On the same day new COVID-19 restrictions announced, McHenry County reports 99 new COVID-19 cases

McHenry County saw 99 new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths Wednesday, the same day the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that McHenry and Lake counties would face new restrictions on bars and restaurants, including the end of indoor dining, because of rising COVID-19 rates.

The new cases bring the total number of cases in the county, since the pandemic began, to 6,631 with the number of deaths staying at 120. The county’s recovery rate currently sits at 97%.

The region, for the third day in a row, remained above an 8% positivity rate, initiating increased mitigations to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the region.

On Wednesday, the Lake County Health Department reported 20,553 COVID-19 cases and 510 deaths, while nearby Kane County reported 16,606 cases and 346 deaths.

Lake and McHenry counties saw eight out of ten days of positivity increases on Tuesday, and five out of 10 days with of hospital increases, per IDPH data. The region, as of Tuesday, had 38% of hospital beds available and 50% of intensive care unit beds available.

The Illinois Department of Public Health will continue to monitor the region's positivity rate for a two-week period beginning Friday. If the region sustains a positivity rate below 6.5% for three consecutive days, both counties will see the increased restrictions lifted and return to Phase 4, according to the governor's plan.

However, if the region's positivity rate were to still be at or greater than 8% after two weeks, both counties could be subject to stricter limitations under Tier 2 guidelines as was enacted in Region 1, which includes neighboring Boone and DeKalb counties. Those restrictions could include further limitations on dining and the reduction of elective surgeries and procedures.

Statewide, the IDPH reported a total of 389,095 confirmed cases and 9,619 related deaths. So far, Illinois has conducted a total of 7,459,042 COVID-19 tests. The statewide recovery rate is 97%.

Among McHenry County ZIP codes, Crystal Lake (60014) has the highest number of COVID-19 cases with a total of 1,006 confirmed cases, according to county data. Woodstock (60098) followed with 910 cases.

The McHenry County health department reports only ZIP code data that is located 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 breakdown of McHenry County cases by ZIP code: Lake in the Hills (60156) 643; Harvard (60033) 575; McHenry (60050) 582; Algonquin (60102) 566; Huntley (60142) 486; Cary (60013) 382; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 339; Marengo (60152) 268; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 208; Wonder Lake (60097) 192; Spring Grove (60081) 138; Island Lake (60042) 87; Fox River Grove (60021) 67; Richmond (60071) 72; Hebron (60034) 31; Barrington (60010) 28; Union (60180) 19; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 11.