29 new coronavirus cases in McLean County; Rolling positivity rate remains 4.9%

Posted on March 30, 2021
47 additional people were released from isolation, now 14,826 have recovered. (Graphic courtesy McLean County Health Department)

 

By Neil Doyle

BLOOMINGTON – Local health officials Tuesday reported 29 new cases of coronavirus in McLean County.

There are 30 McLean County residents in the hospital due to COVID and 376 are in home isolation. McLean County hospitals are reporting 88% of ICU beds and 87% of total beds in use.

The county’s rolling positivity rate held steady at 4.9%, but its nearly doubled over the last two weeks, according to McLean County Health Department Administrator Jessica McKnight.

“We’ve been getting a little relaxed in our precautions of social distancing and masking,” McKnight told WJBC’s Scott Miller. “This is the time to double down. We have the variants in our state which are more infectious.”

“I know the weather is getting nicer, we have the holiday weekend coming up, and we have the vaccine so we think we are out of the woods. But we are not there yet. We still have a lot of work to do,” said McKnight.

47 additional people were released from isolation, now 14,826 have recovered.

There have been 207 COVID-related deaths in the county.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…