McLean County health officials announced 48 new coronavirus cases Thursday as the county’s testing positivity rate reached its highest level since May 1.
According to the McLean County Health Department (MCHD), the positive tests came from a batch of about 1,500 tests returned overnight.
The county’s seven-day testing positivity rate rose to 4.8%. That’s still below state and national averages. It also matched the county’s cumulative testing rate, based on more than 402,400 tests conducted since the start of the pandemic.
MCHD said 282 people are isolating at home, while 26 people have completed their time in quarantine since Wednesday and 18,799 McLean County residents are considered recovered from COVID-19.
Twelve McLean County residents remain hospitalized. That’s unchanged since Monday, but the number of COVID patients at Carle BroMenn Medical Center and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center has grown to 20. The county’s COVID death toll remains 242.
McLean County remains an area of high transmission, according to COVID data updated daily by the Centers for Disease Control. The county has a rolling average of 142 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents. The CDC has called for indoor mask requirements in areas that have significant or high COVID spread.
COVID vaccines
Data from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) show nearly 174,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in McLean County. The county’s rate of fully vaccinated rose to 50.4%. That trails the state average of 51.3%.
IDPH on Wednesday started to publish COVID vaccination rates by ZIP code.
