The Mercer County Health Department (MCHD) on Monday announced the 36th and 37th residents from Mercer County to test positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus). The 36th case is a male in his 50s and the 37th is a male in his 90s. Of the 37 positive cases that Mercer County has had since testing began, as of this date, six cases are isolating at home and three cases are hospitalized. All other cases have completed their isolation period set forth by IDPH and are no longer being actively followed by MCHD. Due to Federal privacy restrictions, release of any additional information on these new cases is prohibited. Public Health Officials are identifying and contacting all close contacts of these recent cases.
“This is the 8th positive case we’ve seen since July 16 which is the most positives that Mercer County has encountered in a 5-day period since the beginning of the testing.” said Carla Ewing, Administrator. “We are asking all of our community to practice what we know slows down the advancement of the virus – physical distancing 6 feet, wearing a face covering, washing your hands frequently, minimizing social gatherings and the other guidelines set forth by IDPH and the CDC.”
All active cases and close contacts are being monitored by the Mercer County Health Department Communicable Disease staff. For COVID-19, a close contact is defined as any individual who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated. The Mercer County Health Department will reach out to all known close contacts of each positive case.