Week four at warning level

Over one quarter of the state’s 102 counties are at warning level for the novel coronavirus, and although its metrics have improved, Grundy County remains on the list for a fourth consecutive week.
A county enters warning level when two or more of the eight COVID-19 risk indicators increase, and thus is the case for 30 counties including five in the north central region — Grundy, Bureau, Henderson, Henry and Warren, as well as neighboring Will County that is currently entering its second week of mitigation as a region.
IDPH reports general transmission of the virus in the community is increasing. Some of the common factors for an increase in cases and outbreaks are associated with large gatherings, weddings, out of state travel, bars and spread among members of the same household who are not isolating. Additionally, the state agency reports cases connected to schools are beginning to be reported.
In a release issued Aug. 28, IDPH noted public health officials are observing individuals who are not social distancing, gathering in large groups, and not using face coverings. Additionally, they say local law enforcement and state’s attorneys in some counties are not enforcing mitigation measures that include the use of face coverings when in public.
IDPH reports several counties are taking swift action and implementing mitigation measures to help slow the spread of the virus, including increased testing opportunities, working with schools, meeting with local leaders and educating businesses and large venues about the importance of mitigation measures.
Locally, efforts to mitigate additional spread includes education about mask wearing and social distancing, deferring to state guidance related to outbreaks and guidelines for places of business, and increasing contact tracing efforts.
Grundy County’s Health Administrator Michelle Pruim said, “the community may assist by participating in the tracing efforts, wearing a face covering around someone not from your household and staying home when ill.”
As of Aug. 28, the Grundy County Health Department was reporting the total number of cases of COVID-19 had reached 462, an increase of 56 cases since Aug. 21. Of the total cases reported since mid-March, 88 remain active with the other 374 individuals completing and being released for isolation.
The new cases identified by the county health department involve 13 individuals under the age of 20, 22 people in their 20s, nine in their 30s, three females in their 40s, three males in their 50s, four females in their 60s and two females in their 80s.
After steady increases since mid-July, the number of new cases per 100,000 residents decreased in Grundy County from 120 to 94. This is the fifth consecutive week that the new case rate has exceeded 50 new cases, a number that triggers a warning here.
The county remains at warning level in the areas of test positivity and tests performed, although both saw improvement in the most recent data released by the state and county.
After reaching a test positivity rate of 9.9% for the week ending Aug. 15, the county’s positivity rate decreased to 8.6% for the period of Aug. 16-22. The county also witnessed improvement in the number of test performed at 629 an increase of 123 from the prior week.
To date, Pruim reports 4,473 Grundy County residents have received a COVID-19 test, 4,011 of them were negative for the virus.
According to data reported by IDPH, over 8,460 tests had been conducted on Grundy County residents as of Monday, Aug. 31. As previously noted, the state reports the number of tests administered with the county reporting the number of individuals tested. As the month closed out, the state was also reporting the number of positive cases in the county had increased to 481.
A review of the IDPH’s COVID-19 data indicates 81 positive cases have been reported with the 60416 zip code, 203 from the Morris area—zip code 60450, 16 from the Gardner area —zip code 60424, nine from the Mazon area—zip code 60444 and six from the Braceville/Godley area-zip code 60407.