The Cass County Health Department has been notified by IDPH of a substantial increase in SARS co-V-2 virus detection in Beardstown’s wastewater.
Cass County was one of 10 counties announced earlier in the summer to pilot the wastewater surveillance program which can act as an early indicator of increased Covid cases in a population.
Cass County Health Department officials say they understand that this is the first instance since the program launched where there was a substantial enough increase to notify local public health officials.
They say since this is a new program, it is unclear the extent of any upcoming case surges. According to today’s announcement, recent case increases support this evidence that there have been considerable increases in Covid in Cass County communities in the past 2-3 weeks.
Health Department officials say area hospitals are currently at capacity, so preventing new infections and lessening the severity of positive cases is important at this time. The Cass County Health Department continues to encourage residents to get vaccinated, wear masks indoors and, get tested if they are symptomatic, and follow isolation and quarantine orders.
They say the Cass County Health Department will continue to work with IDPH epidemiologists to track data provided by the wastewater surveillance program and will continue to provide recommendations to its communities based on the population’s risk.