La Salle County man, 80s, dies from COVID-19 complications

A La Salle County man in his 80s died from complications related to COVID-19.

His death was the first COVID-related death countywide in June. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 473 COVID-related deaths in La Salle County.

There were four COVID-related deaths in La Salle County all of last month, making it the lowest number since July 2021.

La Salle County remained in the medium risk status for COVID-19 transmission for the fourth week in a row, according to guidelines set out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At medium risk status, the CDC strongly recommends individuals at highest risk or who have high risk people in their household consider wearing masks in indoor public places.

La Salle County’s risk is based on the following indicators set by the CDC. In the past seven days, it had a case rate total of 229.14 per 100,000 (down from a week ago), six or 5.5 per 100,000 new hospital admissions of confirmed COVID-19 (down from a week ago) and 2.6% of staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 (up from a week ago).

Take the following precautions, especially if you are at a high risk for serious illness: talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions (e.g., testing); have a plan for rapid testing if needed (e.g., having home tests or access to testing); talk to your healthcare provider about whether you are a candidate for treatments such as oral antivirals, PrEP and monoclonal antibodies.

If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease: consider self-testing to detect infection before contact; consider wearing a mask when indoors with them; stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters; maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible; follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19.

Additionally, there were 237 new COVID-19 cases confirmed since May 27 in La Salle County. Making up the new cases are four boys younger than 13, seven girls younger than 13, eight teenage boys, 11 teenage girls, 11 men in their 20s, 26 women in their 20s, seven men in their 30s, 23 women in their 30s, 12 men in their 40s, 21 women in their 40s, 12 men in their 50s, 17 women in their 50s, 12 men in their 60s, 19 women in their 60s, eight men in their 70s, 11 women in their 70s, six men in their 80s, 15 women in their 80s, two men in their 90s, four women in their 90s and a man in his 100s.

There were 202 confirmed cases in La Salle County removed from isolation since May 27.

Regardless of community level, La Salle County Health Department recommendations for isolation for those testing positive and those exposed, isolation and quarantine also remain the same, including masking from days 6 to 10 when isolation/quarantine end.

The La Salle County Health Department schedules all COVID-19 tests online. Access the link at https://hipaa.jotform.com/220026540796151

La Salle County Health Department urges everyone 5 years and older to get vaccinated and all eligible individuals to get a booster. Individuals who need to start the COVID-19 vaccination series or a booster, call the La Salle County Health Department at 815-433-3366 to schedule an appointment. The health department has Johnson and Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer available.

Roughly 58.23% of the county’s population was fully-vaccinated for COVID-19 as of June 3, 61.6% of the county’s population has had at least one dose of the vaccine and 35,389 boosters have been administered, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

To search for vaccine locations available near you visit https://www.vaccines.gov/.