Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis said while many were disappointed to hearthe governor is extending the stay-at-home order through the end of May, it's important for people to continue adhering to it.
"If we are to be at a point where we can at least make a strong argument to the governor and his staff that this area is better insulated than areas of higher density, I think it's important to show that we stayed in continued compliance with the order until we got to that point," he said.
Ardis said more testing data from the three Heartland Health COVID-19 sites coming online could help the region argue for easing restrictions here.
The Tri-County region saw its highest one-day total of new confirmed COVID-19 cases Thursday, with 12 new cases reported. Six of those were diagnosed at the Heartland Health Services East Bluff collection site on Tuesday.
As the governor extends his stay-at-home order for another month, Peoria City/County Health Department administrator Monica Hendrickson says those testing sites will be vital.
"We have to recognize the fact that, as viruses work, this is going to be a phased approach to getting back to normal," she said. "And there's going to be different markers and different milestones based on each phase. And right now, the phase we're in is understanding the problem, and that means, testing, testing, testing."
The Peoria area will soon have 450 tests total available daily to any adult displaying COVID-19 symptoms.
"Once we have more time to understand where our local numbers are, we're going to have a little bit broader knowledge of how dangerous this area is, and perhaps give us some talking points with the governor and his staff in a couple more weeks," said Ardis.
Hendrickson said it's too soon to tell accurately how pervasive COVID-19 is in the Peoria region, but she said local health departments should have a better idea after two to three weeks of expanded testing. There are 96 confirmed cases in the Tri-County region to date.
"We are finally getting expanded testing in our area, and I think that is going to be the number one tool to determine what the symptoms are in our community," she said.
A second testing site at the health department opens Saturday, and a third at John Gwynn Park's Faucet Field in South Peoria opens next Monday.
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