Rate of new COVID-19 cases continue to fall in McHenry County even as transmission remains ‘high’

For the second week, the level of COVID-19 spread in McHenry County remained classified as “high” under criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even as the rate of new cases continues to fall, county data shows.

The county’s saw 255.43 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, down from 299.3 a week before, according to the incidence rate reported by the McHenry County Department of Health.

Youth cases, in those newborn to 18 years old, went down within the past week as well, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

The rate of COVID-19 cases among 12- to 17-year-olds in McHenry County decreased to 2.7 new cases each day as of Friday, compared with 6.1 one week earlier, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the IDPH.

The rate for children 5 to 11 years old in McHenry County fell to 2.6 new cases each day from 7.3 one week earlier, according to state date. Cases among newborns to 4-year-olds fell to 3.3 to new cases each day compared with six the week before.

McHenry County now has seen 81,872 total COVID-19 cases, including 485 confirmed deaths and 45 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed as of Friday. One new death was reported this past week.

The most recent death occurred May 30, making it the second COVID-19 death for May in McHenry County, county health department data shows.

The level of COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County reached “high” under the thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 26.

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 more than 10 per 100,000 residents, also over seven days; and the percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients was more than 10%, as measured by a seven-day average, according to the CDC.

McHenry County now is one of 19 counties statewide with high spread, ]IDPH data shows. As of this week, neighboring counties Boone, Lake and Cook, as well as a few others in the northern and central parts of the state, have a “high” community spread as well, the state reported.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions fell to four new patients per day as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling average reported by IDPH.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties increased to 25% as of Thursday, up from 24% 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 116 daily as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by the IDPH. Of the 1,227 hospitalized for COVID-19, 114 were in the ICU and 35 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

An additional 2,068 vaccines were administered in McHenry County in the past week, bringing the total to 536,084 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 109,900 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 202,355, or an estimated 65.58% 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 73.5% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Friday. Those rates are 85.1% and 77% for those age 12 and older, 86.5% and 78.2% for people age 18 and older and 95% and 89.3% for those 65 and older, respectively.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 36.6 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Friday, with 47 deaths reported in the past week. Illinois now has seen 3,318,982 COVID-19 cases, 33,853 confirmed deaths and 4,335 deaths where COVID-19 was the probable cause but not confirmed.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 138,356 cases and 1,390 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 136,027 cases and 1,132 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 13,435 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 9,380.

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) 8,336 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,985; Huntley (60142) 6,651; Cary (60013) 6,246; Algonquin (60102) 5,847; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,965; Harvard (60033) 3,926; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,934; Marengo (60152) 2,883; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,819; Spring Grove (60081) 1,638; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,258; Island Lake (60042) 1,040; Richmond (60071) 779; Hebron (60034) 453; Barrington (60010) 370; Union (60180) 312; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 211.