Auto racing season ends early, events canceled as coronavirus cases spike in Highland
Highland officials are warning community event organizers and businesses about a recent increase in coronavirus spread in the community. They believe it could be caused by residents letting their guards down or refusing to follow state rules.
Chris Conrad, the police chief and public safety director, wrote in an Aug. 4 memo to event organizers that 40 additional residents had contracted the virus over 10 days, bringing the total to 81.
“I would ask you and your boards to do your best to adhere” to Illinois’ public health guidelines, the memo stated in part.
Highland Speedway announced the same day that it was ending its auto racing season.
“Representatives from the State of Illinois have been in touch with local leadership and voiced concerns over the track’s ability to effectively enforce social-distancing measures,” it wrote in the announcement.
Social distancing refers to keeping people at least 6 feet apart. The novel coronavirus spreads when an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes, especially in close proximity. Illinois also requires people to wear face coverings such as masks in public places to reduce the risk of transmission. The virus causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease.
Pieces of Highland, a fundraising event scheduled for Saturday, announced it was canceling in a statement also released on Aug. 4. City Manager Mark Latham said an upcoming parade has been canceled as well.
The City Council isn’t accepting applications for events on public property right now in another effort to prevent potential spread in crowds, according to Latham.
As of Thursday, a total of 99 people had tested positive for COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic began in the 62249 ZIP code that covers Highland and Grantfork, a small village nearby. The number of diagnoses was in the teens back in June.
Highland City Hall closed this week because a city employee was among those who tested positive, according to a statement the city released.
Conrad said no contract tracing has been done by Madison County to identify exactly how the virus is spreading so rapidly or if certain events or gatherings caused it. Contact tracing is when health department employees ask infected citizens where they have been and who they might have exposed. The goal is to stop the virus from spreading by asking people who are exposed to quarantine before they can infect others. Contact tracers also find sources of outbreaks.
A spokeswoman for the Madison County Health Department could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
Conrad said notifying event organizers about the spike was a “proactive” step Highland decided to take.
His memo included reminders of the state mandates on masks and distancing, as well as Illinois’ crowd limits: no more than 50 people indoors and no more than 20% capacity for a seated outdoor event.
What is causing the spike in Highland?
In an interview, Conrad said the city got word from County Health Director Toni Corona on Tuesday that there was a spike in cases in Highland. But he said the city had already taken notice.
“That’s a cause for concern to have that many new cases so quickly,” he said “… A lot of this is let’s be proactive and take some precautions before we have a super spreader event.”
He said so far most event organizers haven’t been surprised when he’s contacted them due to the ZIP code statistics. Eight event organizers were contacted, and most of the events are scheduled for late summer or fall, according to Conrad.
And while the city has received specific complaints about large gatherings and other possibly dangerous situations, Conrad said from his perspective no one thing is the major cause of the spike. He thinks nice weather and fatigue from quarantine are contributing, though.
“Right now, there’s nothing we’re aware of,” Conrad said. “It’s solely anecdotal, but we’re five months into it, the weather’s nice outside and it’s easy to let your guard down and get lax. That’s probably a big part of it.”
Latham, the city manager, said another issue for Highland is that some residents don’t wear masks despite the state mandate. He said officials are working with the Chamber of Commerce to encourage mask usage at businesses.
“Sadly to say we do still have a few restaurants in our area that are not requiring waitresses to wear masks,” he said.
Some southern Illinois residents resent the government regulations being imposed on them, according to Latham.
“I was in a place the other day, I was the loner in there, and people were kind of looking at me like I was nuts, because I was wearing a mask,” Latham said.
But he said Highland is not considering a local mask ordinance that would create a punishment for not wearing masks in public, like some metro-east communities are discussing now. Latham doesn’t think Highland has the staffing to enforce it.
“We only have two or three officers on duty,” he said. “How are they going to enforce a mask ordinance in a city of over 10,000 people?”
