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Hospitalization rates for COVID-19 in McHenry and Lake counties continued to improve Thursday, building on more than a month’s worth of declining hospitalizations.
Total hospitalizations in McHenry and Lake counties have dropped for 39 straight days, reaching 77 Wednesday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. They had been increasing every day since Dec. 26 before Jan. 14, reaching a pandemic high of 407 on Jan. 15.
Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties remained at 25% as of Wednesday, matching the best it’s been since Aug. 10, state data shows.
In McHenry County alone, 7.3% of medical and surgical hospital beds remain available on average, according to the seven-day rolling average the McHenry County Department of Health reported Thursday. An average of 22.4% of ICU beds were available.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19-like illness decreased nine of the past 10 days in the county as of Thursday.
Statewide, the number of hospitalizations tied to COVID-19 decreased to 1,183 patients as of Wednesday, the IDPH reported. Of those hospitalized, 246 patients were in the ICU and 118 were on ventilators.
An additional 34 COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday by the McHenry County Department of Health, bringing the total to 74,768 cases, including 449 deaths and 43 deaths that likely were caused by COVID-19. No additional deaths from COVID-19 were reported Thursday.
The level of COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County remained high because of the county’s incidence rate.
The incidence rate was 120.24 new COVID-19 cases over the past seven days per 100,000 residents as of Saturday, the last day for which data is available, according to the McHenry County Department of Health’s school metrics dashboard.
For transmission risk to meet the less severe category “substantial,” the county would need to see the incidence rate fall below 100 new cases over seven days per 100,000 residents, according to the McHenry County health department. It then would need to stay below that for a week.
The other metric used to determine the level of transmission locally is the positivity rate.
The test positivity rate for McHenry County, as measured by a seven-day rolling average, decreased to 4.6% Monday, the third day it has been in the “low” range, according to McHenry County health department data.
The region that includes McHenry and Lake counties saw its positivity rate remain at 3.6% Monday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
An additional 238 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered to McHenry County residents on Wednesday, according to the IDPH, bringing the total number administered locally to 504,525. The state reported that 101,421 booster shots were administered in McHenry County.
A total of 198,298 residents, or an estimated 64.26% of McHenry County’s population, now are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.
Statewide, 21,057,410 vaccine doses have been administered, according to state data.
Across Illinois, 80.6% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 71.5% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Thursday. Those rates are 84.5% and 75.2% for those age 12 and older, 85.9% and 76.4% for people 18 and older, and 95% and 87.3% for those age 65 and older, respectively.
Statewide, the IDPH tallied 1,979 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. Another 65 deaths also were logged, bringing the totals to 3,024,663 cases, 32,580 confirmed deaths and 4,114 probable deaths.
Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 121,575 cases and 1,319 deaths through Wednesday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 124,181 cases and 1,093 deaths as of Thursday.
Among McHenry County ZIP codes, Crystal Lake (60014) has the highest total number of COVID-19 cases with a total of 12,181 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 8,548.
The McHenry County health department reports ZIP code data only for parts within McHenry County, a department spokeswoman said. Any discrepancies between county and IDPH numbers likely are because of the data’s provisional nature and because each health department finalizes its data at different times, she said.
The following is the rest of the local breakdown of cases by ZIP code: Woodstock (60098) 7,664 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,196; Huntley (60142) 5,977; Cary (60013) 5,669; Algonquin (60102) 5,301; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,568; Harvard (60033) 3,722; Marengo (60152) 2,710; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,642; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,616; Spring Grove (60081) 1,516; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,152; Island Lake (60042) 956; Richmond (60071) 710; Hebron (60034) 426; Barrington (60010) 314; Union (60180) 287; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 190.