49 new COVID-19 cases in DeKalb County as region falls short of metrics required for Phase 4

Syringes filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine wait to be used Wednesday at the vaccination site in DeKalb.

SYCAMORE – DeKalb County missed entering Phase 4 on Friday which would have loosened pandemic restrictions and opened up youth sports, as its health region posted a 6.6% positivity rate, just shy of the 6.5% required, while DeKalb County recorded the highest rate in the region.

The region will need to start a new three-day streak at or under 6.5% while making sure hospital admissions don’t increase and ICU availability doesn’t decrease in order to ender Phase 4, which would include relaxed dining restrictions, the ability to play all high school sports including football and basketball, and other loosened mitigations.

The news came on a day the DeKalb County Health Department announced 49 new cases, bringing the total cases in the county to 7,755. The death total remained at 89.

MunicipalityCases (last 7 days)Tests (last 7 days)7-day positivity rate
DeKalb1161,3168.8%
Sycamore386196.1%
Cortland1612013.3%
Genoa2216913%
Kingston85514.5%
Kirkland105717.5%
Malta43411.8%
Hinckley81017.9%
Shabbona5539.4%
Waterman3437.0%

DeKalb County posted an 11.4% positivity rate, by far the highest in the region, which runs north to Rockford and west to the Iowa border. Boone was the next highest at 10.6% but ran about a third as many tests.

Among the new cases, 10 were in residents under 20, six were in their 20s, five were in their 30s, six in their 40s, five in their 50s, seven in their 60s, two in their 70s and eight in their 80s.

In recovery and testing data released weekly on Fridays, the county has run 91,033 tests to date. There have been 6,751 recoveries and 915 active cases.

By the numbers

There currently are seven long-term care facilities in outbreak mode in DeKalb County.

DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in DeKalb has reported 117 cases (66 staff and 51 residents), Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb has reported 60 cases (29 staff and 31 residents with one death) and Bethany Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in DeKalb has reported 109 cases (46 staff and 63 residents with 10 deaths). Prairie Crossing Living and Rehabilitation Center in Shabbona has reported 88 cases (34 staff and 54 residents with eight deaths). Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore has reported 47 cases (17 staff and 30 residents with eight deaths), and Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich has reported eight cases (five employees and three residents). Pine Acres in DeKalb has 10 cases (five staff and five residents).

Some facilities are not designated long-term care by the county but are by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Opportunity House in Sycamore reported one new case, with 37 cases on the state website during the facility’s second documented outbreak, while Avancer Home in Genoa had 14 cases and one death as of Jan. 22, one more than the week prior.

There have been 1,270 cases in DeKalb County residents 19 or younger, 1,808 in their 20s, 1,153 in their 30s, 1,100 in their 40s, 991 in their 50s, 679 in their 60s, 389 in their 70s and 365 in their 80s or older.

There have been 50 deaths reported in DeKalb County residents in their 80s or older, 15 in their 70s, 13 in their 60s, six in their 50s, three in their 40s, one in their 30s and one infant.

According to county data, DeKalb has seen between 3,296 and 3,300 cases. There are between 1,586 and 1,590 cases in Sycamore; 696 and 700 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site); 636 and 640 in Genoa; 341 and 345 cases in Cortland; 196 and 200 cases in Kirkland; 186 and 190 Hinckley; 176 and 180 in Kingston; 146 and 150 cases in Somonauk; 101 and 105 in Shabbona; 96 to 100 in Waterman; 91 and 95 in Malta; 56 and 60 in Maple Park; 16 and 20 in Clare; 11 and 15 in Earlville and Esmond; and six and 10 in Lee and Leland. Marengo and Rochelle each report between one and five cases.

The DeKalb County website only lists residents who live within county lines for a municipality, while the IDPH website lists everyone within a certain ZIP code. Numbers also may vary because of data lags.

The 60115 ZIP code, including DeKalb, had 3,210 cases reported and 45,171 tests administered (a positivity rate of 7.1%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 1,593 cases and 17,092 tests (9.3%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported 19 cases and 185 tests (10.3%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 337 cases and 3,449 tests (9.8%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 633 cases and 5,212 tests (12.1%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 172 cases and 1,418 tests (12.1%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 217 cases and 1,886 tests (11.5%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 88 cases and 1,148 tests (7.7%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 266 cases and 2,673 tests (10%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 185 cases and 1,935 tests (9.6%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 1,066 cases and 10,460 tests (10.2%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 114 cases and 1,119 tests (10.2%); and the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 94 cases and 1,054 tests (8.9%).

The IDPH reported 1,093,375 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19, while 18,615 people have died statewide. There have been 15,209,516 tests performed.

According to state data, 4,031 doses of the vaccine have been administered to DeKalb County residents either in the county or at another location, and 542 residents have been fully vaccinated as of Friday.

The region recently hit Tier 1 mitigations Jan. 18, reopening limited indoor dining and other recreational facilities, along with allowing some youth sports. With three straight days under 6.5% rolling positivity, the region would qualify to enter into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan, meaning loosening capacity limits on indoor dining and other areas.

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