Large gatherings linked to rise in Champaign County COVID-19 cases

adminJuly 29, 2020

0 5 minutes read

Champaign County is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Over the last two days, 101 new cases were added to the 1,413 total cases. On Tuesday 55 new cases were reported and Wednesday morning 46 new COVID-19 cases were reported. There are currently 212 active cases.

District 6 of the Restore Illinois Metrics chalked up nine consecutive days of positivity and three days of hospital admission increases on July 28. The percent of increase is 2.9-percent.

Champaign-Urbana hospitals, which serve about 1.5 million people, are also filling up, according to Champaign-Urbana Public Health Administrator Julie Pryde.

She added that not every hospital bed is occupied by someone with COVID-19, but the combination of coronavirus cases and other illnesses are causing concern.

On Tuesday Pryde to Elizabeth Hess with UPTV6 that numbers are “right back up there and it’s not showing any signs of going in the opposite direction; it’s actually getting worse.”

Pryde said that Champaign County does not have to wait until University of Illinois students come back to see a trend of large gatherings at parties or bars.

“Our community is continuing to have big parties and events and and hanging out in bars, and doing stuff that they have to know is not safe to do during a pandemic,” she said.

“There are going to be consequences whether they are infections and leading to, you know, deaths or other negative consequences, or having to shut things back down.”

Conversations about mitigations in areas such as Adams, LaSalle, Peoria and Randolph counties have happened this week. When Pritzker laid out the COVID-19 mitigation plan on July 15, he made it clear that if regions experienced sustained increase in 7-day rolling average (7 out of 10 days) in the positivity rate and either a sustained 7-day increase in hospital admissions for a COVID-19 like illness or deduction in hospital capacity threatening surge capabilities (ICU capacity or medical/surgical beds under 20%).

A region will also be subject to additional mitigations if there are three consecutive days averaging greater than or equal to 8% positivity rate.

Gov. JB Pritzker said, “Folks, This is serious. It didn’t take long for Florida, Texas, Arizona and California to become plagued with high rates of infection and death,” during a Wednesday press conference.” That was once where we were just 10 weeks ago. We hunkered down. And we did the right thing.

“And we made progress but now there are danger signals as states all around us are spreading the virus. It’s time to defend our progress and put us back on the right trajectory for a healthier and safer Illinois.

“So let me remind everyone, taking precautions following the recommended mitigations like wearing masks in public places and keeping some physical distance and refusing to indulge those who flout public health guidance. These are the best things that you can do to keep our economy moving forward, and looking out for your friends and family. This isn’t about politics or what party, your governor belongs to, or whether this is how you wanted to spend your summer or fall. This is about doing right by the people.”

Pryde said that there are things that Champaign County residents and businesses can do right now to help slow the spread of COVID-19 so that numbers flatten.

As always, the guidance is to socially distance at 6-feet, wear a mask and wash hands as much as possible.

Pryde said that CUPHD has offered guidance to bar owners, suggesting that customers stay seated in smaller groups instead of standing shoulder to shoulder.

“We have some bars that are following the guidance really well and some that are not following it at all,” she continued. “Unfortunately what that’s going to end up doing is continuing to shoot our cases up.”

Regressing in phases in the Restore Illinois plan could also mean schools would have to return to e-learning for all students.

“There’s certainly a lot of planning going on,” Pryde said. “And again, the data is going to have a lot to do with how this happens, how schools open, if schools open.”

She added that children can get COVID-19, that they are affected by COVID-19 and that they can spread COVID-19. Currently in Champaign County 19-percent of the positive cases are children under the age of 18.

“Almost 20-percent of all of our cases are in young children, and that is higher than the state average,” Pryde said.

“The safest way is definitely virtual learning, but again, I don’t have to operationalize this guidance, we just have to say what the guidance is. Schools have a lot of other things that they’re looking into that public health isn’t necessarily looking into.”

Many Champaign County school districts have offered their students options: e-learning or a hybrid model or remote material and in-person school. Pryde said that no matter where a school begins the school year, they should be flexible in knowing that at some point online learning only may be a possibility.

Pryde said CUPHD is reviewing school plans and working with districts to help them to troubleshoot ways to follow ISBE and IDPH guidance.

Last weekend’s “Million Unmasked March” in Springfield turned up about 150 people outside the Illinois Capitol Complex to protest the requirement that children have to wear their mask while in school.

Pryde said that situations like this, parents not believing that their child must wear a mask to school, might cause problems as districts open their doors across the state.

“This is a new virus; it’s nothing to mess with. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that we have almost 150,000 deaths in this country due to this virus and still people are wanting to argue about the ridiculousness of wearing a mask and simple things like that,” Pryde said.

Large gatherings, particularly those where people are not wearing masks, social distancing or practicing good hygiene, continue to happen across the country and even in Champaign County.

“I really need people to understand that this is not the time that we should, you know, be acting like this pandemics over. It’s so not over. We’re so nowhere near that,” Pryde said.

“We have a lot of people fighting every single day to do the right thing and to and to make sure that our community is safe. Then we have things going on right alongside of it that are causing super spreader events.

“I’m worried. We’ve kept the death toll down in our county, which is still 18; 18 more than I hoped to have. But it’s going to increase. We’re still in summer. People can be outside a lot.

“We’re getting ready to move into winter. And rather than having you know our, our cases down here, we’re right back up here headed up this way, with no slowing in sight.”

Zip code 61851 (Ivesdale): 1 confirmed case, 0 active cases

Zip code 61845 (Foosland): 7 confirmed cases, 5 active cases

Zip code 61843 (Fisher): 30 confirmed cases, 2 active cases

Zip code 61853 (Mahomet): 81 confirmed cases, 6 active cases

Zip code 61875 (Seymour): 4 confirmed cases, 1 active cases

Zip code 61822 (Champaign): 127 confirmed cases, 22 active cases

Zip code 61821 (Champaign): 258 confirmed cases, 22 active cases

Zip code 61820 (Champaign): 223 confirmed cases, 30 active cases

Zip code 61801 (Urbana): 85 confirmed cases, 12 active cases

Zip code 61802 (Urbana): 198 confirmed cases, 44 active cases

Zip code 61873 (St. Joseph): 23 confirmed cases, 1 active cases

Zip code 61878 (Thomasboro): 5 confirmed cases, 1 active case