The Macoupin County Public Health Department announced the first Macoupin County COVID-19 death on Monday, May 4 while also noting two more positive cases were added on Tuesday bringing the county total to 35 cases with 27 of them reportedly recovered.
“It was with a heavy heart that the Macoupin County Public Health Department announced the first Macoupin County death,” the health department said in their press release. The department said the person who perished was a woman in her 40s.
The health department continued by saying the threat to all residents is substantial despite the county’s low confirmed positive cases.
“Macoupin County Health Department officials urge Macoupin residents to continue to follow the ‘Stay at Home’ mandates including limiting travel from home for essential tasks, wearing a mask in public, and practicing good hand hygiene,” the health department continued. “Executive order 2020-32 states ‘All public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit are prohibited, except for the limited purposes permitted by the order. Any gathering of more than ten people is prohibited unless exempted by this the executive order.'”
The executive order also requires the use of face coverings and/or masks for any individual over the age of two and able to medically tolerate a face-covering when in a public place. Essential stores are required to provide face coverings for all of their employees, cap occupancy at 50 percent of store capacity set by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, set up and identify store aisles to be one-way, to communicate with customers through in-store signage, public service announcements and advertisements, and to discontinue the use of reusable bags, cups, etc.
Residents are reminded that the Maple Street Clinic in Gillespie continues to serve as a designated State of Illinois COVID-19 testing site. To date, almost 700 people have been tested with positive cases confirmed for Macoupin and several surrounding counties.
Individuals interested in testing must call the Macoupin County COVID-19 hotline number at 217-313-5078 to complete a screening. When a person calls the hotline regarding a COVID-19 test, the team will verify criteria has been met and then collect the required information to complete a specimen requisition form and assign an appointment time. The test consists of a nasal pharyngeal swab. Samples will be sent to the Illinois State Laboratory for testing. Turn around for results varies based on the volume the State Lab is experiencing. All persons tested will be notified of results by the Macoupin County Public Health Department.
A Macoupin County COVID-19 hotline is available at 217-313-5078. To see up-to-date statistics about COVID-19 cases in Macoupin County, visit and like Macoupin County Public Health Department’s Facebook page or, for state-wide statistics visit https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19.