Third COVID-19 death in less than four days reported in DeKalb County Tuesday

A third DeKalb County resident in less than a week has died because of COVID-19, according to the DeKalb County Health Department, bringing the death toll to 51.

The department also reported 64 more COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the total to 5,708 with 3,890 recovered as of Dec. 4. So far in December, there have been 607 cases of COVID-19 identified in the county.

Tuesday’s death was a woman in her 90s, not reportedly linked to any long-term care facilities, and comes after Monday’s announcement that a woman in her 80s at Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore, died, along with a man in his 40s, also not linked to a long-term care facility.

There were also 16 new cases at long-term care facilities: Two at DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, three at Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center, six at Bethany Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, four at Lincolnshire Place and one at Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate in the county dropped to 13.8 from 14%, according to the most recent day available because of a three-day lag in state data. The positivity rate for Region 1, which includes DeKalb, Winnebago and Whiteside counties, rose slightly at 14.9%.

There were seven cases reported in residents 19 or younger, 12 in their 20s, nine in their 30s, 10 in their 40s, eight in their 50s, four in their 60s, four in their 70s and five in their 80s or older.

By the numbers

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

The DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in DeKalb reported 32 cases (29 in staff and three in residents), the Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb reported 47 cases (22 in staff and 25 in residents with one death) and the Bethany Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in DeKalb reported 49 cases (27 in staff and 22 in residents). Additionally, the Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center in Shabbona reported 53 cases (17 in staff and 36 residents), and Heritage Woods in DeKalb reported seven cases (five in staff and two in residents). Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore reported 44 cases (15 in staff and 25 in residents), Sandwich Rehabilitation reported four cases (three in staff and one resident) and Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich reported three cases (two in employees and one resident).

Although the county health department doesn't designate Sycamore's Opportunity House as a long-term care facility and therefore doesn't list cases linked to the facility, the state health department does. A 15-case outbreak at Opportunity House was closed as of Friday, although a second outbreak is reported, with six cases as of Monday.

In total, there have been 951 cases in DeKalb County residents 19 or younger, 1,371 in their 20s, 826 in their 30s, 840 in their 40s, 739 in their 50s, 486 in their 60s, 257 in their 70s and 238 in their 80s or older.

To date, there have been 28 deaths reported in DeKalb County residents in their 80s or older, seven in their 70s, seven in their 60s, four in their 50s, three in their 40s, one in their 30s and one infant.

According to county data, DeKalb has seen between 2,501 and 2,505 cases. There are between 1,186 and 1,190 cases in Sycamore, 471 and 475 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site) and Genoa, 266 and 270 cases in Cortland, 146 and 150 cases in Kirkland, 131 and 135 in Kingston, 121 and 125 cases in Hinckley, 76 and 80 cases in Somonauk, 71 and 75 in Malta, 66 and 70 in Waterman, 56 and 60 in Shabbona, 41 and 45 in Maple Park, 11 and 15 in Clare and six and 10 in Esmond, Earlville and Leland. Lee, Marengo and Rochelle each report between one and five cases.

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

The 60115 ZIP code, including DeKalb, had 2,416 cases reported and 35,012 tests administered (a positivity rate of 6.9%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 1,209 cases and 12,840 tests (9.4%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported 17 cases and 157 tests (10.8%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 261 cases and 2,725 tests (9.5%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 463 cases and 4,136 tests (11.1%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 128 cases and 1,123 tests (11.3%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 160 cases and 1,554 tests (10.2%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 69 cases and 910 tests (7.5%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 195 cases and 2,075 tests (9.3%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 118 cases and 1,430 tests (8.2%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 712 cases and 8,079 tests (8.8%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 74 cases and 905 tests (8.1%); and the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 63 cases and 797 tests (7.9%).

The IDPH reported 804,174 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, while 13,487 people have died statewide. There have been 11,274,608 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 the capping of all gatherings to 10 or fewer people, 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 certain 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 a regional positivity rate less than 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.