Kendall Co. Coronavirus Cases Surpass 1,500; Positivity Rate High

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — The number of coronavirus cases in Kendall County has surpassed 1,500 as of Tuesday. According to a release from the Kendall County Health Department, there are 1,542 cases with 971 in recovery and 25 deaths.

The latest death was reported by county health officials on Aug. 4, of a man in his 70s "that suffered from additional health complexities."

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health website, among the three long-term care facilities in Kendall County, Symphony at the Tillers of Oswego currently has the highest number of cases at 50 and nine deaths.

As per data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, only 1.2 percent of Kendall County's population have tested positive for the coronavirus and 0.019 percent have died because of it. However, until a few weeks ago, less than one percent had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

County health officials are asking residents to do their part in containing the spread of COVID-19 as the regional positivity rate continues to rise.

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Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a new mitigation plan that divided the state into 11 regions. The administration uses indicators including positivity rates, hospital admissions, new cases, clusters and deaths to assess the level of COVID-19 activity in each region.

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 IDPH website states.

In Region 2 — which is composed of Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, and Woodford counties — an average of 9 people are admitted to the hospital every day, with decreases on two of the last 10 days where regional metrics are available from the IDPH.

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There are 44 percent of surgical beds available and 46 percent of ICU beds across the 20-county region. As of data received Tuesday, hospital admission has only decreased on the last day of the 10-day period.

Kendall County by itself is also doing well. As of Friday, the number of hospital admissions, availability of ICU beds and the number of tests performed have been on target. However, the number of new cases per 100,000 people puts the county at a warning level since it is now at 73 and the target is 50 or fewer.

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The positivity rate has decreased from 6.8 percent to 5.1 percent, which is a good sign.

ReAnn VanGundy, administrator of the Kendall County Health Department told Patch that in order to contain the spread, the health officials are stressing the importance of the 3 Ws: wearing a mask, watching your distance and washing your hands.

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