January 20, 2021
Update to Will County Board of Health, Will County Board, County Executive and agency staff.
Update will include only new or enhanced activities and updated information.
- Will County numbers– As of today, Will County is reporting 59,544 positive COVID cases and 811 deaths. The number of positive cases includes molecular (PCR) and rapid antigen tests.
- Illinois Stats– As of today, Illinois has 1,081,354 positive COVID cases and 18,398 deaths. The state’s positivity rate is 6.8%, Will County’s 8.1%, and the Region 7 positivity rate is 7.4%. Yesterday I reached out to IDPH and requested they re-evaluate our data. It looked to me that we should be going into Tier 1 based on the trend, although the most current date was 1/16. I am happy to announce we were told Region 7 will be going to Tier 1 tomorrow. I anticipate an email to this effect tomorrow, possibly even a press briefing. Region 6 will most likely move to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan.
- Hospital data– IDPH is reporting 3284 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across Illinois, 722 in the ICU, and 379 on ventilators. As you can see the numbers are trending downward, a very good sign!
- Staffing- Since my last report, we have no new positive cases in the agency.
- Mass Vaccination Plan (MVP)- To date, we have approximately 88,000 survey results. This is not to make an appointment, it is to aid us in determining how many people and in what demographics, is interested in receiving the vaccine. You need to register, then when it is your turn (determined by the phases) we will contact you to make an appointment. If you would like information on the phases, here is the link to the ACIP information on CDC’s website. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/index.html
We are confident we will be able to move to Phase 1b very soon– within the next 2 weeks. We are reviewing the vaccine data and categories, along with continuing daily onsite clinics beginning Monday.
There are also several offsite clinics scheduled, along with participation by Meijer and Walmart. Jewel is ramping up and adding additional stores to their vaccination efforts.
At this time, Will County is 4th in our distribution efforts in the state. We have vaccinated 1.03% of our population, 24,662 vaccines. These are rates as of today for other NE Region counties.
Lake Co- .84%
Chicago- .95%
Cook- .93%
Kane- .77%
Kendal- 1.09%
Kankakee- 1.08%
Grundy- .54%
DuPage- 1.39%
You can find this information on the website link below:
In my last update I mentioned we were looking for a solution for those who want to register but do not have access to a computer or technology knowledge. One of our community partners, Senior Services has stepped up to assist. Anyone needing assistance can call 815 723-9713. Thank you, Senior Services!
- COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics– Today, we held an onsite COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the health department for phase 1a and administered over 200 vaccines again. We will continue to find ways to increase our daily numbers through a combination of methods and partnerships.
- Binax Rapid Test Program- We now have 30 entities participating in our Binax Now program, with over 9,000 test kits provided to our community.
- Hotline– As reported last update, our hotline is getting extremely busy. We are trying to find additional staff or volunteers to work on the hotline. In a discussion I had today with the County Executive, her office is looking for individuals to aid in many areas. We may be migrating to a commercial call center if those arrangements can be made. The hotline number is 815 740-8977.
- Normal Programming– All 38 programs are proceeding as required. As a reminder, we have a comprehensive agency resource guide providing details of our programs. If you would like copies, please email Steve Brandy at sbrandy@willcountyhealth.org
