CHAMPAIGN – There are currently no known cases of COVID-19 in Champaign County, but tests are pending for 11 people, according to Julie Pryde, Administrator for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
Pryde says the district is awaiting results on those 11 cases, plus nearly 30 others from the area who’ve been tested as part of a statewide coronavirus surveillance program aimed at figuring out whether community transmission is occurring.
Pryde says since January, fewer than 30 people in Champaign County have been under isolation or in quarantine for possible exposure.
At this time, only people who have traveled to countries classified by the CDC as Level 2 or Level 3 and are showing symptoms are eligible for testing, which is conducted in-state of public health labs in Chicago, Springfield and Carbondale.
However, Pryde says CU Public Health, along with the University of Illinois, and labs at the Illinois Department of Public Health are “actively and aggressively working to develop local testing capacity.” She describes the federal response to COVID-19 as “inadequate.”
Public health officials continue to advise everyone to practice good hygiene, avoid large gatherings, stay home when sick, make adjustments to travel plans if possible, call before coming to the hospital and prepare for the possibility of being exposed to coronavirus and having to quarantine for 14 days.
CU Public Health encourages people to help friends, family and neighbors stock up and prepare, to get the flu shot if they haven’t yet and to continue to follow guidelines from public health officials.
Follow Christine on Twitter: @CTHerman