The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) was notified Thursday morning of a third death related to COVID-19 in McLean County, Illinois. The individual was a female in her 80s with no history of travel or exposure. McLean County has had a total of 82 cases of COVID-19, and no new cases reported today.
“We have seen the number of new cases reported leveling off over the last few days, which can largely be attributed to social distancing measures the public is practicing,” Jessica McKnight, Administrator of McLean County Health Department said. “But we expect to continue to see this virus impact our community for some time.”
“Now is a time to be cautious,” McKnight added. “Relaxing the stay-at-home order too quickly without key measures in place could lead to a spike in new cases and put a burden on our healthcare system.”
These measures include widespread access to COVID-19 testing, which would allow public health at the state and local level to be able to quickly identify and isolate new cases and quarantine their contacts. Additionally, it is important that enough personal protective equipment be available for healthcare workers and others in the community who need to care for patients.
For more information on COVID-19, contact the McLean County Health Department at (309)888-5450 or the Illinois Department of Public Health coronavirus hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or visit idph.illinois.gov
(http://dph.illinois.gov/covid19) for questions and more information.
