McLean County health officials are reporting their highest weekly total in new coronavirus cases since Memorial Day, even though even the increased caseloads remain far lower than the area encountered in the spring.
The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) announced 54 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The county had 51 cases in the three previous weeks combined. It's not clear how many of these cases are linked to the highly contagious Delta variant that has led to a surge in cases across the United States.
The county also reported two more COVID-related deaths. They are a man in his 50s and a woman in her 60s. Neither was associated with long-term care. Their deaths bring the county’s COVID death toll to 239.
MCHD said no McLean County residents are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, while Carle BroMenn Medical Center and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center are caring for eight COVID patients. Fifty-two McLean County residents are isolating at home. That’s an increase from 27 last week. The county reported 18,542 people have completed quarantine at home and are considered recovered.
The county’s seven-day testing positivity rate increased to 1.6%, just below the state average. The county’s cumulative positivity rate is 4.9%, based on more than 377,500 tests conducted since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Vaccinations
Meanwhile, COVID vaccinations increased 22% compared with last week in McLean County, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). However, vaccination rates have still slowed considerably since the spring.
IDPH said 1,639 vaccination doses were put in arms in the county from July 7-13, and overall, 166,222 doses have been administered in the county. The county’s rate of fully vaccinated is 47.7%. That trails the state average of 49.6%, but it ranks ninth highest in the state.
MCHD continues to hold vaccination clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Grossinger Motors Arena in downtown Bloomington. It also has scheduled several mobile clinics: from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bloomington; from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 23 at YWCA McLean County in Bloomington; and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 31 at Mount Pisgah Baptist Church in Bloomington. The Bloomington-Normal NAACP is sponsoring that clinic.
