McHenry County reports COVID-19 spread at ‘low’ level; no deaths reported for third straight month

The spread of COVID-19 in McHenry County remained at “low” for the third week in a row under thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The “low” level of community transmission means the county saw fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days; fewer than 10 new admissions, also per 100,000 residents; and less than 15% of its staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to the CDC.

As of Friday, McHenry County has seen 91,540 total COVID-19 cases, including 489 confirmed deaths and 48 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed, the McHenry County Department of Health reported. No additional deaths have occurred since June 25.

The county saw 90.67 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, down from 95.87 the week before, according to the incidence rate reported by the McHenry County health department. The case rate had been over 100 since April until Sept. 24 and has since stayed below that threshold.

The number of vaccines administered in McHenry County over the prior week was 3,596, bringing the total vaccines administered in McHenry County to 571,349, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

The state reported that 115,500 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 204,708 people, about 66.34% of McHenry County’s population, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Across Illinois, 82.2% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 74.3% were fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Friday. Those rates were 85.8% and 77.7% for those age 12 and older, 87.2% and 78.9% for people age 18 and older and 95% and 90.2% for those 65 and older.

Most surrounding counties also were at the “low” community level, with the exception of Boone County, which was at “medium”, according to the CDC. Across Illinois, no counties showed “high” community spread, while 14 counties were at the “medium” level, down from 20 last week.

The rate of new COVID-19 cases among newborns to 11-year-old children increased slightly in McHenry County over the past week, while the case rate for 12- to 17-year-olds went down, according to IDPH data.

The rate of cases among newborns to 4-year-olds in McHenry County was at 2.3 new cases a day, up from 2.1 a week before, according to the seven-day rolling average, while cases among children ages 5 to 11 increased to 1.3 new cases each day from one the week before.

Among 12- to 17-year-olds, the case rate fell to 1.1 new cases each day, compared with 2.1 the week before.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions increased to three new patients a day as of Tuesday, up from two a week earlier, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the IDPH.

Hospital ICU availability across McHenry and Lake counties was at 26% as of Thursday, down slightly from 27% the previous week, according to the seven-day average reported by the IDPH.

Across Illinois, the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 80 daily as of Tuesday, up from 78 the week before, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by the IDPH.

Of the 929 people hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, 111 were in the ICU and 28 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 12.8 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Friday, with 62 deaths reported in the past week.

In neighboring Lake County, the health department reported a total of 161,998 cases and 1,456 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County has seen 154,490 cases and 1,172 deaths as of Friday, according to its health department.

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 15,085 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 10,401.

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) 9,527 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 9,008; Huntley (60142) 7,345; Cary (60013) 6,932; Algonquin (60102) 6,554; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 5,542; Harvard (60033) 4,203; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 3,300; Marengo (60152) 3,186; Wonder Lake (60097) 3,170; Spring Grove (60081) 1,859; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,379; Island Lake (60042) 1,194; Richmond (60071) 907; Hebron (60034) 495; Barrington (60010) 429; Union (60180) 352; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 237.