The Peru Gazette

CCHD continues to receive and listen to requests for information regarding COVID-19 and its presence in our county. “We are receiving calls on just about everything related to COVID-19, but often people are looking for more detail on local cases and statistics” stated Mandy Snay, Director of Health Planning and Promotion, who leads a small team tasked with responding to questions that come in by phone or through the CCHD web-site.

Ms. Snay adds, “When asked, we often let callers know that our communities of concern right now are all of the communities in Clinton County, not just the ones with active cases.” Ms. Snay also notes, “Where people reside has less to do with their vulnerability to this virus than where they go and how well they protect themselves through social distancing.”

CCHD maintains as stringent a level of confidentiality to the individual as possible, that still protects the health of the public. In small communities, numbers, gender and age are all pieces of information that can inadvertently identify those whose personal health information should be protected, and releasing this type of information does not offer any additional public protection right now.

John Kanoza, Director of Public Health in Clinton County reiterated, “knowing the location of active cases, does not improve health outcomes for anyone.” He emphasized, “the number of positive cases has been rising more slowly over the past week. We are seeing a “flattening of the curve” in our community. The steps we are taking such as staying home, maintaining distance from others when we go out and frequent hand-washing are moving us in the right direction but must continue. We are all in this together.”