CDC: DeKalb County no longer considered high risk for COVID-19 virus transmission

DeKALB – According to new data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DeKalb County’s community transmission of COVID-19 is low.

Guidance says those in communities designated as green, or low transmission, can safely choose to wear a face mask or not. The guidance also says and people with virus symptoms or a positive test or exposure to the virus should wear a mask.

The county reported 13 more COVID-19 cases as of Friday, bringing the total case count to 22,943. No new deaths were reported. The death toll remains 189. Case data doesn’t include positive cases identified through at-home virus testing and might not include test results waiting to be reported from backlogged laboratories.

An additional 27 DeKalb County residents became fully vaccinated from COVID-19, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and 26 booster shots were administered in the county in the past 24 hours.

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Hospitalizations and positivity rate

As of Friday, there are 27 intensive care unit beds available in the region, according to state data.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate for Region 1, which runs north to Rockford and west to the Iowa border, is 3.9%. The DeKalb County positivity rate is at 3%. Positivity rates are reported with a three-day data lag. Region 1 also reported a seven-day average of 84 COVID-19 patients hospitalized.

According to the IDPH, 145,390 total vaccine doses have been administered to DeKalb County residents and 57,714 residents – or 57.4% of the county’s population of 100,420, according to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data – have been fully vaccinated. As of Friday, 28,726 booster shots have been administered to county residents. The seven-day rolling average of doses administered to county residents is 116.

The IDPH reported that 3,026,737 Illinoisans have tested positive for COVID-19, while 32,654 have died statewide. The department reported that at least 54,338,979 tests have been administered to date. That does not include self tests administered at home.

Vaccination by ZIP code

Updated vaccination by ZIP code data shows the percentages of residents in DeKalb County ZIP codes who have been fully vaccinated as of Feb. 23. This data is provisional and will be updated every Wednesday, according to the IDPH, and uses 2018 federal population data.

• 60111 (includes Clare) ZIP code, 98.67% of the population is fully vaccinated (100% of residents have had at least one dose)

• 60112 (Cortland) ZIP code, 63.15% is fully vaccinated

• 60115 (DeKalb) ZIP code, 50.04% is fully vaccinated

• 60135 (Genoa), 61.92% is fully vaccinated

• 60145 (Kingston), 45.72% is fully vaccinated

• 60146 (Kirkland, Fairdale), 46.03% is fully vaccinated

• 60150 (Malta), 53.25% is fully vaccinated

• 60151 (Maple Park), 57.48% is fully vaccinated

• 60178 (Sycamore), 65.88% is fully vaccinated

• 60520 (Hinckley), 54.88% is fully vaccinated

• 60548 (Sandwich), 54.35% is fully vaccinated

• 60550 (Shabbona), 48.76% is fully vaccinated

• 60552 (Somonauk), 52.01% is fully vaccinated

• 60556 (Waterman), 52.64% is fully vaccinated

Congregate care settings

The total care centers in in outbreak mode is eight, according to the DeKalb County Health Department. Some facilities’ vaccination data isn’t publicly available.

As of Feb. 25:

• Lincolnshire Place in Sycamore reports 21 cases, 16 in staff and five in residents. One person has died from the facility.

• Oak Crest DeKalb Area Retirement Center in DeKalb reports 62 cases: 52 employees and 10 residents. According to the IDPH, 97.57% of Oak Crest employees are fully vaccinated, along with 100% of residents as of Jan. 14.

• Prairie Crossing Rehabilitation in Shabbona reports 42 cases: 25 employees and 17 residents. 67.69% of employees are vaccinated and 97.96% of residents.

• DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center in DeKalb reports 53 cases: 49 employees and four residents, and two deaths. 78.82% of its employees are fully vaccinated and 93.33% of residents.

• Prairie Crossing Supportive Living reports 12 cases: five employees and seven residents.

• Willow Crest Nursing Pavilion in Sandwich reports 77 cases: 26 staff members, 51 residents, and seven resident deaths. 82.91% of staff are fully vaccinated and 84.72% of residents.

• Sandwich Rehabilitation and Health Care Center reports 11 cases: nine staff members, two residents.

• Aperion Care in DeKalb reports 44 cases: 26 staff members, 18 residents and one death.

The state considers a facility in outbreak mode if new virus activity is reportedly linked to the facility within 30 days. If the facility goes 30 days without reporting new activity, it will be taken off the health department’s outbreak website, health officials have said.

The state does not update long-term care facility numbers if a person has fully recovered. The numbers remain listed in total through the duration of the outbreak.

Cases, deaths in DeKalb County

The following is a breakdown of cases and deaths from COVID-19, according to the DeKalb County Health Department, updated on Fridays. Reported cases may not convey how many actual cases are in the county, since local and state data doesn’t include cases identified through at-home tests, which are not reported to laboratories.

The reported death this week was a resident in their 40s, according to county data.

As of Feb. 18, there have been 5,646 cases in residents age 19 or younger, 4,958 in their 20s, 3,515 in their 30s, 2,922 in their 40s, 2,641 in their 50s, 1,731 in their 60s, 861 in their 70s and 668 in their 80s or older.

Out of the 189 total deaths have been reported in DeKalb County by local health officials as of Feb. 18, 97 were in residents in their 80s or older, 29 were in their 70s, 34 in their 60s, 18 in their 50s, six in their 40s, three in their 30s, one in their 20s and one infant.

Neither state nor local data specifies how many cases are linked to COVID-19 variants.