Memorial Hospital - Carthage IL issued the following announcement on Aug. 16.
The Hancock County Health Department (HCHD) and Memorial Hospital have received official notice of five additional laboratory-confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Hancock County, on August 16, 2020.
One female in her 30s to 40s, one female in her 50s to 60s, one female in her 60s to 70s, one male in his 30s to 40s and one male in his 50s to 60s, all are connected to other positive cases and all are recovering at home. The Hancock County Health Department is actively doing contact tracing to investigate all possible exposures. Hancock County now has had a total of ninety cases at this time. Of the previous confirmed cases of Hancock County residents, there has been one death and fifty-two individuals have recovered.
Symptoms of COVID-19 can vary, they can be mild or severe depending on the person and their health conditions. If you are experiencing symptoms, stay home and contact your healthcare provider or the illness clinic at 217-357-0617 to determine if you should get tested. Some people who have been exposed to COVID-19 may not show any symptoms or if they do it may take anywhere from 2 to 14 days for symptoms to appear. Individuals who have a positive laboratory confirmed COVID case must self-isolate. Those who are considered close contacts of the positive must quarantine. Failure to follow isolation or quarantine guidance will result in exposure to others and additional COVID-19 cases. Those who have had a low risk exposure should monitor their symptoms.
Friday the Hancock County Health Department was notified by the Illinois Department of Public Health that our county has been designated as “orange” which signifies a warning that the risk of infection in our county has increased recently. A number of factors are reviewed to determine the risk. The county-level risk indicators are a warning that a county could be headed the wrong direction and people should take additional steps to slow the spread of the virus. The hope is that people will take this warning to heart and adjust their personal behavior, including their mitigation strategies, to help lower the risk.
The Hancock County Health Department, along with Memorial Hospital, strongly recommends people in Hancock County take COVID-19 more seriously. Each of us needs to take responsibility to help reduce the spread of illness. Here is what citizens can actively do; wear face coverings; these should be worn in public places and when 6 ft. distancing cannot be maintained, being certain that the nose and mouth are covered, stay home if you are sick; even if you have mild symptoms, contact your healthcare provider or the illness clinic at 217-357-0617 to determine if you need to be tested, if you do get tested you must quarantine until your test results come back, wash your hands often, clean and disinfect highly touched surfaces, and lastly, if you have been asked to be in isolation or quarantine by a public health employee, do the right thing and follow the instructions.
Original source can be found here.
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