McHenry County sees decrease in youth COVID-19 cases as overall cases rise

The number of new COVID-19 cases in McHenry County increased by 29% since last week as the rate of new hospitalizations also rose, county and state health department data shows.

However, youth cases, in those ages 3 to 18, went down within the past week, the McHenry County Department of Health reported.

The rate of COVID-19 cases among 12- to 17-year-olds in McHenry County decreased to 7.6 new cases each day as of Friday, compared with 11 as of one week earlier, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The rate for children 5 to 11 years old in McHenry County fell to 12 new cases each day from 14.3 one week earlier, according to state date. Cases among newborns to 4-year-olds increased to 5.9 new cases each day compared with 5.6 the week before.

The county’s COVID-19 incidence rate was 366.57 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, up from 295.08 a week before but lower than the two days preceding, according to McHenry County health department data.

McHenry County now has seen 80,371 total COVID-19 cases, including 483 confirmed deaths and 45 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed as of Friday. No new deaths were reported in the last week.

The level of COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County remained at “medium” under the thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a level the McHenry County health department first reported two weeks ago.

That means the county saw more 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.

McHenry County now is one of 39 counties statewide with medium spread, IDPH data shows. As of this week, eight counties, including neighboring Boone County, have a “high” community level spread, the state reported.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions also have been rising, with the seven-day rolling average hitting five new patients per day as of Tuesday, the highest total since Feb. 13, the IDPH reported.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties declined to 21% as of Thursday, down from 25% a week earlier, according to the seven-day average reported by the IDPH.

Across Illinois, the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 102 daily as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by IDPH. Of the 1,060 hospitalized for COVID-19, 116 were in the ICU and 43 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

An additional 2,119 vaccines were administered in McHenry County in the past week, bringing the total to 524,974 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 107,720 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 199,588, or an estimated 64.68% of McHenry County’s population, now are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Across Illinois, 81.7% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 73.5% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Friday. Those rates are 85.5% and 77.1% for those age 12 and older, 87% and 78.3% for people age 18 and older, and 95% and 89.3% for those 65 and older, respectively.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 45.1 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Friday, with 56 deaths reported in the past week. Illinois now has seen 3,249,534 COVID-19 cases, 33,761 confirmed deaths and 4,307 deaths where COVID-19 was the probable cause but not confirmed.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 134,250 cases and 1,384 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 133,320 cases and 1,128 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 13,182 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 9,193.

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) 8,209 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,809; Huntley (60142) 6,528; Cary (60013) 6,112; Algonquin (60102) 5,711; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,881; Harvard (60033) 3,904; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,869; Marengo (60152) 2,843; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,774; Spring Grove (60081) 1,609; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,229; Island Lake (60042) 1,030; Richmond (60071) 764; Hebron (60034) 447; Barrington (60010) 368; Union (60180) 309; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 207.