17 New Counties Added to State COVID-19 Warning List, including EIU and NIU
Altgeld Hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
From the Illinois Department of Public Health:
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 28 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
Twenty-eight counties are currently reported at a warning level – Bond, Boone, Brown, Calhoun, Christian, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, DeKalb, DeWitt, Fayette, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Lee, Livingston, Macon, Massac, Monroe, Morgan, Pulaski, Putnam, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, Wabash, Washington, and Winnebago.
Although the reasons for counties reaching a warning level varies, some of the common factors for an increase in cases and outbreaks are associated with university and college parties as well as college sports teams, large gatherings and events, bars and clubs, weddings and funerals, family gatherings, long-term care facilities, correctional centers, schools, and cases among the community at large, especially people in their 20s.
Public health officials are observing businesses blatantly disregarding mitigation measures, people not social distancing, gathering in large groups, and not using face coverings. Mayors, local law enforcement, state’s attorneys, and other community leaders can be influential in ensuring citizens and businesses follow best practices.
Several counties are taking swift action to help slow spread of the virus, including increasing testing opportunities, stressing the importance of testing to providers, hiring additional contact tracers, working with schools, meeting with local leaders, educating businesses and large venues about the importance of mitigation measures, and distributing donated masks.
The 17 new counties on the list are Brown, Calhoun, Coles, DeKalb, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Lee, Livingston, Massac, Monroe, Morgan, Pulaski, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, and Wabash.
Cass, Grundy, Hamilton, Menard, Peoria, and Wayne counties were removed from the warning list.
Coles County is home to Eastern Illinois University and DeKalb is home to Northern Illinois University. NIU suspended in-person classes for two weeks in September, but restarted classes last Monday.
UPDATE (4:39 P.M.):
Northern Illinois University outlined new guidelines for students Friday. School spokesperson Lisa Miner says they’re basing the response on scientific evidence.
NIU’s response to COVID-19 is grounded in science and prioritizes the health and wellbeing of our students, faculty, staff and surrounding community. Each Huskie plays an important role in protecting one another by continuing to follow expectations for wearing a mask, maintaining physical distancing, utilizing proper hand hygiene, avoiding large gatherings, self-monitoring for symptoms and reporting related changes to the university. The university continues to work with public health experts at the DeKalb County Health Department and Northwestern Medicine to take timely actions and best support our community.
A spokesman for EIU has not returned a message from The Illinoize.
Testing is free for NIU students who are required to participate in the university’s testing program. There are no free state run testing facilities in either DeKalb or Charleston. EIU operated free testing in August, but it was discontinued.
The highest test rate in the state last week was in Puliaski County, which reported a 17.6% positivity rate.