A day after announcing DuPage County’s first case of coronavirus, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin Sunday said he will be signing a disaster declaration, effective Monday, putting an emergency plan in place.
Cronin noted the declaration aligns with the governor’s recent statewide disaster declaration and aids in the county’s efforts to combat coronavirus.
DuPage County announced its first case of coronavirus, a woman in her 60s, during a press conference with Governor J.B. Pritzker on Saturday. The woman, who is a resident of Chateau Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Willowbrook, remains hospitalized and is in stable condition, said Ron Nunziato, CEO of Extended Care LLC, a consulting firm that works with the Willowbrook facility.
“We do not know how this happened to this resident,” DuPage County Public Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said. “However, since she hasn’t traveled or apparently had contact with another COVID case, we are conjecturing at this point that this is another example of community spread.”
The source of the infection has not yet been identified Ayala said.
“We have been working very closely with the DuPage County Health Department and Illinois Department of Public Health to promptly identify and monitor individuals who have had recent contact with our individual who has been diagnosed to prevent any further spread within our community and the community at large,” Nunziato said.
Ayala said the health department is working to reach out to health care staff or visitors who may have come in contact with the woman. She anticipated all those people would be reached by the end of the day Sunday.
Individuals who have come in close contact with the woman have been given both verbal and written instructions on what to do. Ayala defined close contact as being within six feet of the woman for at least 10 minutes. Though Ayala could not put a number to the number of people who had come in close contact with the woman, Ayala noted that the average in such cases is about 90 people per case.
Before the resident was diagnosed, the nursing home has already restricted visitors and taken other precautions to help prevent the spread to their community, officials have said.
Health department officials have been working for weeks to address the coronavirus and anticipated its spread would reach DuPage County.
“While we have been working hard to contain the spread of this disease, we expected cases here,” Ayala said. “We have been talking about the eventuality of what happened yesterday and we are absolutely not surprised nor are we panicked with this news.”
Ayala reiterated the steps people could take to help prevent the spread of the disease. Those include covering your cough or sneezes by using a tissue or coughing or sneezing into your sleeve, and staying home if you are exhibiting any symptoms of the disease such as cough, fever and difficulty breathing.
She also emphasized wash hands with soap and water for about 20 seconds. She suggested washing hands often and particularly before eating after touching surfaces and after using the restroom.
Those exhibiting symptoms such as a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, should call their healthcare provider first for instruction on what to do and urged those who are symptomatic to wear a face mask when traveling for medical appointments. Those who are healthy, however, do not need to wear facemasks, she said.
“We are taking every possible action to mitigate the impact of COVID19 in our community,” Cronin said.
Cronin urged residents who are healthy to consider signing up to help through Giving DuPage. He said residents could assist others during this time. He suggested some ways residents could help others is by picking up prescriptions or groceries or scheduling video chat times with those who are homebound.
“Together we can get through this challenge,” Cronin said.
For additional information or to volunteer to help, visit givingdupage.com.
Health officials also urged residents to check the Illinois Department of Public Health or Centers for Disease Control websites for guidance on the disease. The DuPage County Health Department also has information available at https://www.dupagehealth.org/590/Coronavirus-Disease-2019-COVID-19-Inform
