The Illinois Department of Public Health says it is working with local, state, and federal health partners to take all preventive steps available to limit the spread of Coronavirus disease 2019.
The current risk to Illinois residents remains small but the Illinois Department of Public Health says it is currently assessing hospitals to determine available capacity in the event more people need medical care. And IDPH is also assessing the availability of personal protective equipment, such as gloves, gowns, and masks for health care workers.
Vermilion County Health Department Administrator Douglas Toole says the local health department is also keeping a close eye on coronavirus developments….
{‘’Coronavirus is new, and scary,’’ said Toole. ‘’We’re seeing – if the reports are accurate – China has a lot of person-to-person transmission. We’re really not seeing a lot of that outside of China. So I don’t know why that is but even in the United States – even in Illinois – we’ve had people we’ve had under observation who’ve had it. But, except for the wife transmitting it to her husband, we’re really not seeing other folks getting it,’’ added Toole.}
Although the risk of coronavirus is low, Toole says now is a good time to plan just in case the threat worsens….
{‘’Now is the time to start doing some long-term planning. It’s a weird time of the year for this to come out because the flu is still running around, and there’s various versions of colds running around, and noravirus is still there – so there’s a number of things people are going to get that makes them feel crummy. Coronavirus is certainly one of them,’’ added Toole. ‘’I’m glad we have a lot of very smart researchers working on it. I think it’s unlikely we’re going to get a vaccine ready in time for this particular go-around. So we’re looking at that social distancing,’’ said Toole. ‘’If you’re sick – upper respiratory problem that’s kind of attached to a fever – stay home.’’}
Toole was commenting on WDAN Radio’s ‘Newsmakers’ program Wednesday morning.
Since January there have been only two confirmed cases of the coronavirus diagnosed in Illinois.
[Those in the photo are Douglas Toole, Administrator of the Vermilion County Health Department, and Susan Pacot from that office. On the program they discussed not only the coronavirus threat but also the 2020 Census Count which will be starting soon.]
