Eight new coronavirus cases, one new death reported Monday in DeKalb County

DeKALB – The DeKalb County Health Department announced eight new cases and one new death related to the novel coronavirus Monday.

Health department officials reported the most recent COVID-19 related death was a resident in their 80s and that the resident tested positive for the illness prior to their death. Health officials did not specify whether the individual was a man or woman.

There remain 69 cases at Pine Acres Rehab and Living Center and five deaths, since no new cases were announced Monday. DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center is still reporting three positive cases, all among employees, and Bethany Rehabilitation & Health Care Center now is reporting two positive cases, both of which are employees.

In total as of Monday, there are nine deaths and 473 total cases in the county. Health department officials reported on their website 198 positive cases have fully covered and 259 are in the recovery period.

According to the county’s weekly recovery and testing update, there have been 6,632 total tests administered in DeKalb County for a positivity rate of 7% as of Friday. Beginning Saturday, DeKalb County Health Department officials said the agency will not provide COVID-19 daily updates on the weekends, pending breaking news.

Among the new cases Monday include a resident under 19, one in their 20s, one in their 30s, three residents in their 40s, one in their 50s and one over 80.

The total cases in the county include 36 in residents under 20, 107 in residents in their 20s, 90 in residents in their 30s, 73 in residents in their 40s, 67 in residents in their 50s, 30 in their 60s, 34 in their 70s, and 36 over 80.

The nine deaths from COVID-19 in the county include a man and woman in their 50s, a man and woman in their 60s, a woman in her 70s and three women in their 90s.

Cortland is reporting between 31 and 35 cases, according to updated municipality data on the county site. That differs from Thursday, when the county was reporting the municipality had 21 to 25 cases. Somonauk now is reporting between six and 10 cases per Monday county data, as opposed to between one and five on Thursday.

According to the county site, DeKalb has reported between 256 and 260 cases, Sandwich and Sycamore are reported to have between 51 and 55 cases. Genoa has between 31 and 35 cases, and Kingston and Hinckley are reported to have between six and 10 cases. Kirkland, Esmond, Malta, Maple Park, Shabbona and Waterman each report between one and five cases.

The Illinois Department of Public Health lists cases and tests performed by ZIP code, while the county health department lists cases by municipality. Numbers vary from state and health departments due to data lags.

The 60115 ZIP code (including DeKalb) had 254 cases reported and 2,671 tests administered. The 60178 ZIP Code (including Sycamore) has 53 cases and 1,050 tests. The 60135 ZIP code (including Genoa) has 32 cases and 406 tests, the 60145 ZIP code (including Kingston) has six cases and 98 tests, and the 60146 ZIP code (including Kirkland) has eight cases and 138 tests.

In total, IDPH reports 128,415 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19, while 5,924 people have died statewide. As of Monday, 1,058,873 tests have been performed. The site also lists statewide recovery rates, calculated by recovered cases divided by the sum of recovered cases and deceased cases. It remained at 92%.

As DeKalb County now looks to Phase 4 of Gov. JB Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan, criteria will need to be met on contact tracing – how healthcare professionals track who a COVID-19 positive patient may have exposed and when – and testing capabilities. The county health department now looks to hire a contract tracer to aid the new requirements.

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.