“We don’t want to call it a surge…”

QUINCY – The Adams County Health Department and local healthcare officials are keeping an eye on COVID-19 rates as they begin to rise in Adams County.

Dr. Chris Solaro, chief of medicine for Blessing Health System, and Jarrod Welch of the Adams County Health Department addressed members of the community Monday morning on a Zoom call coordinated by the Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce, The District and the Great River Economic Development Foundation.

Local officials are back to receiving more frequent updates regarding the daily COVID numbers. The county’s positivity rate has crept up to 5.8 percent.

“The best way to stop the surge is the get a vaccine,” Solaro said.

Solaro said Blessing Hospital is beginning to have capacity issues. Twenty-five patients are hospitalized for COVID, including five patients in intensive care. Those numbers were in the hundreds when COVID was at its peak.

“We are seeing a rise in (COVID) cases … but we don’t want to call it a surge, Solaro said.

Welch called the current situation an “uptick” and said the county must improve upon its 40.68 percent vaccinated rate. Nearly 27,000 Adams County residents have received the vaccine.

“We’re averaging about 64 shots a day,” Welch said. “About 10 to 15 percent of the cases we’re seeing are from people who have received the vaccine.”

Welch said State of Illinois officials have not discussed returning to the tiered system of systematically reducing capacity in public places, but that could change if the numbers start going backwards.

Solaro said it is too early to tell if annual COVID shots or boosters will be needed.

Solaro said elective surgeries are still being performed, but staffing issues may come into play. Blessing already is bringing in extra nurses. Healthcare facilities across the country have been experiencing a shortage of nurses for years.