Virus activity, hospitalizations down in DeKalb County on first day of lifted statewide mask mandate

DeKALB – As Gov. JB Pritzker’s statewide indoor mask mandate lifted Monday, state data shows cases of COVID-19 and related hospitalizations are continuing to decline in DeKalb County.

The county reported 40 more COVID-19 cases over the weekend, bringing the total case count to 22,983. No new deaths were reported, leaving the death toll at 189. Case data doesn’t include positive cases identified through at-home virus testing and might not include test results waiting to be reported from backlogged laboratories.

An additional 93 DeKalb County residents became fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and 79 booster shots were administered in the county over the weekend.

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Hospitalizations and positivity rate

As of Monday, there were 31 intensive care unit beds available in the region, according to state data.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate for Region 1, which runs north to Rockford and west to the Iowa border, is 3.4%. The DeKalb County positivity rate is at 2.5%. Positivity rates are reported with a three-day data lag. Region 1 also reported a seven-day average of 68 COVID-19 patients hospitalized.

According to the IDPH, 145,616 total vaccine doses have been administered to DeKalb County residents and 57,807 residents – 57.5% of the county’s population of 100,420, according to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data – have been fully vaccinated. As of Monday, 28,805 booster shots had been administered to county residents. The seven-day rolling average of doses administered to county residents is 80.

The IDPH reported that 3,031,220 Illinoisans have tested positive for COVID-19, while 32,763 have died statewide. The department reported that at least 54,645,376 tests have been administered to date. That does not include self tests administered at home.

Vaccination by ZIP code

Updated vaccination by ZIP code data shows the percentages of residents in DeKalb County ZIP codes who have been fully vaccinated as of Feb. 23. This data is provisional and will be updated every Wednesday, according to the IDPH, and uses 2018 federal population data.

• 60111 (includes Clare) ZIP code, 98.67% of the population is fully vaccinated (100% of residents have had at least one dose)

• 60112 (Cortland) ZIP code, 63.15% is fully vaccinated.

• 60115 (DeKalb) ZIP code, 50.04% is fully vaccinated.

• 60135 (Genoa), 61.92% is fully vaccinated.

• 60145 (Kingston), 45.72% is fully vaccinated.

• 60146 (Kirkland, Fairdale), 46.03% is fully vaccinated.

• 60150 (Malta), 53.25% is fully vaccinated.

• 60151 (Maple Park), 57.48% is fully vaccinated.

• 60178 (Sycamore), 65.88% is fully vaccinated.

• 60520 (Hinckley), 54.88% is fully vaccinated.

• 60548 (Sandwich), 54.35% is fully vaccinated.

• 60550 (Shabbona), 48.76% is fully vaccinated.

• 60552 (Somonauk), 52.01% is fully vaccinated.

• 60556 (Waterman), 52.64% is fully vaccinated.

Congregate care settings

The total care centers in in outbreak mode is eight, according to the DeKalb County Health Department. Some facilities’ vaccination data isn’t publicly available.

As of Feb. 25:

• Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore reports 21 cases, 16 in staff and five in residents. One person from the facility has died.

• Oak Crest DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb reports 62 cases: 52 employees and 10 residents. According to the IDPH, 97.57% of Oak Crest employees are fully vaccinated, along with 100% of residents as of Jan. 14.

• Prairie Crossing Rehabilitation in Shabbona reports 42 cases: 25 employees and 17 residents. 67.69% of employees are vaccinated and 97.96% of residents.

• DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center in DeKalb reports 53 cases: 49 employees and four residents, and two deaths. 78.82% of its employees are fully vaccinated and 93.33% of residents.

• Prairie Crossing Supportive Living reports 12 cases: five employees and seven residents.

• Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich reports 77 cases: 26 staff members, 51 residents, and seven resident deaths. 82.91% of staff are fully vaccinated and 84.72% of residents.

• Sandwich Rehabilitation and Health Care Center reports 11 cases: nine staff members, two residents.

• Aperion Care in DeKalb reports 44 cases: 26 staff members, 18 residents and one death.

The state considers a facility in outbreak mode if new virus activity is reportedly linked to the facility within 30 days. If the facility goes 30 days without reporting new activity, it will be taken off the health department’s outbreak website, health officials have said.

The state does not update long-term care facility numbers if a person has fully recovered. The numbers remain listed in total through the duration of the outbreak.

Cases, deaths in DeKalb County

The following is a breakdown of cases and deaths from COVID-19, according to the DeKalb County Health Department, updated on Fridays. Reported cases may not convey how many actual cases are in the county because local and state data do not include cases identified through at-home tests, which are not reported to laboratories.

The reported death this week was a resident in their 40s, according to county data.

As of Feb. 18, there have been 5,646 cases in residents age 19 or younger, 4,958 in their 20s, 3,515 in their 30s, 2,922 in their 40s, 2,641 in their 50s, 1,731 in their 60s, 861 in their 70s and 668 in their 80s or older.

Of the 189 total deaths have been reported in DeKalb County by local health officials as of Feb. 18, 97 were in residents in their 80s or older, 29 were in their 70s, 34 in their 60s, 18 in their 50s, six in their 40s, three in their 30s, one in their 20s and one infant.

Neither state nor local data specifies how many cases are linked to COVID-19 variants.