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QUAD CITIES (KWQC) – The spread of COVID-19 in Quad Cities is “endemic” according to local health officials.
Health officials from the Scott and Rock Island County Health Departments spoke to the community on Thursday and remind community members day after day of how important it is to put on a mask and only go out for the essential.
In Scott County, two more deaths were reported, bringing the county’s total to 54 deaths from the virus. The county has recorded a total of 7,611 cases of COVID-19.
“The Iowa Department of Public Health has reported two more deaths of Scott County residents,” Scott County Department of Health Director Edward Rivers said. “We are deeply dismayed to have lost two other members of our community to this virus. We send our sympathy to their families.
In Rock Island County, they have a record high of 64 hospital patients currently with COVID-19. They also announced 121 new cases on Thursday, bringing the county total to 6,105. The total number of deaths in the county is 111, with two more deaths being announced on Thursday. A man in his 90s and a man in his 50s; both were in the hospital.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of these men,” said Janet Hill, operations manager of the Rock Island County Department of Health.
Scott County officials say that currently, during the pandemic, the community is in control of this “critical point.”
“The Quad Cities are at a critical time in the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rivers said. “We had two goals for our community: to slow the spread of the virus; and to protect our health care system from overspending. I am sad to report that we have failed in one and are dangerously close to failing in both.
Rivers said the spread of COVID-19 in the community was increasing faster every day.
“We’ve gone from an average of 60 daily cases in mid-October to over 250 daily cases this week,” Rivers said. “Another indication is our positivity rate. In Scott County, we hovered around 7% positivity for several weeks. That number rose to around 16% in the first week of November and is now over 23%. This means that in the past 14 days, almost 1 in 4 people who have tested tested positive. Rock Island County only slightly less with a seven-day moving average positivity rate of 20%. The spread of the virus is rampant in our community at this point.
“You may have heard the calls from our hospitals in the past two weeks. You have heard them say that they are concerned that they will not be able to accommodate all the patients who need an intensive care bed. Although more beds were available, the staff trained to support patients in the ICU is limited. Hospitals are losing staff due to illness and quarantine. We’re now being told that we may soon reach a point where the staff and resources to support you if you need more advanced medical treatment may not be available.
Rivers said the community had two options moving forward.
- Option 1: “Continue on our current course in which some in our community mask and push away and others live their daily lives as if we are not in a pandemic. It hasn’t worked so far and there is no reason to believe it will change. “
- Option 2: “All of us – members of the public, business owners, community leaders, students and employees – are all on the same page and agree on one thing: we cannot be a healthy and prosperous community if we are not slowing this pandemic. . This means that we are hiding ALL. We are canceling ALL gatherings. We ALL only go out for the essentials. We ALL isolate immediately if we have symptoms. We ALL remain in quarantine all the time. “
Rivers said the key to all of this is the community, our residents and our neighbors.
“We’ve been explaining for months why it’s important for people to hide and walk away,” Rivers said. “We have provided the reasons why this is important. We have highlighted the damage this continuing pandemic is having on our businesses. We have highlighted the impact on our health systems. Yet we still haven’t seen that happen.
St. Ambrose University professor of philosophy and ethics, Dr Jessica Roisen, spoke at the coalition’s call and said ignoring advice shifts the risk to others.
- Follow the recommended guidelines because:
- 83% of the years added to our lifespan came not from improving our healthcare, but from improving sanitation and prevention.
- Striving to stay healthy and for those around us is the only thing we can really control
- Leaving home like Batman …
- Failure to follow guidelines does not eliminate risk, it simply transfers responsibility to those around you
- Ex. Infants and very young children
- The recoil is 20/20
- We don’t want to be in a situation where we unfortunately think we could have done more.
- We are all in there
- Just like secondhand smoke – it takes a group effort to make a difference
- We all want to get back to normal as soon as possible
Copyright 2020 KWQC. All rights reserved.
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