By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – While the McLean County Health Department announced six new cases of COVID-19, MCHD Administrator Jessica McKnight said “it’s too soon to tell” if McLean County has reached the peak of the curve.
“There is a couple of factors to take into account there. Obviously, with the state of Illinois, some areas may be more metropolitan saw cases earlier than we did. That’s something to take into account that a peak in one area may be a little bit ahead of another area. Obviously, we see about an average number; it seems like the last couple days of those new cases. Are we at our peak yet? I think it’s too soon to tell… Our hope is that we are about there.”
Of the 75 cases, 29 remain in home isolation, four remain hospitalized, including one in the ICU, and 40 are fully recovered, meaning they are no longer infectious.
McLean County Health Officials report of the 75 confirmed cases, 61.3% are women, while 38.7% are male. Additionally, 38 are White, 24 are Black, five are classified as other, and eight are unknown.
Joining McLean County officials in the press briefing, McLean County States Attorney Don Knapp said while overall criminal activity has decreased, the number of Domestic Violent cases has increased.
“The most worrisome number is Domestic (Violence crimes)… Obviously, the nature of domestic violence, but they are almost always must arrest situations, which again has consequences to our first responders who are out there on the scene. We will go days with seeing… there are entire days where the only people in custody were on Domestic (Violence cases). That is the most worrisome trend that we see.”
Knapp added that once the coronavirus pandemic ends, he’s worried about the backlog of cases.
“I worry a little bit about it. Police officers are still issuing notice to appears and are still working with our office on screening a number of cases. With the students gone, that’s going to relieve a little bit. The other thing as numbers go down, other than Domestic Violence numbers, most people are abiding by the shelter-in-place orders, so there is just less people out and about.”
During his daily press briefing heard on AM 1230 WJBC, Gov. Pritzker announced 1,456 new cases of COVID-19, with 63 additional deaths moving the state total to 17,887 cases and 596 deaths.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected]
