Jo Daviess County, a mostly rural county which had only seen 45 cases of COVID-19 in the first three months of the pandemic, has more than doubled its number of COVID cases in the month of July.
From July 1st to July 28th, the county’s COVID cases rose by 236% from 45 cases to 106 cases.
36 new cases alone have been reported in the last 8 days.
On Friday July 24th, a group of Jo Daviess mayors and the chair of the County Board released a letter urging the public to follow public health guidelines. The move comes as COVID-19 cases in Jo Daviess are rising at striking rates compared to previous months.
“We would like to remind the public of the need for social distancing, wearing masks, and following CDC [Centers for Disease Control] and IDPH [Illinois Department of Public Health] guidelines to slow down the rate of transmission,” the officials said.
The letter came about after a Zoom call was held with several Jo Daviess mayors, Jo Daviess County Board chair Scott Toot, State’s Attorney John Hay, and representatives from the Jo Daviess County Health Department and the Midwest Medical Center of Galena.
After discussing the rising COVID numbers with the public health officials, seven mayors and the county board chair signed onto the letter.
Rising COVID numbers are not just a problem for the larger communities in the county, such as the tourist destination of Galena and the Dubuque, Iowa suburb of East Dubuque.
The mayors of Hanover (estimated pop. 774) and Scales Mound (estimated pop. 356) both told The Voice that their towns have COVID cases.
Both mayors signed onto the letter.
CDC guidelines say that all individuals should practice social distancing and wear a mask when in public. Recent medical studies have found that masks are effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19.
The letter can be found here.
