Whiteside County has 56 new COVID-19 cases Saturday

The Whiteside County Health Department announced 56 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, as well as seven recoveries.

The new cases involve seven people under the age of 20, 12 people in their 20s, 11 people in their 30s, six people in their 40s, nine people in their 50s, four people in their 60s, four people in their 70s and three people over the age of 80.

Lee, Ogle and Carroll counties did not release updated statistics on Saturday.

Whiteside County has had 1,443 cases and 25 COVID-related deaths. Lee County has had 676 cases, 480 recoveries and one death. Ogle County has had 1,179 cases, 953 recoveries and seven deaths. Carroll County has had 400 cases, 316 recoveries and 14 deaths.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen seven days of positivity increases and five days of hospital admission increases. The region's positivity rate increased from 11.7% to 12.2%, still the highest rate of any of the state's 11 regions. Currently, 35% of medical/surgical beds are available and 36% of ICU beds.

The North region (Region 1) is under additional COVID-19 mitigation measures from the IDPH as of Saturday, Oct. 3, and added stricter mitigations, beginning Sunday. 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 Boone (14.9%), Winnebago (13.6%), and Whiteside (12.6%).

DeKalb County's positivity rate decreased from 9.2% to 8.7%.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Saturday announced 6,161 new cases and 63 COVID-related deaths. The state has seen 370,194 cases and 9,481 deaths.

Sterling has had 5,912 tests and 481 cases. Rock Falls has had 3,077 tests and 321 cases. Dixon has had 7,252 tests and 457 cases. Rochelle has had 4,835 tests and 585 cases.