Rate of new COVID-19 cases in McHenry County remain low despite rise

The rate of new COVID-19 cases in McHenry County has about doubled since last week, although it still remains low by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards, county health department data shows.

In McHenry County, 76,931 total COVID-19 cases, including 478 confirmed deaths and 45 deaths where COVID-19 was likely the cause but was not confirmed, were reported as of Friday. No new deaths were reported in the past week, county data shows.

The level of transmission in McHenry County remained low under the framework currently used by the CDC, the McHenry County Department of Health said.

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 inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients was less than 10%, as measured by a seven-day average, according to the CDC.

The county’s COVID-19 incidence rate was 120.57 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of April 16, up 67.92 a week before, county data shows.

COVID-19 cases for youth in McHenry County also remained low, but some age groups saw an uptick in the past week, Illinois Department of Public Health data shows.

Newborns to 4-year-olds saw 4.1 new cases each day in the county, up from zero last week, according to Friday’s seven-day rolling average reported by the IDPH. Those ages 12 to 17 saw their daily average rise in McHenry County, as well, to 3.9 cases from two.

Those ages 5 to 11 saw an average of 5.7 new cases each day in McHenry County, which is less than the 5.9 reported a week ago, state data shows.

Illinois earlier this month changed the way it reports its data for COVID-19, focusing now the case rate per 100,000 people, the percentage of ICU beds available, a rolling seven-day average of COVID-19-diagnosed hospital admissions and weekly deaths. The state also has stopped reporting individual school outbreaks.

The seven-day rolling average for new hospital admissions in McHenry County was two COVID-19 patients as of Tuesday, the IDPH reported. Since the end of March, the average has shifted between two and one admissions a day.

Hospital ICU availability across McHenry and Lake counties rose to 26% as of Thursday, up from 21% a week earlier, state data shows.

Across Illinois, the seven-day rolling average for the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 38 as of Tuesday, the IDPH reported. Of the 613 hospitalized for COVID-19, 82 were in the ICU and 26 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

An additional 3,522 vaccines were administered in McHenry County in the past week, bringing the total to 521,635 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 106,207 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 201,185, or an estimated 65.2% of McHenry County’s population, now are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Across Illinois, 81.3% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 72.8% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Friday. Those rates are 85.1% and 76.3% for those age 12 and older, 86.5% and 77.5% for people age 18 and older, and 95% and 88.2% for those age 65 and older, respectively.

Illinois’ seven-day rolling average for case rate stood at 21.9 cases per 100,000 people as of Friday, with 58 deaths reported in the past week. Illinois now has seen 3,114,036 COVID-19 cases, 33,568 confirmed deaths and 4,291 probable deaths.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 126,110 cases and 1,375 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 127,593 cases and 1,126 deaths as of Friday.

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 12,543 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 8,808.

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) 7,877 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,412; Huntley (60142) 6,193; Cary (60013) 5,858; Algonquin (60102) 5,415; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,695; Harvard (60033) 3,779; Marengo (60152) 2,762; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,742; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,699; Spring Grove (60081) 1,547; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,196; Island Lake (60042) 990; Richmond (60071) 730; Hebron (60034) 434; Barrington (60010) 352; Union (60180) 298; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 197.