Lee County COVID-19 Update: Jan. 15, 2021

Posted 1/20/21

LEE COUNTY — The Lee County Health Department is saddened to report 1 additional death in the county after confirming COVID as the cause. Age breakdown is as follows: 1 resident in her 50s. This brings the total number of deaths in Lee County to 54.

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Lee County COVID-19 Update: Jan. 15, 2021

Posted

LEE COUNTY — The Lee County Health Department is saddened to report 1 additional death in the county after confirming COVID as the cause. Age breakdown is as follows: 1 resident in her 50s. This brings the total number of deaths in Lee County to 54.

The health department also reported 5 cases were from congregate living facilities with 5 Dixon Correctional Center.

Due to the weekend and Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday, this article will only cover from Jan. 12-15.

Between Jan. 12-15, the Lee County Health Department has reported a total of 97 new cases have been reported, however, 40 of those positives were between Jan. 1 and 11 and were delayed in being reported to the health department, Including the case listed above. Here are the ages that were announced: 7 under the age of 12, 13 in his or her teens, 10 in his or her 20s, 10 in his or her 30s, 11 in his or her 40s, 10 in his or her 50s, 13 in his or her 60s, 15 in his or her 70s, 2 in his or her 80s, and 1 on his or her 90s. 

This brings the total number of cases to 2,779 as of Jan. 15. Of the 2,767 cases, 2,271 have recovered. They also reported as of Jan. 15, 14 residents have been hospitalized.

Mobile Testing

The Lee County Health Department announced the State of Illinois is hosting a community drive-through test site on Saturday, Jan 23 and Sunday, Jan 24, from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., at the Dixon Elks, 1279 Franklin Grove Road, Dixon. Simple nasal swabs will be used, and you will be called with results within 4-7 days. There is no cost for the testing. 

Insurance is not required, but please bring your insurance card if you are insured. Anyone can get tested. You don’t have to have symptoms or be sick.

The Unified Command Team would like to remind our community that COVID-19 remains in our area and continues to be a real threat. Some people who have tested positive have had no symptoms or mild symptoms. Others have felt miserable or even been hospitalized.  Although there are individuals considered at a higher risk for complications due to COVID-19, some otherwise healthy people have also become very sick.  The more the virus spreads & the more cases we have locally, the risk of very ill or hospitalized individuals increases.

Please, for yourself and others, follow the state and federal recommendations.  It’s easy to remember as the 3 W’s:  Wash your hands; Watch your distance; and Wear your mask. 

Also, we’d like to mention the process of contact tracing. If your local health department tries to contact you, please answer or return their call. 

Some people may feel distrustful or afraid of the term “contact tracing.” This is actually a strategy used for many years in public health to reduce the spread of infectious disease. 

Contact tracing is a critical piece of our mitigation efforts against COVID-19. More information can be found at this link:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/contact-tracing.html