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Environment

COVID Misconceptions

Even seven months after the first cases appeared in the Quad Cities, there are still many mis-conceptions about COVID-19. 

Nita Ludwig, Administrator of the Rock Island County Health Department, says some people still believe that most of those who test positive will not get very sick. Unfortunately there are still no easy ways to tell who has it and how they will react.

"Of those individuals with more serious illness, we are hearing reports of individuals having lasting lung issues, long past their actual recovery from the virus.  Others end up on ventilators in the ICU.  And there are others still who do pass away from COVID-19."
Another common misconception is that only a very few people are at risk of dying. Again, she says we still don't know very much about the coronavirus, and deaths have occurred in people from their early 30's up to the 80's and 90's.

Since March, there have been 41 deaths in Scott County and 101 in Rock Island County.

Ludwig says some people believe the pandemic will be over after next week's election.

"These people are real. Their stories are real. Their symptoms are real. This virus is real. While politics may dictate the federal response to this virus, this virus will not magically disappear after the election."

Amy Thorson, Deputy Director of the Scott County Health Department, say fever is one possible sign of infection, but not the only one, and some report no fever - the only way to know for sure is to get tested. She recommends not attending large events like weddings and family gatherings, especially if they're held indoors. But if you do, wear a facemask, and keep at least six feet between yourself and others who don’t live in your household.

"This virus doesn’t care how run down we feel and how frustrated we are.  All it needs to spread is close contact and no face coverings. And gatherings such as Thanksgiving and other winter holidays."
 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.