Six more people have died of COVID-related complications in McLean County.
The latest deaths have been reported since Friday, according to data from the McLean County Health Department (MCHD). The youngest victim was a woman in her 50s. A man in his 60s also was among those who died, and four people were in their 70s — two women and two men. One of the men in his 70s was associated with a long-term care facility.
MCHD has reported 326 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic and 20 so far in January.
The health department said 99% of Bloomington-Normal hospital beds are full and 96% of intensive care beds are occupied. Fifty-nine McLean County residents are hospitalized with COVID-19 — up four from Friday.
The county reported 1,618 new cases over the last four days, while the county's active caseload dropped to about 3,388 as the rate of new cases has fallen.
The county’s seven-day testing positivity rate fell to 13.5%. That’s about half of what it was on Jan. 7, when the rate peaked at 26.9%. The lower positivity rate comes at a time when more people are getting tested for the coronavirus than ever before in McLean County.
MCHD indicated 59% of McLean County residents are fully vaccinated. The state average is 61.5%.
Testing
McLean County has shattered its record for COVID testing for a second straight week amid concerns about the omicron variant.
According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), there were 36,557 coronavirus tests conducted in McLean County from Jan. 11-17. That’s 19% higher than the county’s previous record set the previous week. That does not include tests done at home or from unlicensed companies.
The coronavirus testing site at the Interstate Center in Bloomington averaged 466 daily tests last week, according to a spokesperson for Pekin-based Reditus Laboratories which runs the site. The testing site is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. each Monday through Saturday.
School cases
Coronavirus cases were largely stable during the second week of the spring semester. Normal-based Unit 5 schools saw a slight increase to 657 new cases among students and staff from Jan. 9-13 and 807 quarantines, based on data posted on the district’s online COVID-19 dashboard. Normal West had the highest number of cases with 115. Normal Community High School had 79 new cases.
The smaller Bloomington-based District 87 saw a modest drop in new cases among students for the week of Jan. 10-14, according to the school system’s COVID-19 dashboard. The district reported 210 new student cases and 32 cases among staff, while 316 students were placed in quarantine as a close contact. Bloomington High School had the most cases (70), followed by Bloomington Junior High School (40).
