La Salle County reports second COVID-19-related death in June

A La Salle County woman in her 90s died from complications related to COVID-19.

Her death was the second COVID-related death countywide in June. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 474 COVID-related deaths in La Salle County.

La Salle County remained in medium risk for COVID-19 for the fifth week in a row, according to guidelines set by the Centers for Disease and Prevention Control.

At medium risk status, the CDC strongly recommends individuals at highest risk or who have high risk people in their household consider wearing masks in indoor public places.

La Salle County’s risk is based on the following indicators set by the CDC. In the past seven days, it had a case rate total of 224.54 per 100,000 (down from a week ago), 10 or 8.8 per 100,000 new hospital admissions of confirmed COVID-19 (up from a week ago) and 2.6% of staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 (the same from a week ago).

Take the following precautions, especially if you are at a high risk for serious illness: talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions (e.g., testing); have a plan for rapid testing if needed (e.g., having home tests or access to testing); talk to your healthcare provider about whether you are a candidate for treatments such as oral antivirals, PrEP and monoclonal antibodies.

If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease: consider self-testing to detect infection before contact; consider wearing a mask when indoors with them; stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters; maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible; follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19.

There were 237 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in La Salle County. Making up the new cases are three boys younger than 13, seven girls younger than 13, three teenage boys, four teenage girls, 19 men in their 20s, 22 women in their 20s, 16 men in their 30s, 23 women in their 30s, six men in their 40s, 23 women in their 40s, 19 men in their 50s, 20 women in their 50s, 17 men in their 60s, 22 women in their 60s, eight men in their 70s, 10 women in their 70s, two men in their 80s, eight women in their 80s, two men in their 90s and three women in their 90s.

There were 278 confirmed cases in La Salle County removed from isolation since June 3.

 Regardless of community level, La Salle County Health Department recommendations for isolation for those testing positive and those exposed, isolation and quarantine also remain the same, including masking from days 6 to 10 when isolation/quarantine end.

The La Salle County Health Department schedules all COVID-19 tests online. Access the link at https://hipaa.jotform.com/220026540796151

La Salle County Health Department urges everyone 5 years and older to get vaccinated and all eligible individuals to get a booster. Individuals who need to start the COVID-19 vaccination series or a booster, call the La Salle County Health Department at 815-433-3366 to schedule an appointment. The health department has Johnson and Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer available.

Roughly 58.27% of the county’s population was fully-vaccinated for COVID-19 as of June 3, 61.69% of the county’s population has had at least one dose of the vaccine and 35,498 boosters have been administered, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

To search for vaccine locations available near you visit https://www.vaccines.gov/.