DeKalb County man in 50s dies from COVID-19, marks 44th death as 112 new cases reported Thursday

Another DeKalb County resident, a man in his 50s, died from complications due to the novel coronavirus Thursday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, marking the 44th death in the county since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

On Wednesday, the department reported 94 new cases of the novel coronavirus, and on Thursday reported 112 more cases, bringing the total to 3,806 as the regional positivity rate neared 19% spurred by an ongoing fall surge of the viral respiratory disease.

To date, 50% of all known COVID-19 cases in DeKalb County have been identified in the past month alone, since on Oct. 12 the county reported 1,903 cases.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate in the county rose for the ninth day straight, reaching 10.8% Nov. 9, the last day reported by the Illinois Department of Public health due to a three-day lag. The positivity rate for Region 1, including DeKalb, also rose to 18.9%.

The death toll in the county rose to 44, and cases were again reported in every age group.

Of the new cases Thursday, 17 were in residents 19 or younger, 21 in their 20s, 21 in their 30s, 16 in their 40s, 15 in their 50s, 11 in their 60s, eight in their 70s and three in their 80s.

No new cases were reported linked to any long-term care facilities locally Thursday.

By the numbers

To date, there remain seven long-term care facilities in outbreak mode in DeKalb County.

Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore still reports two cases of the respiratory virus in staff. DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in DeKalb remained at 18 cases (17 in staff and one in a resident). Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb still reports 23 cases (15 in staff and eight in residents) and one death; Bethany Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in DeKalb, reports six cases, all in staff; Pine Acres Rehabilitation and Living Center reports two cases (one each in a resident and employee); Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center in Shabbona reports four cases (three in staff and one in a resident); and Heritage Woods in DeKalb reports five cases (three in staff and two in resdents).

In total, there are 643 cases in residents 19 or younger, 988 in their 20s, 537 in their 30s, 552 in their 40s, 495 in their 50s, 290 in their 60s, 166 in their 70s and 135 in their 80s or older.

To date, there have been 26 deaths reported in DeKalb County residents in their 80s, six in their 70s, five in their 60s, four in their 50s, and one each in their 40s and 30s and an infant.

According to county data, the city of DeKalb reports between 1,771 and 1,775 cases. There are between 681 and 685 cases in Sycamore, 316 and 320 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site), 286 and 290 cases in Genoa, 166 and 170 cases in Cortland, 91 and 95 cases in Kirkland and Kingston, 71 and 75 cases in Hinckley, 46 and 50 in Malta and Somonauk, 31 and 35 in Waterman, 26 and 30 in Shabbona, 21 to 25 in Maple Park, and six to 10 in Esmond and Clare. Lee, Leland, Marengo and Earlville each report between one and five cases.

Cases on the DeKalb County website list residents that only live within the county lines for a municipality, while the state website lists everyone within a certain ZIP code. Numbers also may vary because of data lags.

The 60115 ZIP code, including DeKalb, had 1,750 cases reported and 26,983 tests administered (a positivity rate of 6.4%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 717 cases and 9,940 tests (7.2%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 6,261 tests and 490 cases (7.8%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported nine cases and 120 tests (7.5%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 183 cases and 2,207 tests (8.2%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 290 cases and 3,220 tests (9.0%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 90 cases and 888 tests (10.1%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 109 cases and 1,228 tests (8.8%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 72 cases and 1,146 tests (6.2%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 29 cases and 785 tests (3.6%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 41 cases and 718 tests (5.7%) the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 117 cases and 1,608 tests (7.2%); the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 31 cases and 654 tests (4.7%)

The IDPH reported 536,542 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday, while 10,477 people have died statewide. There have been 8,765,100 tests performed.

Recovery data updated weekly in DeKalb County shows 1,805 DeKalb County residents fully recovered from the virus as of Nov. 6. Updated data is expected Friday.

The county’s health region, Region 1, began enhanced restrictions earlier this month, with restaurants and bars prohibited from allowing indoor dining. The region needs three days in a row of a rolling average of less than 6.5% to have the restrictions lifted. The region’s rate has not dropped below 8% since mitigations went into effect Oct. 3, so restrictions will remain until otherwise stated by the IDPH.