McHenry County remains at ‘low’ COVID-19 spread for 11 straight weeks

For 11 straight weeks, McHenry County’s COVID-19 transmission levels have remained “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.

No Illinois counties were considered at a “high” level of transmission, and 14 were at the “medium” level as of Tuesday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. All counties neighboring McHenry County were low.

As of Thursday, McHenry County had seen 99,144 total COVID-19 cases, including 581 deaths in which COVID-19 was either confirmed or a likely case, the McHenry County Department of Health reported. No deaths were added to the total this week.

The county saw 54.4 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, according to the IDPH. That was down from the week before, when the case rate was at 60.3.

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

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties was 33% as of Thursday, up from 31% last week, according to the seven-day average reported by the IDPH.

Across Illinois, the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 76 each day as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling daily average the IDPH reported.

Of the 703 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, 79 were in the ICU and 21 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

Illinois’ weekly case rate stood at 56.5 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Sunday. The state saw 14 deaths in the past week.

In neighboring Lake County, the health department reported a total of 178,394 cases and 1,535 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County had seen 163,007 cases and 1,221 deaths as of March 24, according to its health department.