PEORIA, Ill. — The Peoria City/County Health Department announced Friday there was no change from Thursday in positive COVID-19 cases.
Five were positive, 38 cases have come back negative, and 24 were still pending.
Dr. Gregg Stoner advised monitoring weight, because any significant changes could signify a COVID-19 contraction.
Stoner also advised that tele-medicine is on it’s way very soon.
“It means so much more to a doctor if you call up and say I have a temperature of this, I have a blood pressure of this, I have a pulse of this, my blood sugar is here, my oxygen level is 96%,” Stoner said. “If they (doctors) know that going into the the diccussion with you about what’s going on, it means so much.”
Stoner recommends to have a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, and other devices if you have underlying health issues.
Peoria County Sheriff Brian Asbell said a dissemination of the new shelter-in-place rules was “a fluid situation.”
Asbell said his department has seen an uptick in crimes like domestic violence since people have been staying home more.
“If someone is in a situation where they need assistance, make that call prior to doing something or lashing out. That is the goal of law enforcement right now is to help our community members,” Asbell said.
Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson said “buying food in bulk is a privilege,” and essential items have been disappearing from the shelves.
“Many can not afford to buy food in large quantities for an extended period of time,” Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson said a good example for those who can not afford large quantities of food, are those in the WIC progam. The WIC program is the Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children.
“This USDA program provides pregnant women, women in postpartum, as well as children ages 0-5 the ability to have nutritious food,” Hendrickson said.
Foods and items that are used in the WIC program in grocery stores are labeled with the ‘WIC’. Hendrickson said with the process of people buying in bulk, those items disappear off the shelves.
Sheridan Village Hy-Vee Store Director Elise Scheil said her store has been going beyond usual measures, such as limiting certain products so more people in the community can access what they need.
They’ve also been vetting more closely where they get their meat.
“The community trusts us in the products that we have,” Scheil said.
