‘Cases are on the rise, mask up’: DeKalb County Health Department issues warning as 48 new cases reported

Two long-term care facilities back in outbreak mode

DeKalb County health officials are warning residents of a rise in cases in Region 1, and asking people to mask up as 48 new cases were reported Thursday, according to the DeKalb County Health Department.

That brings the total number of cases to 9,066. No new deaths were reported, and the death toll remains at 115.

In a social media post Thursday, health departments part of the Northern Illinois Rockford Region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, Winnebago) said COVID-19 cases are going up in Region 1, urging residents to “mask up, vax up and back up.”

For the first time in weeks, two long-term care facilities are back in outbreak mode as of Thursday, with DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and Oak Crest-DeKalb Area Retirement Center each reporting two new cases in employees.

According to Illinois Department of Public Health data, 46,997 total vaccine doses have been administered to DeKalb County residents, and 16,365 residents, or 15.71% 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 922, with 8,840 doses of total reported inventory, according to state numbers – 8,660 at the health department and 180 at community partners. The inventory numbers are according to state health officials, and may differ from local numbers, according to DeKalb County health officials.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate for Region 1, which runs north to Rockford and west to the Iowa border remained at 5.9%. The county rate rose to 4.9%. Positivity rates are reported with a three-day data lag. Region 1 also reports a 7-day average of 89 COVID-19 patients hospitalized.

By the numbers

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

In total, there have been 1,529 cases in DeKalb County residents 19 or younger, 2,146 in their 20s, 1,367 in their 30s, 1,279 in their 40s, 1,136 in their 50s, 777 in their 60s, 436 in their 70s and 396 in their 80s or older.

There have been 67 deaths reported in DeKalb County residents in their 80s or older, 18 in their 70s, 18 in their 60s, six in their 50s, three in their 40s, one in their 30s, one in their 20s, and one infant.

According to county data, DeKalb has seen between 3,921 and 3,925 cases. There are between 1,826 and 1,830 cases in Sycamore; 801 and 805 in Sandwich and Plano (listed as one region on the site); 716 and 720 in Genoa; 421 and 425 cases in Cortland; 226 and 230 cases in Hinckley; 221 and 225 in Kirkland; 191 and 195 in Kingston; 171 and 175 cases in Somonauk; 121 and 125 in Waterman; 111 and 115 in Shabbona and Malta; 76 and 80 in Maple Park; 21 and 25 in Clare and Earlville; 16 and 20 in Earlville; 11 and 15 in Leland and Esmond; and six and 10 in Lee. 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 3,786 cases reported and 68,073 tests administered (a positivity rate of 5.5%); the 60178 ZIP code, including Sycamore, had 1,834 cases and 21,694 tests (8.4%); the 60111 ZIP code, including Clare, reported 23 cases and 248 tests (9.2%); the 60112 ZIP code, including Cortland, had 418 cases and 4,543 tests (9.2%); the 60135 ZIP code, including Genoa, had 707 cases and 6,537 tests (10.8%); the 60145 ZIP code, including Kingston, had 188 cases and 1,791 tests (10.4%); the 60146 ZIP code, including Kirkland, had 243 cases and 2,392 tests (10.1%); the 60150 ZIP code, including Malta, had 107 cases and 1,473 tests (7.2%); the 60151 ZIP code, including parts of Maple Park in both DeKalb and Kane counties, had 319 cases and 3,412 tests (9.3%); the 60520 ZIP code, including Hinckley, had 226 cases and 2,671 tests (8.4%); the 60548 ZIP code, including Sandwich, had 1,217 cases and 12,937 tests (9.4%); the 60550 ZIP code, including Shabbona, had 122 cases and 1,450 tests (8.4%); and the 60556 ZIP code, including Waterman, had 118 cases and 1,416 tests (8.3%).

The IDPH reported 1,269,196 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19, while 21,457 people have died statewide. There have been 20,916,192 tests performed to date.

According to testing and recovery data released weekly on Fridays by the county, 7,952 DeKalb County residents have fully recovered as of March 26, and there have been 129,858 tests run on county residents. Updated recovery data is expected Monday.

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