McHenry County reports one more COVID-19 death, bringing March total to five

The level of COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County remained low as the McHenry County Department of Health reported another COVID-19 death.

The county’s COVID-19 incidence rate rose to 59.47 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Saturday, which is on par with numbers from last July, according to the McHenry County health department

McHenry County now has seen 75,809 total cases, including 470 deaths and 44 deaths that likely were caused by COVID-19 but have not been confirmed. That tally is up 30 cases from Wednesday. One additional death was reported Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths this month to five.

The level of transmission in McHenry County remained low under the newest framework released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, county data shows.

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.

Hospitalizations across McHenry and Lake counties have decreased for the first time in five days, down to 26 COVID-19 patients as of Wednesday, measured by a seven-day rolling average, the Illinois Department of Public Health data shows.

Hospital intensive care unit availability remained at 29% on Wednesday in the two counties, which it has been for each of the past three days, the IDPH reported. The mark remains around the same level as last July and early August, but down from a high of 33% just over a week ago.

Across Illinois, the number of hospitalizations tied to COVID-19 statewide decreased to 463 patients as of Wednesday, the IDPH reported. That is the lowest since July 11. Of those hospitalized, 69 patients were in the ICU and 28 were on ventilators.

An additional 120 vaccines were administered in McHenry County on Wednesday, bringing to the total 509,582 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 103,912 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 200,112, or an estimated 64.85% of McHenry County’s population, are now fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Statewide, 21,307,081 vaccine doses have been administered, according to state data.

Across Illinois, 81.1% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 72.3% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Thursday. Those rates are 84.9% and 75.8% for those age 12 and older, 86.3% and 77% for people 18 and older, and 95% and 87.7% for those age 65 and older, respectively.

Statewide, another 1,723 cases were logged Thursday, as well as an additional 16 deaths. This brings the totals to 3,059,915 cases, 33,293 confirmed deaths and 4,278 probable deaths.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 123,262 cases and 1,357 deaths through Wednesday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 125,570 cases and 1,119 deaths as of Thursday.

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 12,356 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 8,661.

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) 7,772 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,295; Huntley (60142) 6,065; Cary (60013) 5,746; Algonquin (60102) 5,357; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,621; Harvard (60033) 3,757; Marengo (60152) 2,748; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,674; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,674; Spring Grove (60081) 1,534; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,172; Island Lake (60042) 973; Richmond (60071) 716; Hebron (60034) 429; Barrington (60010) 348; Union (60180) 296; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 193.