Region 9 COVID-19 Stats: Lake, McHenry Counties Hit 6% Positivity

LAKE, MCHENRY COUNTIES, IL — In recent weeks, Region 9, which is made up of Lake and McHenry counties, has seen coronavirus positivity increases tip above 6 percent, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data. And last week, Lake County reached a COVID-19 "warning" level.

• Lake Co. Hits 'Warning' Level For COVID-19 Risk

In addition, Region 9 has seen four days of COVID-19 positivity increases, according to IDPH data. As of Saturday, the positivity rate for the region was at 6 percent. The region also saw two days of hospital admission increases.

Any region that sustains an 8 percent positivity rate for three days in a row or sees an increase in positivity rates and simultaneous decrease in hospital capacity will need to implement additional community mitigation interventions, the Illinois department of Public Health website states.

Those measures could include restricting the size of social gatherings, reducing capacity at businesses or scaling back operations in industries that pose a higher risk of transmission, like indoor dining, bars, salons and personal care services.

Other than three days with average coronavirus positivity rates above 8 percent, restrictions can also be triggered by a combination of seven days out of the past 10 with increasing positivity rates — plus either a decline in hospital bed capacity below 20 percent or an increase for seven of the last 10 days in the rounded average number of new hospital admissions with "COVID-like illness."

The intensive care unit bed availability was at 63 percent, well above the 20 percent threshold, as was the percent of surgical beds, which was at 48 percent, according to IDPH data.

Region 7, which is made up of Will and Kankakee counties, and Region 4, which includes counties east of St. Louis, put in place due to high coronavirus positivity rates.

COVID-19 By The Numbers: Lake, McHenry Counties

As of Tuesday, there had been 252,353 total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois and 8,186 deaths. To date, 4.48 million COVID-19 tests have been performed and the recovery rate is 96 percent.

In McHenry County, there have been 4,139 positive cases of coronavirus and 116 deaths. In Lake County, there has been 15,349 COVID-19 cases and 473 deaths.

More via the IDPH website