On Friday, July 31, 2020, Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 11 Counties in Illinois are considered to be at a “warning” level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19.) A County enters a warning level when it experiences an increase in two or more COVID-19 risk indicators from the State’s COVID-19 Resurgence Mitigation plan. Those Counties are Cass, Gallatin, Jackson, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Perry, Randolph, Saline, Sangamon, St. Clair, and White.
Whiteside County Health Department’s Cory Law stated, “For Illinois to issue an Official Warning status to a County, more than one metric needs to exceed the Target value. Whiteside is within ‘Warning for New Cases Per 100,000,’ which is not a surprise, given the number of cases identified last week. This does does mean we should have some concerns about our COVID-19 trajectory. However Whiteside’s remaining metrics are below the target threshold, preventing the State from issuing an official warning.”
For Illinois to issue an “Official Warning” status to a county, more than one metric needs to exceed the Target value.
As you can see Whiteside is within Warning for New Cases Per 100,000, which is not a surprise given the number of cases identified last week. This does does mean we should have some concerns about our COVID-19 trajectory. However Whiteside’s remaining metrics are below the target threshold, preventing the State from issuing an official warning.
Counties saw outbreaks associated with business operations and activities posing higher risk for disease spread: school graduation ceremonies; a rise in cases among late teens and 20s; parties and social gatherings; people going to bars; long-term care outbreaks; clusters of cases associated with restaurants and churches; big sports events including soccer, golf, and softball tournaments.
Residents of many communities are not wearing face coverings, that have been proven to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Public health officials are finding that most contacts to cases are testing positive as well.
Several Counties are taking swift action and implementing mitigation measures to help slow the spread of the virus. The Mayor of Springfield, IL, requiring bar employees to wear masks or be subject to fines. Perry County hospitals and nursing homes temporarily suspending visitors. The State’s Attorney in Jackson County allowed the local food Ordinance to be used to enforce COVID-19 guidance at restaurants and bars.
IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a County is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk. Indicators include
- new cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the County, this triggers a warning.
- number of deaths. This indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
- weekly test positivity. This indicates a warning when the seven-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
- ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of Intensive Care Units available in the region, this triggers a warning.