Sauk Valley reports 121 new coronavirus cases, 7 elderly deaths in Whiteside, Carroll counties

The Sauk Valley reported 121 coronavirus cases Wednesday, as well as seven elderly deaths in Whiteside and Carroll counties.

The Whiteside deaths were two people in their 80s and one in his or her 90s. Whiteside had 50 new cases, with four younger than 20, four in their 20s, nine in their 30s, seven in their 40s, nine in their 50s, eight in their 60s, one in his or her 70s and eight in their 80s, as well as 20 recoveries. The county now totals 1,294 cases, 25 deaths and 825 recoveries.

Carroll County had two deaths in their 80s and two in their 90s. Carroll reported 21 new cases, with a teenager, two in their 20s, three in their 30s, one in his or her 40s, five in their 50s, three in their 60s, three in their 70s and three 90 or older, for a total of 385 cases and 13 deaths.

Lee County had 15 new cases, with one younger than 10, one between 11 and 14, five in their 20s, one in his or her 30s, two in their 50s, three in their 60s and two in their 80s, as well as eight recoveries, and now has a total of 636 cases, one death and 459 recoveries.

Ogle reported 35 new cases. and now totals 1,127 cases, seven deaths and 899 recoveries.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen seven days of positivity increases and four days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate decreased slightly to 11.6%, still the highest rate of any of the state's 11 regions. Currently, 41% of medical/surgical beds are available and 48% of ICU beds.

The North region (Region 1) is under additional COVID-19 mitigation measures from the IDPH as of Saturday, Oct. 3. If Region 1 continues to report positivity rates above 8%, further mitigation efforts may be taken. To return to the standard Phase 4 restrictions, the region will need to maintain an average positivity rate of less than or equal to 6.5% over a 14-day period.

The region's counties that are reporting the highest positivity rates are Winnebago (12.8%), Boone (15.7%), Carroll (11.6%) and Whiteside (11.6%). DeKalb County's positivity rate decreased to 8.2%.

Illinois announced 4,342 new cases and 69 additional deaths Wednesday, and has now had 355,217 cases and 9,345 deaths.