Kane Co. Starts 2021 With Deadliest Day Of Coronavirus Pandemic

KANE COUNTY, IL — Kane County experienced its deadliest day of the pandemic on New Year’s Day, with officials reporting a dozen new deaths from coronavirus-related conditions.

The county’s previous deadliest day was May 11, when 10 COVID-19 deaths were reported. Prior to Jan. 1, that was the only day when public health officials recorded double-digit deaths since the start of the pandemic in March.

Kane County’s deadliest day came two days after it set a new monthly record for coronavirus-related deaths, according to statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Officials reported 131 deaths in December, including 29 between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The previous monthly high was set at 123 deaths in May, amid the first major spike in cases in the area.

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Nearly 150 Kane County residents have died since the start of December, representing more than a quarter of the county's 580 total deaths, as of Monday. Just over half of those deaths — 292 — have been linked to long-term-care facilities, according to the state’s data.

New coronavirus cases in Kane County dropped steadily between mid-November and the end of December, but the seven-day rolling average of new cases has ticked up slightly over the past few days.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases in Kane County fell more than 65 percent from its all-time high of 595 in mid-November to about 206 Dec. 29, public health data shows. That measure climbed to about 240 on Monday.

All 11 coronavirus-management regions in Illinois are under Tier 3 restrictions, which require some non-essential businesses to close and many stores to enforce capacity limits, along with indoor-service bans at bars and restaurants.

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A region can move back to Tier 2 mitigations if its positivity rate drops below 12 percent for three consecutive days, if it has more than 20 percent of hospital beds open, and if it sees a sustained drop in hospitalizations for coronavirus-related illnesses.

For several weeks, Region 8 has met or been close to meeting the metrics to move back to Tier 2, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker has indicated that will not happen until after the holiday season, with gatherings a particular worry to public health officials.

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The positivity rate in Region 8, made up of Kane and DuPage counties, has been under 12 percent for 22 straight days as of Jan. 1, the most recent day for which testing data is available. However, the state’s data shows the regional positivity rate has been since Dec. 26.

The positivity rate in Region 8 fell from an all-time high of 16 percent Nov. 13 to 8.6 percent by Dec. 26. That rate was up to 10.2 percent on Jan. 1.

Region 8 has had at least 20 percent of ICU beds available for 22 straight days, though the availability of medical/surgical beds in the region has been above 20 percent for just three days, according to IDPH statistics.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are down from an all-time high of 716 on Nov. 22 to 412 Jan. 3, its lowest point since in two months, the state's data shows.

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