Sauk Valley reports 99 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, additional death in Whiteside County

The Sauk Valley reported 99 new coronavirus cases as well as an additional death in Whiteside County Tuesday.

The Whiteside County Health Department announced an additional COVID-related death on Tuesday involving a person in their 80s.

Whiteside County also had 60 new cases of COVID-19 involving nine people under 20, six in their 20s, 11 in their 30s, six in their 40s, 10 in their 50s, eight in their 60s and 10 in their 70s. Whiteside County also had 16 recoveries.

Lee County had 15 new cases Tuesday involving one person under the age of 10, two teens, a person in their 20s, two in their 40s, two in their 50s, three in their 60s, two in their 70s and two in their 80s. Lee County also had 11 residents lifted off of isolation and currently has seven residents hospitalized.

Ogle County had 24 new cases on Tuesday as well as 26 recoveries.

Whiteside County has had 1,572 cases and 28 deaths. Lee County has had 749 cases, 526 recoveries and one death. Ogle County has had 1,255 cases, 1,084 recoveries and seven deaths. Carroll County, which did not report updated statistics on Tuesday, has had 430 cases, 321 recoveries and 14 deaths.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen six days of positivity increases and three days of hospital admission increases, a decrease in both metrics. The region's positivity rate decreased from 12.8% to 12.5%. This remains the highest rate of any of the state's 11 regions. Currently, 37% of medical/surgical beds are available and 42% of ICU beds.

After failing to lower its positivity rate below 8%, the North region (Region 1) was moved into the IDPH's tier two mitigation measures Sunday. Among other things, this means gatherings are limited to 10 people and outdoor dining groups are limited to six people instead of 10.

The region's counties that are reporting the highest positivity rates are Boone (15.9%), Winnebago (13.5%), and Whiteside (12.9%). DeKalb County's positivity rate decreased from 10.1% to 9.6%.

To get back 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 three-day period.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday announced 4,000 new cases and 46 COVID-related deaths. Illinois has had 382,985 cases and 9,568 deaths.

Sterling has had 6,291 tests and 528 cases. Rock Falls has had 3,315 tests and 359 cases. Dixon has had 7,531 tests and 485 cases. Rochelle has had 4,951 tests and 598 cases.