Vermilion County received great news last Friday when the COVID transmission level was no longer declared to be HIGH or MEDIUM, but had dropped to the LOW level. Public Health Administrator Douglas Toole says this was a big step forward.
AUDIO: It’s really good news for us. We like to see a lot lower transmission, fewer people in the hospital, and fewer people getting sick with this. So it’s still kind of early to tell if this is going to be the start of a trend, or if we’re going to see it start to go back up again because we’ve got kiddos back in school.
Toole says as much as we’d like COVID to completely go away, that’s not expected right now. It looks like it will be hovering around for a long while. And that’s why it remains important to get the vaccinations, and the boosters.
AUDIO: It has not shown itself yet to be a seasonal disease. It looks like it’s something that’s just always around. I’m hoping that changes, but based on the last couple of years; that’s what we’ve got to look forward to, I’m afraid.
Looking beyond COVID, it was mentioned during the last District 118 Board meeting that perhaps due to all the remote learning during the pandemic, some families have simply lost track of what regular vaccinations their kids might be needing for school. Toole says, just contact the Health Department or stop in. They can give you that information.
AUDIO: Parents may have lost track of exactly when their kids are due for things. So we’re seeing more people coming into the Health Department, at least, to get those childhood vaccinations than we’ve got in the last couple of years. We’ve got a list for each of the grade levels.
Finally, it may be late in the mosquito season, but a West Nile Virus-positive batch of mosquitoes was recently found in Vermilion County. Toole says, more than ever right now, if you are out during morning or evening peak mosquito times, cover those arms and legs, and your exposed skin.
AUDIO: You just want to protect yourself from mosquito bites. Put on the insect repellent. Try to be careful when you’re outside early in the morning when the sun’s coming up, or right around dusk when the mosquitoes are most active.
Remember that West Nile Virus is spread to humans by Culex mosquitoes that have bitten infected birds. So far this year in Vermilion County, no tested birds have been positive, and there have been no human cases.
