Knox County, IL- The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has announced that it is fully adopting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) masking recommendations to protect against COVID-19 and the Delta variant. CDC recommends that everyone, including fully vaccinated individuals, wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas with substantial and high transmission.
According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker Knox County’s level of community transmission is at substantial. Areas of substantial transmission are considered by CDC to be those with 50 to 99 cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period. We know masking can help slow the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. The Knox County Health Department joins the CDC and IDPH in recommending that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask indoors in areas of substantial and high transmissions.
As Knox County moves into a new stage of COVID-19 we will begin to utilize the Illinois Department of Public Health statistical data. We encourage community members to seek data on the IDPH website.
The Knox County Unified Command is announcing 44 new cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), between Tuesday July 27, 2021, and Monday, August 2, 2021. According to IDPH the total positive cases in Knox County is 5,772. Due to federal privacy restriction, release of any additional information is prohibited. In every effort to reduce the risk of additional transmission, local public health officials are working to identify and actively monitor individuals who were in direct contact with these individuals. Due to a data entry error, duplicate positive cases and cases that were transferred to another jurisdictions, at the local level have been amended.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health today, Knox County has administered 46,715 COVID-19 vaccines and 22,997 county residents have been fully vaccinated. This makes up 45.89% of our population fully vaccinated. The Knox County Unified Command is hosting multiple vaccine clinics during the month of August. A Moderna and Janssen COVID-19 vaccine clinic will be held on Thursday, August 5th from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The Health Department will be administering the two dose Moderna vaccine to those 18 years of age and up and the one dose Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine to those 18 years of age and up at the clinic. A Pfizer and Janssen COVID-19 vaccine clinic will be held on Tuesday, August 10th from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Health Department offers the two dose Pfizer vaccine to those 12 years of age and up and the one dose Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine to those 18 years of age and up at the clinic. Individuals under the age of 18 are required to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. A parental consent must be signed before the vaccine can be administered. The Knox County Health Department is offering a Community Pop-Up Pfizer and Janssen COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Hi-Lo, 931 South Seminary St Galesburg, on Friday, August 6th from 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. The Health Department will offer the two dose Pfizer vaccine to those 12 years of age and up and the one dose Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine to those 18 years of age and up at the clinic. Individuals under the age of 18 are required to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. A parental consent must be signed before the vaccine can be administered. Credible sources for information about COVID-19 include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov and Illinois Department of Public Health www.dph.illinois.gov. For general questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931, email dph.sick@illinois.gov or call your Knox County Health Department at 309-344-2224 or email covid19@knoxcountyhealth.org.