DeKalb County woman in her 60s dies from COVID-19 day before Thanksgiving

A DeKalb County woman in her 60s has died from COVID-19, one day before Thanksgiving, announced public health officials Wednesday.

The woman’s death brought the death toll to 46, as 60 more cases were reported Wednesday, the lowest total number of cases reported in a 24-hour period since Nov. 3, when 48 cases were reported according to the DeKalb County Health Department.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the county health department will not update COVID-19 numbers again until Monday. Monday, Nov. 30's update will include COVID-19 cases identified from 12:01 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25 through noon Monday.

To date, there have been 4,848 cases confirmed in DeKalb County, though 2,502.

There have been 2,121 cases reported in November so far, compared to 2,727 total reported in all the other months of the pandemic combined (March through October).

The seven-day rolling positivity rate in the county dropped to 11.5% from 12.1% the day prior, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The positivity rate for Region 1, which includes DeKalb, dropped to 15.8% down from 16.3% the day prior.

Seven-day average hospitalizations dropped to 278 (down four beds) in the region, with 26.5% of hospital beds available and 25.5% of ICU beds available.

Three cases Wednesday were linked to long-term care facilities: DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in a staff member; one employee at Oak Crest - DeKalb Area Retirement Center; two employees at Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center

Of the new cases Wednesday, 10 were in residents 19 or younger, 12 in their 20s, six in their 30s, eight in their 40s, 10 in their 50s, nine in their 60s, four in their 70s and one 80 or older.

By the numbers

To date, there are nine long-term care facilities in outbreak mode in DeKalb County.

DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in DeKalb reports 25 cases (24 in staff, one in a resident), Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb reports 45 cases (21 in staff, 24 in residents with one death), Bethany Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in DeKalb reports 24 cases (21 in staff, three in residents), Pine Acres Rehabilitation and Living Center reports two cases (one each in a resident and employee), Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center in Shabbona reports seven cases (six in staff, one in a resident), and Heritage Woods in DeKalb reports seven cases (five in staff, two in residents). Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore reports 15 cases (six in staff, nine in residents). Sandwich Rehabilitation reports four cases (three in staff and one resident), and Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich reports two cases (one each in an employee and resident).

In total, there have been 815 cases in DeKalb County residents 19 or younger, 1,190 in their 20s, 686 in their 30s, 710 in their 40s, 648 in their 50s, 401 in their 60s, 219 in their 70s and 179 in their 80s or older.

To date, there have been 26 deaths reported in DeKalb County residents in their 80s, six in their 70s, five in their 60s, four in their 50s, two in their 40s, one in their 30s and one infant.

According to county data, the DeKalb has seen between 2,161 and 2,165 cases. There are between 981 and 985 cases in Sycamore, 416 to 420 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site), 406 and 410 cases in Genoa, 236 and 240 cases in Cortland, 126 and 130 cases in Kirkland, 116 and 120 in Kingston, 106 and 110 cases in Hinckley, 66 and 70 in Malta and Somonauk, 51 and 55 in Waterman, 31 and 35 in Shabbona and Maple Park, 11 and 15 in Clare and six and 10 in Esmond and Earlville. Lee, Leland and Marengo each report between one and five cases.

The DeKalb County website lists residents that only live within the county lines for a municipality, while the IDPH website lists everyone within a certain ZIP code. Numbers also may vary because of data lags.

The 60115 ZIP code, including DeKalb, had 2,090 cases reported and 31,817 tests administered (a positivity rate of 6.5%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 989 cases and 11,680 tests (8.4%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 618 cases and 7,165 tests (8.5%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported 15 cases and 145 tests (10.3%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 233 cases and 2,512 tests (9.1%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 398 cases and 3,782 tests (10.5%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 114 cases and 1,028 tests (11%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 138 cases and 1,435 tests (9.5%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 106 cases and 1,315 tests (8%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 35 cases and 848 tests (4.1%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 59 cases and 828 tests (7.1%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 166 cases and 1,867 tests (8.8%); the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 49 cases and 738 tests (6.4%).

The IDPH reported 685,467 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, while 11,832 people have died statewide. There have been 10,104,537 tests performed.

The entire state moved to Tier 3 mitigation measures Nov. 20 to help stop the spread of COVID-19, including a continued prohibition on indoor dining at bars and restaurants, closures of gaming facilities and casinos and capping all gatherings to 10 or fewer, with officials urging residents to stay at home unless necessary and avoid holiday travel or family gatherings. DeKalb County’s health region has been under enhanced mitigations since Oct. 3. Under the new restrictions, each of the 11 health care regions can independently have restrictions eased if metrics improve.

In order for the region to move back to Tier 2 mitigation measures, with no restrictions on retail stores, gyms, casinos, gaming facilities, etc., the region needs to report three consecutive days of the regional positivity rate under 12%. In order to lift restrictions on bars and restaurants, the region’s rates need to be below 8%. Region 1′s seven-day rate has not dropped below 8% since mitigation measures first went into effect Oct. 3.