PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria County has seen its third death from COVID-19.
The deceased, a man in his ’70s, raised the Peoria-Tazewell-Woodford tri-county death toll to seven. Three deaths a piece have taken place in Peoria and Tazewell, and one has been recorded in Woodford.
The man who died resided at Generations of Peoria.
“I think it’s really important to recognize the women and men who work at these [long-term care] facilities continuously provide great prevention services, work diligently, and have the best interests of their residents in mind,” said Monica Hendrickson, Peoria City/County Health Administrator.
“So, we are very saddened by this loss, recognizing the fact this is in a long-term care facility, but also recognizing the fact our long-term care nurses have been working diligently to address this.”
In total, Peoria had 89 positive cases, Woodford had 13, and Tazewell was at 41, for a total of 143 in the area.
ICU beds in use in Peoria County were at 21, with 16 confirmed cases and five suspected cases.
Kate Green, Executive Director of Home for All, said the first resident of the alternative housing plan at the Four Points Hotel began their stay on April 24.
“We currently have six individuals who are enrolled in the program,” Green said. “All six of these individuals are non-COVID positive, and are experiencing sheltered or un-sheltered homelessness and that’s how they were referred into the program. But, they also met that vulnerability criteria.”
Four Points has 150 rooms for several populations of people to stay in if they need a place to social distance and quarantine.
“The first is those who test positive who do not require hospitalization but do need isolation. So, that includes individuals discharged from the hospitals. The second is those who have been directly exposed to COVID-19 but do not require hospitalization, but do need an effective means to isolate,” Green said.
The third group of people are those who are asymptomatic.
“And, that would include high-risk individuals who need social distancing as a precautionary measure,” Green said.
Being a part of one of those three groups is phase one of getting into the program, with the second phase is to be evaluated by a healthcare professional for a referral.
