The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) has reported seven COVID-related deaths since the beginning of March, including the recent deaths of a man in his 20s and another in his 30s.
Active coronavirus cases rose in the last week, but are down over the last month, and hospitalizations remain low. The county reported 166 new cases over the last week, while four McLean County residents are hospitalized with COVID 19.
McLean County's COVID risk level also is low, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC factors total cases, COVID hospitalizations and hospital bed capacity to make that determination. There have been 366 COVID-related deaths in McLean County since the start of the pandemic.
COVID deaths have dropped sharply as the risk of exposure from the omicron variant has diminished. McLean County reported 31 COVID deaths in January and 22 in February, based on data provided by McLean County and compiled by WGLT.
According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), 62% of McLean County residents are considered fully vaccinated. That includes 93% of people 65 and older, 64% of people ages 12 to 17 and 18 to 64; the vaccination rate of children ages 5 to 11 is 37%.
McLean County’s COVID testing positivity rate rose to 3%. That’s higher than the state average (1.7%), but lower than the national average (4.3%).
IDPH closed its community-based testing sites on Thursday, including the Intestate Center in Bloomington, which was run by Reditus Labs of Pekin.
