McLean County has reached a new benchmark in the COVID-19 pandemic that has raged for 17 months.
The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) announced 53 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. That pushes the county’s total of cases since the start of the pandemic to 20,004. The new cases came from a batch of about 900 tests returned overnight.
The county saw an increase in McLean County residents hospitalized with COVID — to 24. That’s the county’s highest total since May 25. Bloomington-Normal hospitals report they have 35 COVID patients receiving care. McLean County’s COVID testing positivity rate rose nearly a half-point to 4.5%.
The county’s cumulative positivity rate is 4.8% based on more than 419,800 tests conducted since March 2020.
COVID vaccines slow
McLean County saw a drop in COVID vaccination rates in the last week after improved numbers in early August. According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and compiled by WGLT, about 1,900 COVID vaccines were distributed in the county from Aug. 18-24. That’s the first weekly total below 2,000 since July 27.
MCHD officials have said the start of the school year contributed to the rise in vaccinations over the last month.
IDPH data show more than 178,800 COVID vaccines have been put in arms in McLean County. The county has a 51.7% rate of fully vaccinated residents. The state rate is higher at 52.6%, but McLean ranks ninth highest in vaccination rate among Illinois’ 102 counties.
COVID testing
The increased spread of the Delta variant has led to a rise in COVID-19 testing. Data from IDPH and compiled by WGLT show more than 10,000 COVID tests were conducted in McLean County from Aug. 17-23. That’s the county’s highest testing benchmark since April 19.
IDPH had planned to close its mobile testing site at the Interstate Center at the end of July, but kept the site open four days a week indefinitely, citing the surge in new coronavirus cases and increased demand for testing.
