In Buckley, a church has volunteered its gymnasium as a makeshift hospital. In Rushville, police officers have stopped accompanying paramedics unless a call is a matter of life or death. And in Watseka, dozens of residents have put hearts in their windows to create a “social distancing scavenger hunt” for local children.
Such are the ways small-town Illinois is facing the threat of COVID-19, even though its impact outside the Chicago area remains limited. More than 90% of the state’s confirmed cases and deaths from the new coronavirus have come from the city and collar counties, though doctors note that access to testing downstate is still increasing after a slow start. Even as the virus is being detected in an ever-growing list of rural communities, caseloads are relatively small.
“It’s ramping up a little more slowly than it is in the Chicago area,” said Dr. Jerry Kruse, dean and provost of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
But officials recognize that could change. Around Springfield, where the SIU medical school is located, two major hospitals and the local health department are pooling resources to prepare for an increase in cases across a wide geographic area.
“I think the thing we are hoping for is that with the greater spacing that occurs naturally in rural areas, combined with the directives we’ve received from the governor, it will flatten the curve enough to allow us to have enough (equipment) even when the surge comes,” Kruse said.
Sangamon County, with nine reported cases, has one of the higher totals outside the Chicago area. St. Clair County, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, has 31. On Friday, officials there reported the first death related to the virus.
Brenda Fedak, spokeswoman for the St. Clair County Health Department, said the agency is preparing for a potential surge, and is working to provide small, isolated parts of the community with information about COVID-19. A few hospitals in the area are offering testing, she said, and the county just received its first drive-thru testing location.
“Our numbers are growing daily, but not growing by leaps and bounds yet,” she said.
Meanwhile, very few cases have been recorded at the state’s southern end. But Wiley Jenkins, division chief of epidemiology and biostatistics at SIU Medicine, said that could be deceiving.
“Is it because we’re not testing there, or it’s not there yet, or a combination?” he said. “We just don’t know.”
In LaSalle County, which has four reported cases, health officials are casting a wary eye at their supply of personal protective equipment. Tommy Hobbs, CEO of Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru, said isolation gowns and shoe and head covers are running short, along with other items.
“We still have some issues with masks, and next week that could be at the top of the list again,” he said. “We’ve been down a roller coaster with gloves. We’re stable, but that could change at any time.”
Just to the south, Livingston County has had two positive tests. Bob Karls, city administrator in the county seat of Pontiac, said while he’s concerned the outbreak could grow quickly, he’s also worried about the long-term economic effects of the pandemic.
“A lot of our revenues are based upon state revenues, which are directly tied to the economy,” he said. “With the unemployment and everything else that’s going to be happening, it’s going to have a drastic impact on that.”
Iroquois County, located between Kankakee and Champaign, has had just two confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, but some there are preparing for many more.
The Rev. J. Kevin Wyckoff of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School, an 800-member congregation in Buckley, said he has volunteered his gymnasium as a space for patients should nearby hospitals become overwhelmed.
Aside from that, a church group is making face masks for a local nursing home while he’s streaming services on Facebook, organizing volunteers to drop off groceries and medicine at the homes of seniors, and praying that the danger passes in time for Easter.
“The church is the anchoring point here,” he said. “The hope is, and it’s probably a little bit of a dream at this point, the restrictions will be lifted at Palm Sunday, so we can come together Holy Week and have church and community the way it used to be.”
Schuyler County, northwest of Springfield, hasn’t had a reported COVID-19 case yet. But Rick Wright, chief of the Rushville Police Department, said his community is getting ready for that to change. The hospital has set up a triage area, the hardware store serves customers at the door, and the grocery store has mounted Plexiglas shields to separate customers and cashiers.
His five-officer department has begun carrying medical-grade face masks and may soon get other protective equipment usually seen at hospitals. Officers have also stopped going along on routine medical calls to reduce their chances of being exposed to the virus.
“If we get it, it would wipe out our department,” he said.
But along with the apprehension in Illinois’ small towns have come moments of kindness and creativity.
In Tuscola, Amber Knight, who runs a preschool in her home, organized a scavenger hunt in which residents put rainbows and teddy bears in their windows for parents and kids to find when they come outside (using proper social distancing, of course). To the north, teacher’s aide Nancy McKenna organized a similar quest across Iroquois County using hearts.
“I thought it would make it a little more interesting while they go for a walk,” said McKenna, who lives in Watseka.
Down the road in Loda, Valerie Wright, a professor at the Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University, has livestreamed a yoga lesson for shut-in children and plans to do more. She said people across her community have also volunteered to do errands for the elderly and immunocompromised.
“Everyone is being really supportive,” she said. “I feel like it’s bringing the best out of people.”
