In a serious time like the current Novel Coronavirus Pandemic, reliable information is essential. Three reliable sources of coronavirus information are the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) Coronavirus site, https://www.dupagehealth.org/590/Coronavirus-Disease-2019-COVID-19-Inform, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Coronavirus site, https://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/diseases-a-z-list/coronavirus, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Coronavirus site, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. You can find these sites by Googling DCHD coronavirus, IDPH coronavirus or CDC coronavirus.

On the DCHD site is frequently updated information. One important item noticed was

Coronavirus Rumor Control  (www.fema.gov/coronavirus-rumor-control)

The purpose of this FEMA page is to help the public distinguish between rumors and facts regarding the response to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Rumors can easily circulate within communities during a crisis. Do your part to the stop the spread of disinformation by doing 3 easy things; don’t believe the rumors, don’t pass them along and go to trusted sources of information to get the facts about the federal (COVID-19) response.

On the left side of the IDPH site are links to common topics and questions addressed by IDPH. On the right side of the screen are links to common topics and questions addressed on the CDC site. There is also a map showing the Illinois counties and the number of cases and deaths for each county.

The CDC site contains information for both lay persons and health care providers. It contains a tremendous amount of authoritative information, but it is more difficult to navigate than the IDPH site precisely because there is so much information.

West-Win hopes that by having reliable information as we go through this most challenging and unusual situation, all of our members will be able to avoid more than minor inconveniences.