COVID-19 cases in Illinois children decline for the first time since June

New COVID-19 cases in Illinois children are down for the first time in 10 weeks.

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 3,476 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending September 11, a decline of 661 cases from the week prior.

The last time new coronavirus cases declined week-over-week in Illinois children was the end of June.

This is also the third 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 443,648 children in this age group are fully vaccinated.

There are 206 total school outbreaks – up from 128 a week ago – in 38 counties, including Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, DeKalb, La Salle and Ogle counties.

IDPH reported 3,601 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 54 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 21,372 shots.

The state received the results of 87,441 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate is 4.1%.

Illinois has seen 1,590,342 total cases of the virus, and 24,546 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 30,395,751 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 2,082 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, the fewest since August 22. Of those, 502 were in intensive care units, and 275 were on ventilators.

Hard-hit Region 5, southern Illinois, remains at zero available ICU beds for the third consecutive day.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, IDPH reported a total of 17,022,275 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 14,284,288 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 6,917,358 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 54.29%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 6,632,339 (61.2%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,516,655 (78.6%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 6,188,691 (62.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 7,896,476 (80.1%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,585,037 (77.6%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,929,095 (94.4%)

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: 56.18%

Suburban Cook: 59.82%

Lake: 56.89%

McHenry: 54.95%

DuPage: 63.82%

Kane: 54.76%

Will: 54.78%

Kendall: 55.96%

La Salle: 48.61%

Grundy: 47.17%

DeKalb: 47.47%

Ogle: 47.17%

Lee: 50.44%

Whiteside: 45.59%

Bureau: 46.42%

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 4.0%. Currently, 18% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average decreased to 4.4%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 3.9%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable seven out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to a total of 133 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 4.2%. Currently, 25% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 4.4%, and DuPage County’s stayed flat at 4.0%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 161 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 5.3%. Currently, 25% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable three out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 126 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 stayed flat at 5.8%.

Currently, 16% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate increased to 6.3%, Lee County’s rate increased to 3.2%, and Whiteside County’s went up to 4.6%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable four out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 107 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 decreased to 5.3%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to XX%. Currently, 17% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for nine out of the past 10 days. The region is down to a total of 235 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate fell to 3.1%. Currently, 18% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for three out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate fell to 3.6%. Currently, 15% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable five out of the past 10 days in this region.