Public health officials in the Quad Cities are asking people to pull together as the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths rises.
Today, the Scott County Health Department reports three more people have died, bringing its total to 36 deaths.
When is enough, enough? . . . We can do this, we must do this, and we must do it now.
Scott County Health Department Director Ed Rivers says that follows ten deaths in the Quad Cities reported last week.
"If you haven’t been masking and social distancing up until now, please do. There’s no shame in changing course and choosing today to begin to do your part to protect others. We know you can’t lock yourself up for the next year, so choose lower risk activities to participate in and implement the precautions that we have available. We can do this, we must do this, and we must do it now."
Nita Ludwig, head of the Rock Island County Health Department, says 33 residents are in the hospital with COVID-19, the highest number so far. She says Midwesterners are known for helping others during natural disasters, such as last year's flood and the derecho in August.
"However, this same willingness to protect our fellow man is faltering during this pandemic. Wearing a mask costs nothing. But it pays dividends in the spread of disease that it prevents. Not hosting or attending gatherings of people is simple. And it will save lives. In public health, we are mystified why the same willingness to support and protect others isn’t automatic and universal."
The number of deaths reported in Rock Island County is 97, add Scott County's 36 and that's a total of 133 for the Quad Cities.
Scott County now reports more cases than Rock Island at over 4,000. The Quad Cities' case total is approaching 7,900.
Scott County's case positivity rate is 9.8% averaged over the last 14 days. And Rock Island County's case positivity rate is 9.4% averaged over the last seven days.
Two of the Scott County residents who recently died were more than 80 years old, and the third was between 61 and 80.
