Yesterday, DeWitt County made the Illinois Department of Public Health's Warning List for COVID thanks to an increased positive rate.

Tests locally went from 308 down to 244, helping contribute to the increased positivity rate. State Senator Chapin Rose earlier in the week, unaware of the fact DeWitt County was going to show up on this week's warning list, indicated his displeasure with the positivity rate metric.

Sen. Rose believes the metrics that should be emphasized are hospitalizations and protecting vulnerable populations. Local health officials have been echoing this message for many months during the pandemic.

Sen. Rose is critical of the Governor's shift in focus in recent weeks as efforts have increased to bring back fall sports in light of many other states reversing earlier decisions. He believes we have passed giving hospitals and healthcare providers the capacity to deal with COVID and now we are focused on protecting people from themselves, something he calls an overreach.