There have been 10 COVID-related deaths reported in McLean County this month. The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) reported Thursday two additional deaths — a woman in her 40s who was not in long-term care, and a man in his 70s who was in long-term care.
September saw a surge in COVID deaths in McLean County with 12. That was the highest total since last February, when COVID vaccinations were only available to a small fraction of the population.
There have been 267 COVID-related deaths reported in McLean County since the start of the pandemic. The rise in deaths comes at a time when coronavirus cases have dropped in McLean County.
The health department has said deaths are not reported on the day they happened.
“It may take days or even weeks to receive an official death certificate and cause of death,” MCHD public affairs coordinator Marianne Manko said in a news release.
Bloomington-Normal hospitals are at 96% capacity, and COVID hospitalizations are stable. Seventeen McLean County residents are in the hospital with COVID-19, and 277 McLean County residents are isolating at home.
OSF HealthCare reported Wednesday 76% of COVID patients across its healthcare system are not vaccinated, including 96% of its intensive care patients and 14 of its 15 COVID patients who are on ventilators.
The county’s seven-day testing positivity rate dipped to 2.2%.
Data from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) show 54.9% of McLean County residents are fully vaccinated.
