Kane Co. Added To Watch List For New Coronavirus Restrictions

KANE COUNTY, IL — The Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday placed Kane County on its watch list for new coronavirus restrictions after new cases grew steadily over the past month.

Kane County’s coronavirus-case count hit five figures Wednesday. More than 900 people have tested positive in the first 13 days of August, taking the county's total to 10,098 cases, as of Thursday.

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The county's 7-day rolling average — a measure that takes into account daily fluctuations in testing to show longer-term trends in coronavirus data — hit its lowest point in almost three months July 9 when it stood at 26.3, the data shows.

By Aug. 9, that figure grew to 87.8 cases, the highest it's been since the start of June.

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Though Illinois’ West Suburban region — which includes Kane and DuPage counties — remains below the state’s thresholds for new coronavirus mitigation efforts, Kane County has reached the “warning level” for two of six countywide risk metrics the state is looking at.

Based on the 560 cases reported in Kane County between Aug. 2 and Aug. 8, the county is at the warning level for the number of new cases per 100,000 people. Statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health show there were 105 cases per 100,000 people during that period, more than twice the state’s benchmark of 50 cases per 100,000 people.

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Kane County is also in the warning level for the state’s metric for coronavirus-related deaths. Seven deaths were reported between Aug. 2 and Aug. 8, up from five deaths the previous week and four deaths the week before, according to public health data. Under the state’s metric, a county is at the warning level unless deaths remain stable or decrease week to week.

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According to Illinois’ new mitigation plans, regions face new restrictions on businesses and activities if they cross certain statistical thresholds. New restrictions would be implemented in a region if it records positivity rates of more than 8 percent for three consecutive days.

Kane County’s positivity rate for the week that ended Aug. 8 stood at 5.4 percent. As of Aug. 11, the positivity rate in the West Suburban region — also called Region 8 — was 4.9 percent, according to state statistics.

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Public health officials have also said they will implement new restrictions if a region reports daily positivity-rate increases seven times within 10 days, along with an increase in hospital admissions due to coronavirus-related symptoms or a drop in capacity in intensive care units.

Officials from Region 8 have reported increases in positivity rates increases three times in the last 10 days and upticks in hospital admissions twice over the same period.

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As of Friday, 43 percent of the region's ICU units and 30 percent of medical/surgical beds are available, above the state's 20 percent threshold for new restrictions.

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