Vermilion County Health Department Community Liason and Emergency Preparedness and Planning Coordinator Melissa Rome says it was December 28th; yes, right after Christmas, that the recent explosion of COVID cases in Vermilion County began. Coming into Thursday morning’s interview with 1490 WDAN on Linda Bolton’s News Makers program, the county had had nearly 1,500 new cases, mostly driven by the Omicron variant, over the past 14 days.
On top of that, well over 20 percent of those being tested, and we’re talking between 400 and 2,000 people getting COVID tests daily, were coming up positive. And as Rome pointed out, this creates a major health crisis everywhere, such as patients needing hospital emergency rooms for other reasons, not being able to get in. Here’s an example:
AUDIO: We have 50 people, not necessarily COVID patients, waiting in the ED (Emergency Department) for a room. That’s where the huge problem lies. So we say “well what are we waiting for, when is this going to be over?” And it’s when our hospital systems can function, and not have 50 people in the ER (Emergency Room) waiting to be admitted.
And Rome also emphasized, if you are not vaccinated, get vaccinated. She says a lot of the personnel shortages at school districts, such as District 118’s recent decision to go virtual for a while and with others, the main problems are not traced back to sickness among students, but mostly sickness among staff.
AUDIO: Dr. Geddes, she posted all of their issues and why she was choosing this, and when you look at it it’s mainly staff. And some of the other schools, that’s their issue too. They can handle having four students in a classroom, but what they can’t handle is if they have 20 kids and no teachers.
Rome says while a lot of us might want to throw up our hands and say, “That’s it, I’m done with this, I’m not taking anymore precautions;” well the virus itself does not hear you say that, and does not care if you did. And by the way, if you are not sick but need mandated COVID testing such as for a trip, you should not come to hospitals or medical offices such as OSF or Carle right now. Instead, please go to the Health Department’s website for the latest information on testing, and vaccination clinics.
AUDIO: Our testing: we have SHIELD testing, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 AM to 6 PM. We do ask that you register first, it just helps you get in and out a lot quicker, and you can do that by going to our website. DACC has testing every Friday from 9 AM to 3 PM. They were out the last two Fridays because of holidays but they’re starting back up. The pharmacies have testing.
The Vermilion County Health Department website is vchd.org.
