COVID-19 cases in Williamson county have been rising significantly since mid-August. On September 10th, the Franklin-Williamson Bicounty Health Department reported 46 new cases in Williamson county.
While some of the cases are connected to outbreaks in long-term care facilities, Director of Health Education Carrie Eldridge said community spread is a significant factor.
“A lot of our numbers are coming from those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s,” she said. “Right now some of our outbreaks now are coming from church congregations, so that’s from people attending church.” From September 1st to September 10th, Williamson county reported 35 cases in children and teenagers and 75 cases in people in their 20s through 40s. Schools in the county are offering in person instruction, along with remote learning options.
“The schools are doing everything they can to prevent the virus from coming in to the school setting,” Eldridge said. “However, we cannot keep those same students from participating in the outside school sports. That is the typical measure as far as how kids are coming down with the coronavirus and also getting it through other family members through community spread.”
Eldrige said the health department is encouraging everyone to practice social distancing, wear masks, and wash their hands frequently to avoid stricter mitigation measures, like the shutdown earlier in the year.
“WIth cases continuing to go up, it puts our positivity level where we don’t want it to be,” she said. “So it’s continuously looked at and we could very easily fall into stricter mitigation measures, where we’re going to have to get a handle on this virus, if these simple prevention measures aren’t working.”
Governor J.B. Pritzker has already implemented stricter guidelines in the Metro East region due to rising case counts.
