March 28, 2024
Coronavirus

COVID-19 cases in Illinois children continue to grow

IDPH: 3,804 new virus cases in 5-11 year olds

New COVID-19 cases in Illinois children are up for the 10th consecutive week.

The Illinois Department of Public Health released its weekly school aged cases report on Friday. The youngest group measured in this report, children aged 5-11, reported 3,804 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending September 4. That is the most cases for this age group, which is not currently eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, since early January.

Age group/New cases5-1112-1718-22
Week ending: 6/26/21108 new cases166 new cases135 new cases
Week ending: 7/3/212874791,052
Week ending: 7/10/214677151,390
Week ending: 7/17/216339241,583
Week ending: 7/24/219801,3572,027
Week ending: 7/31/211,3151,8512,652
Week ending: 8/7/211,7802,1323,229
Week ending: 8/14/212,3332,4773,576
Week ending: 8/21/212,7502,8614,028
Week ending: 8/28/213,4623,4035,433
Week ending: 9/4/213,8043,6255,354

This is also the second consecutive week that the 5-11 year old age group had more new cases in a week than the 12-17 year old age group since IDPH made this data public in August 2020.

Children aged 12-17 years old are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and state data indicates 430,591 children in this age group are fully vaccinated.

There are 128 total school outbreaks – up from 81 a week ago – in 33 counties, including Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, DeKalb, La Salle and Ogle counties.

IDPH reported 5,309 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 47 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 23,934 shots.

The state received the results of 117,097 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate is 4.5%.

Illinois has seen 1,564,386 total cases of the virus, and 24,261 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 29,756,833 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 2,346 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 549 were in intensive care units, and 311 were on ventilators.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, IDPH reported a total of 16,672,735 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 14,149,453 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 6,838,340 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 53.67%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 6,555,729 (60.5%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,435,578 (77.8%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 6,125,138 (62.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 7,824,869 (79.4%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,578,471 (77.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,921,637 (94%)

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from healthcare providers on vaccines administered.

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

Chicago: 55.57%

Suburban Cook: 59.23%

Lake: 56.35%

McHenry: 54.43%

DuPage: 63.25%

Kane: 54.20%

Will: 53.81%

Kendall: 55.34%

La Salle: 48.07%

Grundy: 46.49%

DeKalb: 47.07%

Ogle: 46.65%

Lee: 49.92%

Whiteside: 45.24%

Bureau: 45.85%

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 stayed flat at 4.4%. Currently, 21% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average increased to 4.6%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 4.3%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable six out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to a total of 136 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 4.;5%. Currently, 25% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate stayed flat at 4.6%, and DuPage County’s stayed flat at 4.4%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable eight out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 191 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 5.7%. Currently, 24% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 consecutive days in this region. The region is up to 124 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 decreased to 5.4%.

Currently, 19% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate fell to 5.6%, Lee County’s rate decreased to 2.7%, and Whiteside County’s went down to 2.0%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable one out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 105 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 5.3%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 4.2%. Currently, 18% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for two out of the past 10 days. The region is up to a total of 250 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate went up to 3.9%. Currently, 19% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for three out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate stayed flat at 4.1%. 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.