COVID-19: IDPH reports Union County at warning level
The Illinois Department of Public Health, IDPH, on Friday reported 13 counties in the state are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Union County was one of the counties at a warning level as of Friday.
A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
The 13 counties at a warning level included Union, Cass, Coles, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Monroe, Perry, Saline, St. Clair, Tazewell, Williamson and Winnebago. Both Jackson and Williamson counties border Union County.
IDPH reported that the counties have seen cases or outbreaks associated with businesses, long-term care facilities, large social gatherings and out of state travel.
There have been several instances of multiple cases among family members in the same, large household.
Students returning to universities and colleges are also driving the recent increase in cases in several communities.
Many students are not wearing face coverings or social distancing and are gathering in large groups and at bars.
Several counties are taking swift action and implementing mitigation measures to help slow spread of the virus.
Examples include working with university administrations for student education and contact tracing, working with county boards of health, and cancelling events and festivals.
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 in the county.
The risk factors follow, along with statistics reported for Union County for the week of July 26 through Aug. 1.
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.
Union County had a number of 202, which triggered a warning.
Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20 percent for two consecutive weeks.
Union County had no deaths for the period.
Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the seven-day test positivity rate rises above 8 percent
Union County had a positivity rate of 15.7 percent, which triggered a warning.
As of Aug. 10, there were 427 people in the health department’s service area who had recovered since the start of the pandemic in the United States.
Also as of Aug. 10, the health department was reporting a cumulative total of 575 cases of COVID-19 in its service area.
The health department confirmed that a total of 9.593 negative COVID-19 tests had been reported in the region as of Aug. 7.
The number of individuals confirmed to have COVID-19 in the area counties served by the Southern Seven Health Department as of Aug. 3 follows:
Union County: 311 cases. 198 had recovered. 20 deaths had been reported in the county.
Alexander County: 37 cases. 35 had recovered.
Hardin County: 18 cases. 17 had recovered.
Johnson County: 65 cases. 49 had recovered.
Massac County: 40 cases. 33 had recovered.
Pope County: Nine cases. Five had recovered.
Pulaski County: 95 cases. 90 had recovered.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, in Illinois there were 1,319 new individuals with COVID-19 identified on Aug. 10, bringing the confirmed total in the state to 195,399 individuals, with 7,637 deaths.