COVID-19 spread in McHenry County remains ‘low,’ county health department says

Kori Mauch, school nurse and department chair in Sycamore Community School District 427, talks Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, at Sycamore Middle School, about the COVID-19 rapid tests they use in the district.

The level of COVID-19 spread in McHenry County remained low for the second week in a row under thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, county data shows.

The “low” level of community transmission 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.

As of Friday, McHenry County had seen 83,495 total COVID-19 cases, including 488 confirmed deaths and 46 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed.

The county saw 155.99 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, down from 168.66 a week before, according to the incidence rate reported by the McHenry County Department of Health.

It went below 200 on June 9 for the first time since April 28, the county data shows. The level of COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County had reached “high” under the thresholds set by the CDC on May 26.

Across Illinois, 20 counties still have “high” spread, IDPH data shows, including neighboring Lake and Cook counties.

Youth cases among newborns to 4-year-olds in McHenry County rose to 3.3 new cases each day compared with 2.7 the week before, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The rate of COVID-19 cases among 12- to 17-year-olds in McHenry County also increased to 1.9 new cases each day as of Friday, from 1.1 cases a day a week earlier.

The rate for children 5 to 11 years old, however, decreased to 1.9 new cases each day from 2.3 a week earlier, according to state data.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions fell to three new patients a day as of Tuesday, down from four the week before, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the IDPH.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties improved, reaching 31% as of Thursday, up from 27% 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 101 daily as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by the IDPH. Of the 1,099 hospitalized for COVID-19, 114 were in the ICU and 32 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

An additional 1,008 vaccines were administered in McHenry County in the past week, bringing the total to 540,378 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 110,939 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 202,723, or an estimated 65.70% of McHenry County’s population, now are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Across Illinois, 81% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 73.3% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Friday. Those rates are 84.8% and 76.8% for those age 12 and older, 86.1% and 77.9% for people age 18 and older and 95% and 89.2% for those 65 and older, respectively.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 30.4 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Friday, with 82 deaths reported in the past week. Illinois now has seen 3,407,189 COVID-19 cases, 34,076 confirmed deaths and 4,434 deaths where COVID-19 was the probable cause but not confirmed.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 142,728 cases and 1,402 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County has seen 139,073 cases and 1,139 deaths as of Friday, according to IDPH.

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 13,693 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 9,555.

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) 8,564 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 8,143; Huntley (60142) 6,789; Cary (60013) 6,362; Algonquin (60102) 5,966; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 5,038; Harvard (60033) 3,964; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 3,016; Marengo (60152) 2,929; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,869; Spring Grove (60081) 1,673; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,285; Island Lake (60042) 1,073; Richmond (60071) 797; Hebron (60034) 463; Barrington (60010) 385; Union (60180) 316; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 214.

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