Kendall Co. Surpasses 8% Coronavirus Positivity Threshold

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — As cases and hospitalizations keep rising across the state, Kendall County has crossed the 8 percent threshold for its positivity rate. As of Friday, the county is at 9.3 percent, a steep increase from 6.5 percent the week prior, according to data reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The county is also at warning levels for two other metrics — the number of hospital admissions for COVID-19 like illness and number of new cases per 100,000 people. There are currently 154 new cases and the target is 50 or less. This number is the highest it has been since June 7.

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.

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."

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.

As of Monday, the Kendall County Health Department reports a total of 2,714 cases with 2,152 in recovery and 28 deaths. No new deaths have been reported in a week.

During a press conference Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that Region 2 — Kendall County's Restore Illinois region — is doing better than all the others in the state with a positivity rate of 7.2 percent. Although better, these numbers are "nothing to write home about" and the region is also seeing a slight uptick in hospitalizations after levelling off in August and September, he said.

The region has currently utilized 61 percent of its ICUs and 19 percent of its ventilators, according to IDPH data.

Public health data shows that 7-day rolling average positivity rate in the following Kendall County towns are as follows:

• Oswego - 9.13 percent
• Yorkville - 8.26 percent
• Newark - 10.91 percent

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