As COVID-19 cases surge, Champaign County along with the entire State of Illinois tightened restrictions last week on gatherings, including those of religious organizations.…
Carle.org
Since March, a total of 80 COVID-19 patients have died in the Carle Health System and 511 have been discharged. Carle shares these trends “to inform our region of the reality we’re facing today,” according to the website. “As the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, we continue to meet our community’s healthcare needs whether it’s care for COVID, heart attack, stroke or trauma.”
CU-CitizenAccess
There has been concern nationally about the ability of people of color to get tested for COVID-19, especially because they have been identified as more vulnerable to the virus. Melaney Arnold, public health information officer at the Illinois Department of Public Health, wrote in an email, “The data show Black and Hispanic populations are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.”
Darrell Hoemann/CU-CitizenAccess
Cases and deaths have been rising in Champaign County and the other 20 counties that make up what the state public health officials designate as Region 6, which covers East central Illinois. The county is also on a state alert because of the rate of infection, 471 cases per 100,000, which nine times the target rate of 50 cases per 100,000.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s revised calculation of the campus positivity rate of COVID-19 has potentially lowered the rate substantially by reducing the number of reported positive tests. Epidemiologists say the more accurate way to calculate positivity would be to divide unique positive tests by unique total tests, but that information is not always available.
Pam Dempsey/CU-CitizenAccess.org
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has reported 3,421 cases since students began returning to campus on August 15 despite university researchers predicting only 700 Covid-19 cases on campus by Thanksgiving.
Clark Park's Community Facebook Page
This year, the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly limiting the ability for Clark Park community leaders to plan and host their staple events. The 61821 zip code, which includes Clark Park, has had 549 confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to data from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
The highest number reported by the state was September 8, which indicated delayed reporting. The county's highest number was 356 cases on Sept. 11. County public health officials said their case numbers lag behind the state and university because they take time to confirm positive cases.
Google Street View
Carle Foundation Hospital is routinely treating people in beds in the hallways of the emergency room at its Urbana facility on University Avenue, although the practice has come under criticism by health experts. The practice is generally done because a hospital is at overcapacity and does not have room for patients and is known as “boarding.” Boarding has been criticized because negative effects can include death, preventable disability, prolonged hospital stays and general discomfort.
Previously confidential statewide data tracking coronavirus cases across Illinois shows that there have been at least 50 different outbreaks in Champaign County traced to restaurants, stores, churches, nursing homes, hospitals and in a county office. The internal database kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health has tracked case counts for nearly 2,600 separate outbreaks across Illinois. In Champaign County, the number of cases in individual outbreaks ranges from two at the Carle Clinic in Mahomet to 97 at Rantoul Foods in Rantoul, which CU-CitizenAccess has previously reported. The database also listed cases at Cunningham Children’s Home (8) , Plastipak (14) and the Champaign County Jail in Urbana (4). The data also includes the ‘unofficial prom party’ in Champaign County where there were 17 confirmed Covid-19 cases. That prom party has been reported as being in Mahomet.