COVID-19 spread in McHenry County remains at ‘medium’ under CDC thresholds

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses

The transmission of COVID-19 remained at the “medium” level in McHenry County for the second week in a row after staying put in the “low” category for two months, according to the thresholds set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The “medium” level of community transmission means the county saw fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days but more than 10 new admissions, also per 100,000 residents. Despite this, the county still has less than 15% of its staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to the CDC.

As of Thursday, McHenry County had seen 94,648 total COVID-19 cases, including 489 confirmed deaths and 48 deaths where COVID-19 likely was the cause but was not confirmed, the McHenry County Department of Health reported. No COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the county since June 25.

The county saw 175.16 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of Saturday, up from 116.34 the week before, according to the incidence rate reported by the McHenry County health department.

Countywide COVID-19 hospital admissions totaled six new patients a day as of Tuesday, the same as a week earlier, according to the seven-day rolling averages reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Hospital intensive care unit availability across McHenry and Lake counties dropped to 15% as of Thursday, down from 20% the week before, according to the seven-day average reported by the IDPH.

Across Illinois, the number of new hospital admissions tied to COVID-19 was 153 each day as of Tuesday, up from 145 the week before, according to the seven-day rolling daily average reported by the IDPH.

Of the 1,582 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, 188 were in the ICU and 69 were on ventilators as of Thursday.

Illinois’ daily case rate stood at 24 new cases per 100,000 people, according to the seven-day rolling average reported Thursday, with 56 deaths reported in the past week.

In neighboring Lake County, the health department reported a total of 168,534 cases and 1,478 deaths through Thursday. To the south, Kane County has seen 159,011 cases and 1,184 deaths as of Wednesday, according to its health department.