The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is continuing to warn of rising COVID cases in some areas of the state. Last Friday the IDPH reported 14,049 new cases and 45 deaths across the state since April 8th. Lawrence County continues to be in a low transmission area with only 3 cases reported by the Lawrence County Health Department between April 11th-15th. State health officials continue to stress that vaccination is the key to overcoming the pandemic. Over 21.6 million vaccines have now been administered at sites across Illinois since the vaccine rollout began. The IDPH and Center for Disease Control (CDC) indicates that more than 68% of the total population in Illinois is now fully vaccinated and that 38% of the total Lawrence County population is now fully vaccinated.