PEORIA, Ill. — Positive COVID-19 cases in the Peoria, Woodford, and Tazewell region went up Thursday to five.
A second person has tested positive in Woodford County, the site of the first area positive test. The three others were in Peoria County.
The Peoria City/County Health Department said 33 people have tested negative, while 22 tests were still pending.
Mayor Jim Ardis noted how important it is that information gets out to public at this time.
“I think we’re doing a great job getting as much information out to the people in our community as we can,” said Ardis. “Everybody really wants a lot of information on this, and we want to give it to them.”
Ardis continued to express his confidence in Peoria’s emergency preparedness team in making sure the area is as ready as possible for COVID-19.
One of the members of the emergency preparedness team, Administrator Monica Hendrickson, stressed the importance of social distancing.
“Why social distancing matters is, it creates that space. It creates that gap to prevent those who have been sick from taking it to the next individual,” she said.
Health EMS System Medical Director Dr. Ashley Huff said ER policies and procedures have changed in addition to not allowing visitors.
She said they haven’t been allowing selective testing for COVID-19, only testing patients who have exhibited blatant symptoms.
Huff said priority patients are ones with severe difficulty breathing, chest pain, and have trouble standing up on their own.
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