McHenry County sees average cases decline, reports one death in past week

Despite the level of COVID-19 spread in McHenry County being classified as “high” for the first time this week, McHenry County saw its rolling averages for cases decline and hospitalization availability increase, county and state health department data shows.

The county’s saw 297.03 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Saturday, down from 375.67 a week before, according to the incidence rate reported by the McHenry County Department of Health.

Youth cases, in those ages 5 to 18, went down within the past week as well, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

The rate of COVID-19 cases among 12- to 17-year-olds in McHenry County decreased to 6.1 new cases each day as of Friday, compared with 7.6 one week earlier, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the IDPH.

The rate for children 5 to 11 years old in McHenry County fell to 7.3 new cases each day from 12 one week earlier, according to state date. Cases among newborns to 4-year-olds increased to six new cases each day compared with 5.6 the week before.

McHenry County now has seen 81,048 total COVID-19 cases, including 484 confirmed deaths and 45 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed as of Thursday.

The county’s COVID-19 dashboard was not updated Friday and will not be updated Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

One new death was reported this past week. The death occurred Monday and marks the first death in McHenry County since April 25, county data shows.

The level of COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County reached “high” under the thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday.

That means the county saw more than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days; the number of people being admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 was more than 10 per 100,000 residents, also over seven days; and the percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients was more than 10%, as measured by a seven-day average, according to the CDC.

McHenry County now is one of 15 counties statewide with high spread, IDPH data shows. As of this week, neighboring counties Boone, Lake and Cook, as well as a few others in the northern part of the state, have a “high” community spread as well, the state reported.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions also have been rising, but have remained relatively stable the past week, with the seven-day rolling average hovering around five new patients per day as of Tuesday, down from six last week, the IDPH reported.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties increased to 24% as of Thursday, up from 21% a week earlier, according to the seven-day average reported by the IDPH.

Across Illinois, the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 106 daily as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by IDPH. Of the 1,136 hospitalized for COVID-19, 123 were in the ICU and 35 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

An additional 2,546 vaccines were administered in McHenry County in the past week, bringing the total to 527,520 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 108,144 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 199,829, or an estimated 64.76% of McHenry County’s population, now are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve received all doses recommended for the vaccine they were given.

Across Illinois, 81.1% of those age 5 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 73.3% are fully vaccinated, the IDPH reported Friday. Those rates are 84.9% and 76.8% for those age 12 and older, 86.3% and 78% for people age 18 and older, and 95% and 89.1% for those 65 and older, respectively.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 41.3 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Friday, with 45 deaths reported in the past week. Illinois now has seen 3,286,377 COVID-19 cases, 33,806 confirmed deaths and 4,321 deaths where COVID-19 was the probable cause but not confirmed.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 136,321 cases and 1,386 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 134,571 cases and 1,132 deaths as of Thursday.

Among McHenry County ZIP codes, Crystal Lake (60014) has the highest total number of COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic with a total of 13,278 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 9,283.

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: Woodstock (60098) 8,253 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 7,906; Huntley (60142) 6,591; Cary (60013) 6,180; Algonquin (60102) 5,770; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,918; Harvard (60033) 3,915; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,890; Marengo (60152) 2,868; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,794; Spring Grove (60081) 1,626; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,242; Island Lake (60042) 1,036; Richmond (60071) 768; Hebron (60034) 452; Barrington (60010) 368; Union (60180) 310; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 207.