March 28, 2024
Coronavirus | Northwest Herald


Coronavirus

McHenry County reports 118 new COVID-19 cases, two additional deaths

The McHenry County Department of Health reported 118 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths Thursday.

This brings the county's totals to 13,628 confirmed cases, 158 related deaths and six additional deaths where the cause was likely COVID-19 but not confirmed. The county's recovery rate currently sits at 98%.

According to McHenry County's COVID-19 dashboard, 65.2% of deaths – 103 of 158 – have been associated with long-term care facilities.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported Thursday that a woman in her 80s was the latest death in McHenry County.

McHenry County residents have been tested a total of 156,583 times since the pandemic began, according to county-specific data collected by the IDPH.

Tier 3 of the IDPH's COVID-19 mitigation measures took effect across the state Nov. 20.

The new restrictions shut down a few industries, such as casinos and theaters, and tightened capacity restrictions on many others.

In order to move back to Tier 2, which is less restrictive, Region 9 (McHenry and Lake counties) must meet three metrics tracked by the IDPH.

First, the region must report a seven-day average test positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days. As of Thursday, McHenry County's positivity rate was 15.5% and Region 9 was at 12.7%.

Second, both intensive care unit and medical/surgical bed availability must be greater than 20% for three consecutive days. As of Thursday, Region 9 was satisfying this metric for ICU beds but not medical/surgical beds, according to regional data from the IDPH.

Third, the region must show a decline in average COVID-19 hospitalizations for seven out of the past 10 days. On Thursday, Region 9 reported seven days of decreases in hospital admissions for COVID-19 out of the past 10 days, satisfying this metric as well.

Gov. JB Pritzker said Monday, however, none of the state's 11 health care regions would advance to Tier 2 mitigations "for a few weeks" even if they hit the necessary metrics because of Thanksgiving holiday gatherings.

The Lake County Health Department reported a total of 37,376 confirmed cases and 631 related deaths Thursday.

The Kane County Health Department has reported a total of 32.698 confirmed cases and 443 deaths.

Statewide, the IDPH reported a total of 759,562 confirmed cases and 12,830 related deaths. So far, Illinois has conducted 10,806,364 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 2,054 confirmed cases reported over the course of the pandemic, according to county data. Woodstock (60098) follows with 1,689 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 rest of the local breakdown of cases by ZIP code: McHenry (60050) 1,382; Lake in the Hills (60156) 1,260; Huntley (60142) 1,067; Algonquin (60102) 1,036; Harvard (60033) 943; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 891; Cary (60013) 807; Marengo (60152) 596; Wonder Lake (60097) 435; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 423; Spring Grove (60081) 317; Island Lake (60042) 180; Richmond (60071) 150; Fox River Grove (60021) 150; Hebron (60034) 77; Union (60180) 49; Barrington (60010) 42; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 29.