February 05, 2025
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McHenry County case rate remains lowest since July, with hospitalization availability increasing

By James T. Norman
Ed Jost, left, prepares to have a COVID-19 test sample collected by Curative Testing Specialist Tod Schneider at the weekly COVID-19 testing site for McHenry School District 15 staff on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, at Hilltop Elementary School in McHenry.

Ed Jost, left, prepares to have a COVID-19 test sample collected by Curative Testing Specialist Tod Schneider at the weekly COVID-19 testing site for McHenry School District 15 staff on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, at Hilltop Elementary School in McHenry. (Matthew Apgar - mapgar@shawmedia.com/Matthew Apgar)

McHenry County’s rate of new cases continued to fall and hit its lowest number since late July, according to McHenry County Department of Health data.

The incidence rate decreased to 54.6 new cases over the past seven days per 100,000 residents as of Friday, the best it’s been since July 23, county data shows.

McHenry County now has seen 75,574 total cases, including 469 deaths and 44 deaths that likely were caused by COVID-19 but have not been confirmed. That tally is up 32 cases from Tuesday. No additional deaths were reported Wednesday.

The level of transmission in McHenry County remained low under the newest framework released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the McHenry County Department of Health reported Wednesday.

That means the county saw fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days; the number of people being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 was fewer than 10 per 100,000 residents, also over seven days; and the percentage of staffed in-patient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients was less than 10%, as measured by a seven-day average, according to the CDC.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Lake and McHenry counties continued to fall, marking a drop 58 of the past 59 days, reaching 34 on Tuesday, Illinois Department of Public Health data shows. That’s the lowest level since July 28.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties improved to 33% on Tuesday, which is the best it has been since July 30, according to IDPH data.

In McHenry County alone, 18.5% of medical and surgical hospital beds remain available on average, according to the seven-day rolling average the McHenry County health department reported Wednesday. An average of 39.5% of intensive care unit beds and 95.4% of ventilators were available.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19-like illness decreased eight of the past 10 days in the county as of Wednesday.

Statewide, the number of hospitalizations tied to COVID-19 increased to 598 patients as of Tuesday, the first day of increase in almost a week, the IDPH reported. Of those hospitalized, 94 patients were in the ICU and 41 were on ventilators.

An additional 162 vaccines were administered Tuesday in McHenry County, bringing the total vaccines administered in McHenry County to 508,803, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 103,243 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 199,865 residents, or an estimated 64.77% of McHenry County’s population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Statewide, 21,257,672 vaccine doses have been administered, according to state data.

Across Illinois, 81% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 72.1% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Wednesday. Those rates are 84.8% and 75.7% for those age 12 and older, 86.2% and 76.9% for people 18 and older, and 95% and 87.6% for those age 65 and older, respectively.

Statewide, IDPH tallied 1,031 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Another 25 deaths also were logged as of Wednesday. This brings the totals to 3,050,647 cases, 33,164 confirmed deaths and 4,255 probable deaths.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 122,852 cases and 1,349 deaths through Tuesday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 125,180 cases and 1,113 deaths as of Wednesday.

Among McHenry County ZIP codes, Crystal Lake (60014) has the highest total number of COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic with a total of 12,324 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 8,638.

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) 7,735 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,268; Huntley (60142) 6,043; Cary (60013) 5,722; Algonquin (60102) 5,344; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,611; Harvard (60033) 3,752; Marengo (60152) 2,742; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,669; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,660; Spring Grove (60081) 1,531; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,169; Island Lake (60042) 966; Richmond (60071) 716; Hebron (60034) 428; Barrington (60010) 344; Union (60180) 295; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 192.

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