ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, Ill. — Rock Island County is now at a warning level as positive cases of the coronavirus surge.
The county is reporting an 8.1% positivity rate of COVID-19 among its residents. Rock Island joined 28 other Illinois counties that are now at a warning level in the state, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).
To enter a warning level, a county must show two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
"We have not seen nearly any improvement for the whole month of July and August," Nita Ludwig, Health Administrator with the Rock Island County Health Department said emphasizing the community to take precautions for Labor Day weekend.
Watch a press briefing with the Rock Island County Health Department (RICHD) addressing the spike in cases and subscribe to the WQAD News 8 YouTube page:
"Cases have not gone down," Ludwig said. "I just reported 56 new cases today and that's already over the target for the week in just one day. So, I fully expect Rock Island County to be in the warning level for that next reporting period."
Ludwig said the county will know by the end of next week if stricter mitigation efforts will be triggered in the region.
The county is also facing a continuing outbreak at the East Moline Correctional Center. Ludwig said the prison is testing more frequently and that "probably a lot of those people are asymptomatic or not necessarily ill."
IDPH said there was a significant slowdown in the agency that it is catching up on meaning an unusually high number of positive tests were reported. Ludwig said she does not believe this has affected Rock Island County's status as the RICHD has been tracking their own case counts and officials were surprised the county did not reach a warning status sooner.
