PEORIA, Ill. — The tri-county death toll from COVID-19 rose Tuesday to 11, with one new death being reported in Woodford County, a 90-year-old female with multiple comorbidities, according to Dr. Gregg Stoner, Peoria City/County Health Department Medical Director.
All three counties saw newly-confirmed cases, with Peoria County’s total up to 165, Tazewell’s at 64, and 18 for Woodford, for a total of 247 positive cases since testing began.
The arrow kept pointing up for recovery rate, as 79.3% of cases since testing began were considered to be recovered.
12.6% were in isolation and, in another good sign, the hospitalization rate was down to 3.7%.
ICU bed usage was back up to 11, with four suspected cases and seven confirmed.
Illinois American Water Senior Operations Manager Eric Larson said certain work order types have been suspended, including water shutoffs.
“We want to make sure everybody in the public has access to water and sanitation… in our service areas,” he said.
Larson advised facilities that have been shut down but are looking at reopening to flush all lines to dispose of stagnant water.
Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich addressed Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s resistance to localized reopening plans.
“We haven’t seen from the governor yet any guidance for businesses and how they’ll reopen, and that was part of the essence of what we were trying to put together within the Heart of Illinois implementation plan, and we hope we’ll see some of that guidance coming out very soon,” he said.
“I think the beauty of what was designed within the HOI plan was, it is scalable and replicable. It can be utilized in other parts of the state.”
Urich said local leaders have not made any decisions to move forward with the local plan, and were still open to guidance from Pritzker before making any such decisions.
