McHenry County reports three new COVID-19 deaths as spread remains ‘low’

For six weeks in a row, McHenry County’s COVID-19 transmission levels stayed “low” 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 hospital admissions, also per 100,000 residents; and less than 15% of its staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to the CDC.

Four Illinois counties moved to a “high” level of transmission, and 14 were at the “medium” level as of Thursday, according to the CDC. All counties neighboring McHenry County were low.

As of Thursday, McHenry County had seen 98,220 total COVID-19 cases, including 579 deaths in which COVID-19 was either confirmed or a likely case, the McHenry County Department of Health reported. Three additional deaths were added to the total this week.

The county saw 56.1 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. That was down from the week before, when the case rate was at 74.5.

Countywide, COVID-19 hospital admissions totaled two new patients a day as of Tuesday, the same as the week before, according to the seven-day rolling averages the IDPH reported.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties was 29% as of Thursday, up from 25% at the last update, according to the seven-day average reported by the IDPH.

Across Illinois, the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 92 each day as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling daily average the IDPH reported.

Of the 921 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, 113 were in the ICU and 41 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

Illinois’ weekly case rate stood at 84.5 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Sunday. The state saw 52 deaths in the past week.

In neighboring Lake County, the health department reported a total of 176,515 cases and 1,527 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County had seen 162,858 cases and 1,214 deaths as of Friday, according to its health department.