Second COVID-19 death reported in DeKalb County

The DeKalb County Health Department reported the second COVID-19 death in the county in its daily report issue on Saturday.

The patient was a man in his 60s. The identity of the resident is not being released to protect the privacy of the family. The first death was announced April 6, a man in his 50s.

There were eight new cases reported in the county, bringing the total to 177. Genoa also rose in its range of reported cases according to the county data.

The new cases included a patient under 19, a patient in their 20s, two in their 30s, two in their 50s, one in their 60s and one in their 70s.

Including the new cases, there have been seven COVID-19 occurrences in residents younger than age 19, and 36 in residents in their 20s, with 35 in their 30s. There have been 37 cases each in patients in their 40s and 39 reported in patients in their 50s, nine in their 60s, 12 in their 70s and two in their 80s.

The Illinois Department of Public Health lists cases and tests by zip code, while the county health department lists cases by municipality. The 60135 ZIP code, which includes Genoa, has 19 confirmed cases and 121 April 6tests administered. The 60115 ZIP code went up to 64 cases and 625 tests, while the 60178 ZIP code has 22 confirmed cases and 291 tests.

As of Saturday, a total of 76,085 cases have been confirmed statewide, with 3,349 deaths and 416,331 tests performed, according to the IDPH.

Data from the county health department released Friday afternoon also shows that a total of 1,562 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in DeKalb County (which has a population of around 105,000 according to the 2010 Census) to date. As of Friday, 1,393 of those tests have come back negative, and 68 residents are reported to have fully recovered (up from 49 last week).

The city of DeKalb is reported to have between 61 and 65 cases. Sycamore, Genoa and Sandwich reported between 21 and 25. Cortland reports between 16 and 20 cases, while Kingston is reported to have between six and 10 cases. Kirkland, Esmond, Malta, Maple Park, Hinckley, Shabbona, Somonauk and Waterman each report between one and five cases.

In order to move into the next phase and begin reopen measures, DeKalb County (part of the North Central region outlined by the governor's plan) would need to report daily positive tests of 20% or less of the number of tests being conducted. The county would also would need to go 28 days without an overall increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions, and have at least 14% of all hospital beds, ICU beds and ventilators available for surge capacity.

According to the most recent available IDPH data, the North Central region reports an 8.32% positive rate as of Thursday.

As of Friday, 966 out of 2,331 ICU beds (41%) are available across the region, IDPH data shows, and that 41% of hospital beds are available. For ventilators, the region reports a 67% availability (down from 74% Tuesday), with 318 out of 458 not in use.

The first case in DeKalb County was announced March 21 and the first death April 6 of a man in his 50s.

Other data is unknown about the cases in the county, as public health officials and representatives of Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital have declined to provide any, citing health privacy laws that prohibit the release of information that could identify the patient.

COVID-19 testing is being conducted at Northwestern Medicine health system hospitals and private lab facilities, including through Physicians Immediate Care and the Center for Family Health in Sycamore, which are prioritizing high-risk patients, first responders and health care workers and those experiencing severe symptoms.