McHenry County reports no new COVID-19 deaths in past week, spread remains ‘high’

For the third week, the level of COVID-19 spread in McHenry County remained classified as “high” under criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even as the rate of new cases continues to fall, county data shows.

The county’s saw 214.16 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Sunday, down from 256.73 a week before, according to the incidence rate reported by the McHenry County Department of Health.

Youth cases, in those newborn to 18 years old, went up within certain age groups this past week, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

The rate of COVID-19 cases among 12- to 17-year-olds in McHenry County increased to three new cases each day as of Friday, compared with 2.7 a week earlier, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the IDPH.

Cases among newborns to 4-year-olds in McHenry County also rose slightly, reaching 3.4 new cases each day compared with 3.3 the week before, while the rate for children 5 to 11 years old fell to 1.3 new cases each day from 2.6 a week earlier, according to state data.

As of Friday, McHenry County has seen 82,480 total COVID-19 cases, including 485 confirmed deaths and 45 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed. No new deaths were reported this past week. The most recent death occurred May 30, making it the second COVID-19 death for May in McHenry County, county health department data shows.

The level of COVID-19 transmission in McHenry County reached “high” under the thresholds set by the CDC on May 26.

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 32 counties statewide with “high” spread, IDPH data shows. As of this week, neighboring counties Boone, Kane, DeKalb, Lake and Cook, as well as a few others in various parts of the state, have a “high” community spread as well, the state reported.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions fell to three new patients a day as of Tuesday, down from four the week before, according to the seven-day rolling average reported by the IDPH.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties fell to 23% as of Thursday, down from 25% 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 107 daily as of Tuesday, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by the IDPH. Of the 1,189 hospitalized for COVID-19, 124 were in the ICU and 27 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

An additional 1,867 vaccines were administered in McHenry County in the past week, bringing the total to 537,951 in the county, the IDPH reported. The state reported that 110,305 booster shots have been administered in the county.

A total of 202,514, or an estimated 65.63% 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% 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 84.8% and 76.7% for those age 12 and older, 86.2% and 77.9% for people age 18 and older and 95% and 89.1% for those 65 and older, respectively.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 38.1 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Friday, with 73 deaths reported in the past week. Illinois now has seen 3,352,983 COVID-19 cases, 33,926 confirmed deaths and 4,385 deaths where COVID-19 was the probable cause but not confirmed.

Neighboring Lake County’s health department reported a total of 139,799 cases and 1,394 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County’s health department reported 136,996 cases and 1,133 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 13,527 confirmed, according to county data. McHenry (60050) follows with 9,432.

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) 8,436 cases; Lake in the Hills (60156) 8,030; Huntley (60142) 6,698; Cary (60013) 6,296; Algonquin (60102) 5,895; Johnsburg and McHenry (60051) 4,991; Harvard (60033) 3,939; Crystal Lake, Bull Valley and Prairie Grove (60012) 2,966; Marengo (60152) 2,903; Wonder Lake (60097) 2,844; Spring Grove (60081) 1,654; Fox River Grove (60021) 1,267; Island Lake (60042) 1,050; Richmond (60071) 785; Hebron (60034) 456; Barrington (60010) 377; Union (60180) 315; and Ringwood and Wonder Lake (60072) 213.