Although DeKalb County COVID-19 cases are down, deaths are on the rise with 2 more reported Wednesday

Five DeKalb County residents have now died within the past five days because of complications from COVID-19, as the DeKalb County Health Department reported two more deaths Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 53.

The two deaths, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 90s, were both at long-term care facilities: one at Prairie Crossing Living & Rehabilitation Center in Shabbona, its first death. The other was the second death at Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore. It’s unclear which death was linked to which facility.

It marks a week that's seen daily case counts decrease, although deaths are on the rise.

The health department reported 33 more COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the lowest reported daily case total in more than a month, since the county reported 33 cases Oct. 27. Wednesday’s report brought the total to 5,741 with 3,890 recovered as of Dec. 4. So far in December, there have been 640 cases of COVID-19 identified in the county. November reported 2,338.

There were also six new cases at long-term care facilities: Two more at Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center, one more at Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center, four more at Lincolnshire Place and one at Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate in the county remained at 13.8, 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, dropped slightly at 14.6%.

There were five cases reported in residents 19 or younger, five in their 20s, eight in their 30s, five in their 40s, four in their 50s, three in their 60s, two in their 70s and one 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 reports 32 cases (29 in staff and three in residents), the Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb reports 49 cases (24 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 54 cases (17 in staff and 37 residents), and Heritage Woods in DeKalb reported seven cases (five in staff and two in residents). Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore reported 48 cases (16 in staff and 28 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 Wednesday.

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, 259 in their 70s and 238 in their 80s or older.

To date, there have been 30 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 2,516 and 2,520 cases. There are between 1,206 and 1,210 cases in Sycamore, 481 and 485 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site), 476 and 480 in Genoa, 266 and 270 cases in Cortland, 146 and 150 cases in Kirkland, 131 and 135 in Kingston, 121 and 125 cases in Hinckley, 86 and 90 cases in Somonauk, 76 and 80 in Malta, 66 and 70 in Waterman, 61 and 65 in Shabbona, 41 and 45 in Maple Park, 16 and 20 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 2,432 cases reported and 35,327 tests administered (a positivity rate of 6.9%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 1,216 cases and 12,943 tests (9.4%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported 17 cases and 157 tests (10.8%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 262 cases and 2,737 tests (9.5%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 467 cases and 4,154 tests (11.1%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 130 cases and 1,129 tests (11.3%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 161 cases and 1,564 tests (10.2%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 69 cases and 915 tests (7.5%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 195 cases and 2,089 tests (9.3%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 118 cases and 1,438 tests (8.2%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 715 cases and 8,127 tests (8.8%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 78 cases and 914 tests (8.1%); and the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 63 cases and 803 tests (7.9%).

The IDPH reported 812,430 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, while 13,666 people have died statewide. There have been 11,367,345 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.