Peoria City/County Health Department medical director Dr. Gregg Stoner said the local COVID-19 infection and death projections he's seen give a real sense why social distancing measures like the stay-at-home order are necessary. "When you see the modeling that's been done, and the ranges of people that will be in ICU, and the people that will not survive the event, it's very sobering when you see those numbers," he said.Stoner didn't have Tri-County area projections available at Wednesday's daily health department briefing, but said he'll work to gather that information. He said the data supplied by federal sources is broken down by age group."They're not very cheery numbers when you look at those...I looked at my age group, and it scared me. And so it is something that is important. And it brings home why we are taking all these measures," Stoner said. The White House currently projects U.S. death counts between 100,000 to 200,000 and over 1 million cases total, even with proper mitigation measures in place.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker extended his stay-at-home order to the end of April Tuesday. Projection from the University of Washington and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago predict a mid-April peak for Illinois COVID-19 infection rates and deaths.
On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 986 new cases and 42 additional deaths. The Tri-County region of Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford counties currently has 17 confirmed positive cases. Eleven confirmed or suspected cases are in area intensive care units.
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