McHenry County reports 75 new COVID-19 cases, three additional deaths

The McHenry County Department of Health reported 75 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and three additional confirmed deaths Wednesday.

This brings the county’s totals to 21,817 confirmed cases, 225 confirmed deaths and 22 deaths where the cause likely was COVID-19 but not confirmed. The county’s recovery rate currently sits at 98%.

Among the county’s latest deaths tied to COVID-19 was a man in his 80s, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

McHenry County residents have been tested a total of 221,706 times since the pandemic began, according to county-specific data collected by the IDPH.

As of Wednesday, the IDPH reported a total of 537,740 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered statewide and 9,535 in McHenry County. So far, 0.64% (1,979 of 308,570) of county residents have been fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all of the doses recommended for the vaccine they received.

To see definitions of key terms used in all COVID-19 updates, read this article: “Feeling lost in keeping up with the news?”

On Monday, the state announced it was loosening COVID-19 restrictions, allowing Region 9 (McHenry and Lake counties) to move from Tier 3 to Tier 2. In order to move to Tier 1, which is less restrictive, a region must meet three metrics tracked by the IDPH.

First, the region must report a seven-day average test positivity rate between 6.5 and 8% for three consecutive days. As of Wednesday, McHenry County’s positivity rate was 10.1% and Region 9 was at 8.3%.

Second, intensive care unit availability must be greater than 20% for three consecutive days, on a seven-day rolling average. As of Wednesday, Region 9 was satisfying this metric at 25%. The availability of ICU beds in McHenry County was at 29.4%.

Third, the region must show a decline in average COVID-19 hospitalizations for seven out of the past 10 days. On Wednesday, Region 9 reported five days of decreases in hospital admissions for COVID-19 out of the past 10 days.

Confused about the different tiers and phases of the Gov. JB Pritzker’s COVID-19 response? Read this explanation of the Restore Illinois plan and its metrics.

The Kane County Health Department reported a total of 45,822 confirmed cases and 638 deaths Wednesday.

The Lake County Health Department reported a total of 50,141 confirmed cases and 816 related deaths Wednesday.

Statewide, the IDPH reported a total of 1,081,354 confirmed cases and 18,398 related deaths. So far, Illinois has conducted 14,984,649 COVID-19 tests. The statewide recovery rate is 98%.

Among McHenry County ZIP codes, Crystal Lake (60014) has the highest number of COVID-19 cases with a total of 3,274 confirmed cases, according to county data. Woodstock (60098) follows with 2,577 cases.

The McHenry County health department reports only ZIP code data that is located within McHenry County, a department spokeswoman said. Any discrepancies between county and IDPH numbers likely are because of the data’s provisional nature and because each health department finalizes its data at different times, she said.

The following is the rest of the local breakdown of cases by ZIP code: McHenry (60050) 2,303; Lake in the Hills (60156) 1,947; Algonquin (60102) 1,627; Huntley (60142) 1,563; Cary (60013) 1,490; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 1,444; Harvard (60033) 1,344; Marengo (60152) 932; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 789; Wonder Lake (60097) 718; Spring Grove (60081) 524; Island Lake (60042) 304; Fox River Grove (60021) 251; Richmond (60071) 244; Hebron (60034) 129; Barrington (60010) 98; Union (60180) 91; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 49.