A day after setting a new high for cases reported in a single day, health officials on Wednesday announced the lowest number of new cases since Nov. 3.
The DeKalb County Health Department reported 55 new cases of COVID-19, the lowest since Nov. 3, when 48 new cases were reported. There now are 5,292 cases reported in the county, including the record 136 Tuesday.
There were also 19 new cases reported at area long-term care facilities, including two more at Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center (one staff, one resident). Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation in Shabbona had three new cases in staff and 14 in residents.
For the second time, Pine Acres in DeKalb, once the site of the county's deadliest outbreak before that designation was given to Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich was taken off active outbreak mode. It had three cases as of Tuesday.
The seven-day rolling positivity rate in the county rose to 12.2%. The rate hasn't been more than 12% since Nov. 21. The positivity rate for Region 1, which includes DeKalb, dropped to 14.8%, down from 15% the day prior.
By the numbers
To date, there are eight long-term care facilities in outbreak mode in DeKalb County.
DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in DeKalb reports 28 cases (26 in staff, two in a resident), Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb reports 47 cases (22 in staff, 25 in residents with one death), Bethany Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in DeKalb reports 28 cases (23 in staff, five in residents), Pine Acres Rehabilitation and Living Center reports three cases (two staff, one resident), Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center in Shabbona reports 49 cases (15 in staff, 34 residents), and Heritage Woods in DeKalb reports seven cases (five in staff, two in residents). Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore reports 30 cases (12 in staff, 18 in residents). Sandwich Rehabilitation reports four cases (three in staff and one resident) and Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich reports two cases (one each in an employee and resident).
In total, there have been 882 cases in DeKalb County residents 19 or younger, 1,275 in their 20s, 753 in their 30s, 783 in their 40s, 701 in their 50s, 450 in their 60s, 241 in their 70s and 207 in their 80s or older.
To date, there have been 27 deaths reported in DeKalb County residents in their 80s, six in their 70s, six in their 60s, four in their 50s, two in their 40s, one in their 30s and one infant.
According to county data, DeKalb has seen between 2,296 and 2,230 cases. There are between 1,101 and 1,105 cases in Sycamore, 446 to 450 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site), 436 to 440 in Genoa, 246 and 250 cases in Cortland, 136 and 140 cases in Kirkland, 121 and 125 in Kingston, 116 and 120 cases in Hinckley, 71 to 75 cases in Somonauk, 66 and 70 in Malta, 56 and 60 in Waterman, 41 to 45 in Shabbona, 31 and 35 in Maple Park, 11 and 15 in Clare and six and 10 in Esmond and Earlville. Lee, Leland and Marengo and Rochelle each report between one and five cases.
The DeKalb County website lists residents that only live within the county lines for a municipality, while the IDPH website lists everyone within a certain ZIP code. Numbers also may vary because of data lags.
The 60115 ZIP code, including DeKalb, had 2,241 cases reported and 33,268 tests administered (a positivity rate of 6.7%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 1,120 cases and 12,281 tests (9.1%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 672 cases and 7,693 tests (8.7%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported 16 cases and 150 tests (10.1%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 246 cases and 2,629 tests (9.4%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 433 cases and 3,964 tests (10.9%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 121 cases and 1,080 tests (11.2%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 151 cases and 1,493 tests (10.1%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 113 cases and 1,376 tests (8.2%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 60 cases and 880 tests (6.8%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 63 cases and 868 tests (7.2%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 174 cases and 1,962 tests (8.9%); the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 58 cases and 775 tests (7.5%).
The IDPH reported 748,603 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, while 12,639 people have died statewide. There have been 10,699,586 tests performed.
The entire state moved to Tier 3 mitigation measures Nov. 20 to help stop the spread of COVID-19, including a continued prohibition on indoor dining at bars and restaurants, closures of gaming facilities and casinos and capping all gatherings to 10 or fewer, with officials urging residents to stay at home unless necessary and avoid holiday travel or family gatherings. DeKalb County’s health region has been under enhanced mitigations since Oct. 3. Under the new restrictions, each of the 11 health care regions can independently have restrictions eased if metrics improve.
In order for the region to move back to Tier 2 mitigation measures, with no restrictions on retail stores, gyms, casinos, gaming facilities, etc., the region needs to report three consecutive days of the regional positivity of rate less than 12%. In order to lift restrictions on bars and restaurants, the region's rates need to be below 8%. Region 1's seven-day rate has not dropped below 8% since mitigation measures first went into effect Oct. 3.