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COVID-19 Infections Surge In The Quad Cities

Madeleine King
/
IPR File
Doctor Louis Katz, Medical Director for the Scott County Health Department says too many people are ignoring the advice they've heard so many times already - wear a mask, wash your hands, keep social distancing, and stay home.

A sudden surge in coronavirus cases in the Quad Cities is scaring local health authorities. And they say most of the rapid increase in cases is occurring among teenagers and young adults.

Amy Thoreson, Deputy Director of the Scott County Health Department, says 40 new cases were reported in the county on Thursday, and some more possible infections are still being investigated.

"Yesterday the positive case reports kept coming in like winnings on a slot machine. We have never seen anything like it and I have colleagues who have been here for over 40 years."

And she says, how ever un-real the pandemic might have seemed back in March and April, it's "real" now because we all know people and businesses affected by it.

Doctor Louis Katz, Medical Director for the Scott County Health Department says too many people are ignoring the advice they've heard so many times already - wear a mask, wash your hands, keep social distancing, and stay home.

"I think you need to look at every asymptomatic person in the community as a loaded gun. We don't allow people to point loaded guns at other people and we shouldn't be in public venues where social distancing is impossible or difficult, without a mask."

Katz says in April and May, the average age of infected people in the Quad Cities was 59, but during the last week it's dropped to 29. And if people continue to ignore the simple health recommendations, schools and colleges may not be able to re-open in the fall.