County announces 18 new COVID-19 cases as positivity rates drop

Health officials on Tuesday announced 18 new cases of the novel coronavirus cases, bringing the total cases in the county to 8,339 amid dropping positivity levels.

No new cases or deaths were reported at the three long-term care facilities currently listed in outbreak mode by the county.

The death toll remains at 109, according to the DeKalb County Health Department.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate in Region 1, which runs north to Rockford and west to the Iowa border, fell to 3%, and the county’s rate also fell to 2.7%, the lowest it has been since before October.

According to state data, 14,231 total vaccine doses have been administered to DeKalb County residents, and 3,532 residents, or 3.39% of the county’s population of 104,143, have been fully vaccinated. The seven-day rolling average of doses administered to county residents is at 276, with 370 doses reported inventory - 110 at the health department and 260 at community partners.

By the numbers

Of the new COVID-19 cases, three were in residents 19 or younger, three in their 20s, three in their 30s, two in their 40s, three in their 50s, and four in their 60s.

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

DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in DeKalb has reported 128 cases (75 in staff and 53 in residents with 11 deaths), Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb has reported 63 cases (31 in staff and 32 in residents with one death) and Bethany Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in DeKalb has reported 110 cases (47 in staff and 63 in residents with 10 deaths).

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 38 cases on the state website during the facility’s second documented outbreak, stable from the week before. Avancer Home in Genoa indicates 17 cases and one death.

There have been 1,392 cases in DeKalb County residents ages 19 or younger, 1,955 in their 20s, 1,248 in their 30s, 1,175 in their 40s, 1,052 in their 50s, 725 in their 60s, 407 in their 70s and 385 in their 80s or older.

There have been 65 deaths reported in DeKalb County residents in their 80s or older, 17 in their 70s, 16 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 3,576 and 3,580 cases. There are between 1,691 and 1,695 cases in Sycamore, 761 and 765 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site), 671 and 675 in Genoa, 376 and 380 cases in Cortland, 216 and 220 cases in Kirkland, 201 and 205 in Hinckley, 186 and 190 in Kingston, 161 and 165 cases in Somonauk, 111 and 115 in Waterman, 106 to 110 in Shabbona, 101 and 105 in Malta, 71 and 75 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 reports 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 3,452 cases reported and 54,870 tests administered (a positivity rate of 6.3%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 1,698 cases and 19,251 tests (8.8%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported 19 cases and 209 tests (9.1%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 370 cases and 3,943 tests (9.4%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 664 cases and 5,829 tests (11.4%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 180 cases and 1,584 tests (11.3%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 235 cases and 2,132 tests (11%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 95 cases and 1,281 tests (7.4%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 296 cases and 3,054 tests (9.7%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 201 cases and 2,241 tests (9%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 1,151 cases and 11,623 tests (9.9%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 120 cases and 1,281 tests (9.4%); and the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 106 cases and 1,231 tests (8.6%).

The IDPH reported 1,177,320 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19, while 20,330 people have died statewide. There have been 17,721,561 tests performed to date.

According to weekly recovery and testing data released Feb. 19, a total of 7,544 residents have recovered from the virus while 644 are in recovery. There have been 114,155 tests run.

According to weekly vaccine data, as of Feb. 19 there were 348 doses of the vaccine administered to DeKalb County residents, a drop-off of almost 1,000 from the 1,340 doses administered the week prior. Updated data is expected Friday.

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