December 22, 2024
Coronavirus | Daily Chronicle
Coronavirus

Another NIU student tests positive for COVID-19; 20 more cases in DeKalb County over weekend

By Daily Chronicle

Signs on the entrance to New Residence Hall at Northern Illinois University reminds students to wear a mask as they enter the building Wednesday during the first of five move-in days at NIU in DeKalb. Students, parents, staff and volunteer helpers were required to observe coronavirus safety precautions set out by the school including wearing masks and maintaining social distance. (Mark Busch)

The DeKalb County Health Department reported Monday 20 more residents tested positive for the novel coronavirus over the past three days, bringing the total number of cases to 1,080.

Northern Illinois University also announced two cases of COVID-19 were identified in a student and an employee Friday, and on Monday a second student was added to the tally, marking three reported COVID-19 cases linked to NIU's campus less than a week after students moved back.

The death toll remained at 33 Monday, with no new cases or deaths linked to long-term care facilities. Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich remains the only long-term care facility still in outbreak mode, according to the health department, with 57 cases linked to the facility and 12 deaths in residents.

Of the new cases, five were reported in residents under 20, two in their 20s, five in their 40s, three in their 50s, four in their 60s and one over 80.

In total, there have been 130 cases reported in residents younger than 20, 282 in their 20s, 174 in their 30s, 146 in their 40s, 137 in their 50s, 83 in their 60s, 59 in their 70s and 69 older than 80.

According to county data, the city of DeKalb reports between 491 to 495 cases. There are 156 to 160 cases in Sycamore; 131 to 135 in Sandwich; 96 to 100 cases in Genoa; 56 to 60 cases in Cortland; 21 to 25 cases in Hinckley, 16 to 20 in Somonauk, Kirkland, Malta and Kingston; 11 to 15 in Waterman; and six to 10 in Shabbona. Esmond, Earlville and Maple Park each report one to 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 between state and health departments because of data lags.

The 60115 ZIP code, including DeKalb, had 485 cases reported and 8,479 tests administered (a positivity rate of 5.7%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 166 cases and 3,708 tests (4.5%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 3,139 tests and 201 cases (6.4%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 56 cases and 798 tests (7.0%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 89 cases and 1,277 tests (6.96%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 17 cases and 316 tests (5.4%) and the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 24 cases and 443 tests (5.4%).

In total, IDPH reported 221,790 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19, while 7,888 people have died statewide. As of Monday, 3,740,191 tests have been performed. The site also lists statewide recovery rates, calculated by recovered cases divided by the sum of recovered cases and dead cases. The statewide recovery remained at 95%.

Updated recovery and testing data reported Friday shows 794 have fully recovered and 653 more tests were administered locally last week. As of Friday, 21,557 COVID-19 tests have come out negative in DeKalb County, for a positivity rate of 4.68%.

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