The number of COVID-19 cases in the Quad Cities continues to grow, and three people have died since late last week.
Ed Rivers, Director of the Scott County Health Department, says the coronavirus is spreading, and the number of deaths is now 12. Two elderly residents of Rock Island County also died over the last several days, bring the total to 32. Its case count is now 1,645. And Scott County's is nearly 1,597, for a Quad Cities total of 3,242.
Nita Ludwig, Administrator of the Rock Island County Health Department, reminds people to practice the three "W's" -- wear a face covering, watch your distance from others, and wash your hands.
She and other employees have been answering questions to help school officials decide how to hold classes.
They're also waiting on more guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Ludwig says her employees continue to follow up on new cases of the coronavirus. And she asks the public to answer the phone when contact tracers call.
A grant helped the Rock Island County Health Department hire seven new workers, and it'll hire more if needed.
By the way, another health department duty is to notify people about food-borne illnessess. And currently, a national salmonella outbreak is tied to onions from a company in Bakersfield, California, Thomson International, which has issued a recall.
