not have the coronavirus but going to get tested increases your likelihood of catching it.
“If someone is mildly ill, we are still encouraging them to stay home and self-quarantine because getting out and about could potentially expose them to illnesses if they don’t in fact have COVID,” she said.
Gov. JB Prtizker has been pushing for increased testing. The state of Illinois opened a new testing site in Peoria. OSF HealthCare and Advocate BroMenn Medical Center have both said they are maintaining their testing standards, citing a lack of available tests.
The drive-up site at the McLean County Fairgrounds will test anyone who is showing symptoms. The clinic is running fewer than 100 tests per day. It can give up to 250 tests daily.
The McLean County Health Department said about 1,650 county residents have been tested for the covonavirus.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced an additional 1,451 cases and 119 deaths, to bring the state totals to 33,059 cases and 1,468 deaths.
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