Man in 30s becomes youngest COVID-19 fatality in DeKalb County; 23 new cases announced

A man in his 30s became the youngest casualty of the novel coronavirus on DeKalb County according to the Illinois Department of Public Health on Thursday, as the DeKalb County Health Department announced 23 new cases.

The fatality is the 37th in the county, and just the fifth person under 60 in the county to die from complications related to the virus. A resident in their 40s was the previous youngest to die from the viral respiratory disease.

The 23 new cases reported Thursday marked the third day in a row the county reported at least 20 new cases, bringing the total to 1,447.

Three longterm care facilities also announced new cases Thursday.

Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich reported one new case in an employee and one new case in a resident, bringing the total there to 63 cases. DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center saw two new cases, both in staff members, as it reported seven total cases. Oak Crest DeKalb Area Retirement Center reported one new case in a resident and is at five cases in total, though seven were reported by the center’s administration this week.

Of the new cases countywide, eight were in residents under 20, seven were in their 20s, two were in their 30s, three were in their 40s, one was in their 50s, two were in their 60s and two were in their 80s.

In total, 220 cases have been reported among residents younger than 20, 441 in their 20s, 205 in their 30s, 174 in their 40s, 164 in their 50s, 93 in their 60s, 68 in their 70s and 82 in their 80s or older.

According to county data, the city of DeKalb reports between 726 to 730 cases. There are 191 to 196 cases in Sycamore; 156 to 160 in Sandwich; 116 to 120 cases in Genoa; 66 to 70 cases in Cortland; 26 to 30 in Kingston and Hinckley; 21 to 25 cases in Kirkland and Malta; 16 to 20 in Somonauk; 11 to 15 in Waterman; and six to 10 in Shabbona and Maple Park. Esmond, Leland and Earlville each report one to five cases.

Cases listed on the county site are for those only occurring within the county; for instance the Earlville numbers only count Earlville residents who reside in DeKalb County.

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 709 cases reported and 11,937 tests administered (a positivity rate of 5.9%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 199 cases and 4,907 tests (4.1%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 3,729 tests and 223 cases (6.0%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 67 cases and 1,101 tests (6.1%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 113 cases and 1,696 tests (6.7%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 26 cases and 435 tests (6.0%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 30 cases and 594 tests (5.1%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 28 cases and 630 tests (4.4%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had nine cases and 556 tests (1.6%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 35 cases and 852 tests (4.1%); and the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 10 cases and 342 tests (2.9%).

In total, IDPH reported 268,207 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19, while 8,392 people have died statewide. The number of tests performed rose to 4,920,938. 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 96%.

According to testing and recovery data released by the county on Fridays, 28,286 tests have been run as of Sept. 11. There were 37 recoveries last week, bringing the total to 960. The county’s positivity rate was 8.4%, up from 4.9, and with 122 new positive cases per 100,000 people, the county was placed into a warning by IDPH. It remains at warning level as of Wednesday.