March 28, 2024
Coronavirus

New COVID-19 cases in Illinois children continue to rise

IDPH announces most new cases in a single day since January

New COVID-19 cases in Illinois children went up for the eighth consecutive week and are at levels last seen in January, according to state data. In addition, there currently are 26 schools with an outbreak of COVID-19.

Children 5 to 11 years old accounted for 2,512 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending August 21. It’s the most new cases since the week ending January 23. This age group, which is not yet eligible for a coronavirus vaccine, had only 108 new cases two months ago.

Age group/New cases5-1112-17
Week ending: 7/31/211,311 new cases1,841 new cases
Week ending: 8/7/211,7462,101
Week ending: 8/14/212,2962,444
Week ending: 8/21/212,5122,674

The school outbreaks are in 14 counties, including Kane, Cook, Ogle, Will and La Salle.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 4,942 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths Friday.

The 4,942 new cases is the most in a single day for the state since January 23.

For Thursday, the state administered 25,307 vaccine doses.

The state received the results of 110,833 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours up to Friday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate is 5.2%.

Illinois has seen 1,508,005 total cases of the virus, and 23,889 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 28,568,305 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 2,240 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, the most since April 19. Of those, 500 were in intensive care units and 253 were on ventilators.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, IDPH reported a total of 16,146,505 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 13,914,213 doses administered.

Also as of Friday, 6,742,814 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 52.92% of the state’s population of 12,741,080 people.

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

• Fully vaccinated: 6,409,133 (59.1%).

* At least one dose: 8,255,220 (76.2%).

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

• Fully vaccinated: 6,006,665 (61%).

• At Least one dose: 7,667,109 (77.8%).

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

• Fully vaccinated: 1,565,877 (76.6%).

• At Least one dose: 1,904,955 (93.2%).

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from health care providers on the number of vaccine doses administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

• Chicago: 54.71%.

Suburban Cook: 58.47%.

Lake: 55.61%.

McHenry: 53.67%.

DuPage: 62.83%.

Kane: 53.29%.

Will: 53.34%.

Kendall: 54.31%.

La Salle: 48.14%.

Grundy: 45.34%.

DeKalb: 46.42%

Ogle: 45.89%.

Lee: 49.49%.

Whiteside: 44.84%.

Bureau: 45.35%.

Regional update: All 11 regions in the state are in Phase 5.

Regional data from the IDPH remains on a three-day lag.

The North Suburban (McHenry and Lake counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.5%. Currently, 15% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average stayed flat at 7.4%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 5.0%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable two out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to a total of 117 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.6%. Currently, 22% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 5.9%, and DuPage County’s stayed flat at 5.4%.

Hospitalizations have increased in 10 of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 201 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 7.3%. Currently, 24% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable three out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 96 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The North (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 6.8%.

Currently, 13% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate increased to 7.2%, Lee County’s rate increased to 7.1%, and Whiteside County’s went up to 6.2%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable four out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 85 total COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The North-Central (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 6.6%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 4.8%. Currently, 21% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to a total of 212 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate increased to 4.2%. Currently, 17% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate stayed flat at 4.7%. Currently, 17% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable one out of the past 10 days in this region.

John Sahly

John Sahly

John Sahly is the digital editor for the Shaw Local News Network. He has been with Shaw Media since 2008, previously serving as the Northwest Herald's digital editor, and the Daily Chronicle sports editor and sports reporter.