McHenry County reports 52 new COVID-19 cases after state reports most new cases in nearly three months

Nearly 200 more McHenry County residents are now fully vaccinated, bringing the total to 155,579, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Tuesday.

Vaccinations, on average, have been on the rise for the last week with 319,732 doses of vaccine have been administered in total now to McHenry County residents, state data shows.

Meanwhile, the McHenry County Department of Health reported 52 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday. That brings the total to 29,881, including 299 deaths and 30 deaths in which the cause was likely COVID-19 but could not be confirmed.

The county’s recovery rate remains at 99%.

The McHenry County Department of Health reports local transmission levels as “moderate” while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to categorize the county as having “substantial” disease spread.

The key difference between the two public health agencies is that when moving to a higher transmission level, the county requires a metric to be above that threshold for seven out of the past 10 days, a requirement the CDC does not have.

The county’s approach is meant to provide local officials and residents a better reflection of trends, McHenry County Department of Health spokeswoman Lindsey Salvatelli said.

The incidence rate – the number of new cases per 100,000 residents – has met the threshold for “substantial” transmission six of the last 10 days and sat at just under 77 cases per 100,000 residents as of Thursday, the last day data is available for.

The other metric used to measure transmission – test positivity measured by a seven-day rolling average – has been above the “moderate” threshold for five of the last 10 days and sat at 6.4% as of Tuesday.

The state moved to Phase 5 on June 11, which means state capacity restrictions related to COVID-19 were lifted. The state continues to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning those who are fully vaccinated can go without masks in some cases.

Statewide, 73% of those age 12 and older have received at least one vaccine dose, the IDPH reported as of Tuesday. That rate is 75% for those 18 and older and 91.7% for those 65 and older.

The state health department reported 2,682 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 across Illinois on Tuesday, the most new cases since May 7.

As of late Monday, Illinois had 1,107 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, twice as many as just over two weeks ago. Of those, 243 were in intensive care units, and 103 were on ventilators.

[ Illinois has most new COVID-19 cases in a day since May 7 ]

McHenry County’s positivity rate, as measured by a seven-day rolling average, decreased to 6.4%. Data remains on a three-day lag. The rate for Region 9, which is composed of Lake and McHenry counties, rose to 4.8%.

Region 9 had 30% of its ICU beds available as of Monday, and the state reported hospital admissions related to COVID-19 increased nine out of the past 10 days.

Statewide, the IDPH reported 1,427,901 cases, 23,458 confirmed deaths and 2,482 probable deaths. Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported 62,991 cases and 1,030 deaths through Monday, and to the south, Kane County’s health department reported 60,333 cases and 817 deaths on Tuesday.

Among McHenry County ZIP codes, Crystal Lake (60014) has the highest number of COVID-19 cases with a total of 4,591 confirmed cases, according to county data. Woodstock (60098) follows with 3,474 cases.

The McHenry County health department reports ZIP code data only for parts 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) 3,142; Lake in the Hills (60156) 2,790; Algonquin (60102) 2,221; Huntley (60142) 2,190; Cary (60013) 2,111; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 1,983; Harvard (60033) 1,614; Marengo (60152) 1,222; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 1,054; Wonder Lake (60097) 952; Spring Grove (60081) 739; Island Lake (60042) 419; Fox River Grove (60021) 380; Richmond (60071) 333; Hebron (60034) 180; Barrington (60010) 161; Union (60180) 133; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 64.