Kane County Taken Off Warning List For Coronavirus Restrictions

KANE COUNTY, IL — A week after public health officials added Kane County to its warning list for new coronavirus restrictions, the county was removed after reporting a drop in related deaths.

The Illinois Department of Public Health warned last Friday that Kane County was in the warning level for two of the six countywide metrics it is tracking to determine when to implement new restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

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County officials reported seven coronavirus-related deaths between Aug. 2 and Aug. 8, an up from five deaths the week before, putting it the county at the warning level. As of Aug. 8, the county was reporting 105 cases per 100,000 people, more than double the state’s target of 50 cases per 100,000 people.

Kane County triggered the official warning from public health officials last week by reaching the warning level in two metrics, but the county was removed Friday after meeting the state’s target for coronavirus-related deaths.

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Under the state's metric, a county is at the warning level unless deaths remain stable or decrease week to week. One less death was reported between Aug. 8 and Aug. 15 than during the prior week, Kane County health official said.

Though the number of cases per 100,000 people in Kane County dropped from 105 during the first week of August to 80 the next week, the county remains in the warning level for that metric.

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Kane County Health Department Director Barbara Jeffers urged residents to continue following public health guidelines and to “remain vigilant” despite the positive trends.

“We appreciate the community’s efforts in reducing the spread of the virus but caution that we should remain vigilant,” Jeffers said in a news release.

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Illinois' West Suburban region — which includes Kane and DuPage counties — remains below the state's thresholds for new coronavirus mitigation efforts. As of Tuesday, the region’s positivity rate stood at 5.2 percent, well under the state’s 8 percent target.

Officials from the West Suburban region have reported increases in positivity rates four times in the last 10 days and upticks in hospital admissions twice over the same period.

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As of Friday, 41 percent of the region's ICU units and 28 percent of medical/surgical beds are available, above the state's 20 percent threshold for new restrictions.

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