Four additional COVID-19 deaths reported in McHenry County

Four more COVID-19 deaths were reported Wednesday in McHenry County, bringing March’s total to nine as the rate of new COVID-19 cases continued to decline, according to the McHenry County Department of Health.

McHenry County now has seen 75,856 total cases, including 475 deaths and 44 deaths that likely were caused by COVID-19 but have not been confirmed, according to the McHenry County health department. That total is down three cases from Tuesday.

Cases can come off the county’s total if the person who tested positive is determined not to be a resident following a case investigation or if a probable case is determined not to be COVID-19.

Four new deaths were reported Wednesday, with three happening in March and another happening at the beginning of February. That brings the total deaths in March to nine and 18 for February, county data shows. This compares with the 61 deaths in January, which was the peak.

The county’s COVID-19 incidence rate dropped to 46.47 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of last Friday, which is on par with numbers from mid-July, county data shows.

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 declined to 20 total COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday, as measured by a seven-day rolling average, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported. That is the lowest total since July 17.

The region saw hospitalizations decline or remain stable eight of the past nine days, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

Hospital intensive care unit availability was down to 28% as of Tuesday in the two counties, which is four straight days of a decline, state data showed. The mark remains around the same level as last July and early August, fluctuating between 28% and 31% since March 17.

Across Illinois, the number of hospitalizations tied to COVID-19 dropped to 470 patients as of Tuesday, the IDPH reported. Of those hospitalized, 64 patients were in the ICU and 27 were on ventilators.

An additional 97 vaccines were administered in McHenry County on Tuesday, bringing the total to 510,238 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 104,254 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 200,273, or an estimated 64.9% of McHenry County’s population, are now fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Statewide, 21,347,013 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 72.4% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Wednesday. Those rates are 85% and 75.9% for those age 12 and older, 86.4% and 77.1% for people 18 and older, and 95% and 87.7% for those age 65 and older, respectively.

Statewide, another 1,324 cases were logged on Wednesday, as well as an additional 11 deaths. This brings the totals to 3,066,645 cases, 33,358 confirmed deaths and 4,287 probable deaths.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 123,586 cases and 1,360 deaths through Tuesday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 125,747 cases and 1,121 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 12,369 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 8,667.

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) 7,780 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,298; Huntley (60142) 6,072; Cary (60013) 5,748; Algonquin (60102) 5,355; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,627; Harvard (60033) 3,760; Marengo (60152) 2,748; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,680; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,675; Spring Grove (60081) 1,534; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,171; Island Lake (60042) 969; Richmond (60071) 717; Hebron (60034) 429; Barrington (60010) 348; Union (60180) 296; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 194.