MORRIS – The Grundy County Health Department provided information Friday in a news release about vaccination, cases, mitigation and testing.

Vaccination

Total number of doses received in Grundy: 1,640

Total number of doses administered (as of Jan. 7): 1,151

*Note: Total doses does not distinguish between first and second doses.

Grundy County remains in Phase 1a, under which health care personnel and long-term care facility staff and residents are eligible to be vaccinated. It is unknown how long the county will remain in this phase, as timing depends on the quantity of vaccine received each week from Illinois Department of Public Health and the number of interested individuals in this phase. Grundy has requested the maximum allowable allocation each week the vaccine has been available.

Any health care personnel who live or work in Grundy County who have not yet been vaccinated may visit www.grundyhealth.com to complete the interest survey. A mass administration clinic is being planned in the coming week.

Vaccination efforts at long-term care facilities in Grundy County began this week. Each of the five facilities in the county has enrolled in a federal program to contract with a pharmacy for administration to staff and residents.

Phase 1b, which will allow essential front-line workers (as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) and adults 65 or older to get vaccinated, may begin as early as February. Additional information will be made available in the coming weeks.

The health department is not keeping a list of community members interested in getting vaccinated, and the county does not have a system for the public to register for or request a vaccine.

Community members are encouraged to visit www.grundyhealth.com.

Cases

The total number of positive cases in Grundy County, as processed by the health department, is 3,519 people, and 38 residents have died from COVID-19 complications: three males in their 60s, six males in their 70s, four females in their 70s, eight males in their 80s, 10 females in their 80s, three males in their 90s, three females in their 90s and one female older than 100.

The Grundy County Health Department currently is following 288 people who have tested positive and are in isolation, along with each of their close contacts.

Mitigation

Region: All of Illinois remains under Tier 3 mitigation measures from the state of Illinois. For Tier 3 mitigation metrics to be relaxed (i.e., move to Tier 2), a region must:

• Experience a seven-day rolling average test positivity rate of less than 12% for three consecutive days.
• Maintain an intensive care unit and medical/surgical bed availability of more than 20% for three consecutive days
• See a decline in the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital in seven out of the past 10 days.

The soonest a region may move to Tier 2 is Jan. 15. Details about Tier 2 mitigation efforts are forthcoming from the IDPH.

County: Grundy County remains at an “orange” warning level this week, according to the IDPH. Orange, a reference to the colors used to denote COVID-19 activity within counties on the IDPH’s map of the state, indicates that there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the community. The IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable or increasing COVID-19 activity. Below are the updated metrics for Grundy County:

• New cases per 100,000 people: If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, a warning is triggered. In the past week, there were 385 new cases per 100,000 people in Grundy County, up from 283 the previous week.

• Number of deaths: This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks. In the past week, there were eight deaths in Grundy County, up from one the previous week.

• Weekly test positivity: This metric indicates a warning when the seven-day test positivity rate rises above 8%. In the past week, the positivity rate in Grundy County was 14.6%, up from 10.1% the previous week.

• Tests performed: This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county. In the past week, 1,516 tests were performed in Grundy County, down from 1,550 the previous week.

• Weekly emergency department visits: This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of emergency department visits for COVID-19-like illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks. In the past week, 8.7% of the emergency department visits in Grundy County were for COVID-19-like illness, up from 3.5% the previous week.

• Weekly hospital admissions: A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks. In the past week, there were six hospital admissions for COVID-19-like illness, up from less than five the previous week.

• Clusters: This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increases in cases. In the past week, 0.7% of the cases in Grundy County were associated with clusters, down from 19% the previous week.

• Intensive care unit bed availability: If fewer than 20% of ICU beds are available in the region, this triggers a warning. In the past week, 22% of Grundy County’s ICU beds were available, up from 20% the previous week.

Testing

Testing is available throughout the county through local hospital systems, and protocol at each location is subject to change based on availability of resources. Mobile testing units organized by the IDPH also are available throughout the region. Residents seeking testing in the next few days may consider visiting the mobile units, listed below. Testing is free and will be offered to anyone – regardless of whether they have symptoms – by way of a nasal swab. Results will be available four to seven days after specimen collection. Those who are tested at an IDPH site and are not directly contacted by the IDPH in a timely manner may call 888-297-7208. Residents of any county are invited to the sites.

Saturday, Jan. 8, and Sunday, Jan. 9: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mission Boulevard Soccer Field, 640 Mission Blvd. in Joliet.