Local health officials are optimistic about the developments of the coronavirus.

CEO of Warner Hospital in Clinton Paul Skowron believes we are at the halfway point but there is still a ways to go before we're out of the woods. He points out, DeWitt County's generally isolated geographic location is paying off in the low number of cases. 

Executive Director of the DeWitt/Piatt Bi-County Health Department, Dave Remmert says the rural nature of the area also helps in following social distancing guidelines.

Local emergency responders are taking advantage of the drive-through testing sites at various places in central Illinois Skowron indicates the testing numbers locally should soon increase.

Monday afternoons daily press briefing with Governor JB Pritzker and his staff focused a lot on the unemployed population as a result of the precautions taken from the coronavirus pandemic. Remmert says economic status is also a big factor in public health, pandemic aside.

Going forward, Skowron anticipates a resurgence of the coronavirus but feels the healthcare system will be better equipped to handle the demand because they will have tests that can render results much faster.

Looking ahead, Remmert indicates the economic situation is on his radar. He feels to develop an immunity to the disease as a society, we need to be exposed to it and that means getting back to work and life as normal.

With drive-through testing sites making the testing more accessible, he anticipates testing ramping up locally but he also anticipates antibody testing becoming more prominent soon as well.