‘We are moving in the right direction’

Southern Seven Health Department on Wednesday, Sept. 22, shared some good news about the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

“We are definitely beginning to see the number of new confirmed recovered cases outpace the new confirmed cases, which is a good sign that we are moving in the right direction,” Southern Seven Health Department contact tracing outreach coordinator Nathan Ryder shared in an email.

“We all still need to be vigilant as we work to get the number of new cases back down and encourage unvaccinated individuals to get their shots as we work to prevent another wave of reinfections,” Ryder stated.

 The health department serves Alexander, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski and Union counties.

Southern Seven Health Department  reported 29 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region on Sept. 22.

The update showed newly confirmed cases in all seven of the counties served by the health department. New cases in area counties included:

Alexander County, two new cases: one under 10, one in the 70s.

Hardin County, two new cases: one in the 60s, one in the 70s.

 Johnson County, six new cases: three teens, one in the 30s, one in the 50s, one in the 60s.

Massac County, 10 new cases: one under 10, two teens, one in the 20s, three in the 30s, two in the 50s, one 80-plus years old. 

Pope County, two new cases: one in the 50s, one in the 60s. 

Pulaski County, three new cases: one in the 20s, one in the 30s, one in the 40s. 

Union County, four new cases: one under 10, two in the 40s, one in the 60s.

The health department reported that as of Sept. 22, there were 322 total active cases in the region. A total of 53 newly recovered cases were reported. Cumulative cases in the region totaled 9,795.

The health department reported the following update of cases in the region’s counties, as of Sept. 22:

Alexander County: 668 cases. 650 had recovered. 11 active cases. Seven deaths.

Hardin County: 594 cases. 562 had recovered. 21 active cases. 11 deaths.

Johnson County: 2,146 cases. 2,037 had recovered. 89 active cases. 20 deaths.

Massac County: 1,983 cases. 1,849 had recovered. 95 active cases. 39 deaths.

Pope County: 488 cases. 463 had recovered. 22 active cases. Three deaths.

Pulaski County: 987 cases. 956 had recovered. 23 active cases. Eight deaths.

Union County: 2,929 cases. 2,829 had recovered. 61 active cases. 39 deaths.

All of the numbers are provisional and subject to change.