(Whiteside County, IL) -- An increase in COVID-19 cases is being reported in Whiteside County.
As a result, the county will be added to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s list of counties in “Warning” on Friday, April 2nd due to the high number of cases per 100,000 people. The county’s 7-day average positivity rate is now 7-percent, up from 3.1-percent at the beginning of March. That is the highest positivity rate since the end of January.
The warning label also comes as an increasing percentage of adults visit hospital emergency departments with COVID-19 symptoms. The IDPH has also recently identified two COVID-19 variants among Whiteside County residents. The U.K. and California variants can spread more easily, induce more serious illness or reduce the effectiveness of vaccine or other treatments.
Health leaders say the more easily spread variants are of significant concern since about 84% of Whiteside County residents remain unvaccinated.
(Photo by KWQC / Whiteside County Health Department)