New COVID-19 cases in Illinois children continue to decline

New COVID-19 cases in Illinois children are down for the second 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 2,514 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending Sept. 18, a decline of 962 cases from the week prior.

This also IS the sixth 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. Children aged 12-17 years old are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and state data indicates 453,179 children in this age group are fully vaccinated.

There are 257 total school outbreaks, up from 206 a week ago, including Cook, DuPage, Kane, McHenry, DeKalb, La Salle and Ogle counties.

The IDPH reported 3,304 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 40 additional deaths Friday.

For Thursday, the state administered 24,527 shots.

The state received the results of 150,245 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate fell to 2.7%.

Illinois has seen 1,612,129 total cases of the virus, and 24,783 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 31,192,769 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,926 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 474 were in intensive care units, and 252 were on ventilators.

Region 5, southern Illinois, is up to five available, staffed, ICU beds out of 93 total.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, the IDPH reported a total of 17,181,675 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 14,419,886 vaccines administered.

As of Friday, 6,986,587 Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated, or 54.84% of the population. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 6,700,832 (61.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,581,749 (79.2%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 6,247,653 (63.4%)

At Least 1 Dose: 7,954,186 (80.7%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,590,593 (77.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,935,389 (94.7%)

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

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

Chicago: 56.71%

Suburban Cook: 60.33%

Lake: 57.34%

McHenry: 55.51%

DuPage: 64.25%

Kane: 55.27%

Will: 55.34%

Kendall: 56.58%

La Salle: 49.18%

Grundy: 47.85%

DeKalb: 47.95%

Ogle: 47.71%

Lee: 50.92%

Whiteside: 45.91%

Bureau: 47.10%

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 3.5%. Currently, 16% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average increased to 3.8%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 3.4%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to a total of 91 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 3.6%. Currently, 23% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 3.7%, and DuPage County’s decreased to 3.5%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable nine out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 149 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 4.7%. Currently, 22% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable six out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 115 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 4.7%.

Currently, 18% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate fell to 4.6%, Lee County’s rate increased to 2.4%, and Whiteside County’s went down to 4.5%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable four out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 112 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 4.8%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 3.7%. Currently, 18% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the past 10 days. The region is down to a total of 203 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate stayed flat at 3.0%. Currently, 17% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for nine out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate fell to 3.0%. Currently, 15% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.