ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Rock Island County Health Department announced on Monday during a press conference they will now only be reporting COVID-19 data on a weekly basis.
The health department will be reporting data on Mondays. The next report will come on July 6, a Tuesday, because of the Independence Day holiday.
Janet Hill, the chief operating officer at the Rock Island Health Department, said there is some good news that positive COVID-19 cases remaining low over the past few weeks.
Just during the week of June 21, 2021, the health department reported no new cases of COVID-19 on three different days.
Even with those numbers remaining low, health leaders, like Hill, are concerned the community may not take COVID-19 precautions as seriously.
"When you have these, these trickle of cases, the two, the fives the zeros, people tend to diminish the fact that the virus is still being transmitted in our community," said Hill. "And when you look at those numbers, it's all people who are younger."
But with fewer cases and less frequent reporting from the health department, leaders there expect conversations about COVID to remain long term.
"I sure would love to see more people vaccinated, but we could be decreasing the transmission enough that we could get closer to normal, but it's really important that people who are not vaccinated continue to wear their mask and watch their distance," said Hill.
Hill said we are starting to see the "light at the end of the tunnel" from the pandemic.
However, as case numbers remain low, Hill is still cautious about what the future holds.
Hill said if vaccination rates among those currently eligible do not increase, we may never reach "herd immunity."
Hill said if vaccines are not available for children under 12 before the school year starts, masks and social distancing may return.
Hill also said schools in Illinois may take advantage of testing during the school year to isolate any cases. She said testing was proven effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19 before the vaccine was widely available.