COVID cases up 23.6% in Knox County; transmission rate remains medium

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
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Dawn Powell (left) watches a convoy of police cars and motorcycles pull into the Windsor Police in Colorado on Aug. 15 as part of the Ride to Remember. The ride stopped in Windsor to honor fallen police officer Ty Powell, Dawn's husband, who died from COVID-19 on Oct. 13, 2021.
Dawn Powell (left) watches a convoy of police cars and motorcycles pull into the Windsor Police in Colorado on Aug. 15 as part of the Ride to Remember. The ride stopped in Windsor to honor fallen police officer Ty Powell, Dawn's husband, who died from COVID-19 on Oct. 13, 2021.

GALESBURG — Knox County is in a medium rate of transmission rate of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's down from a high transmission rate earlier in August.

Knox County reported 89 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 72 cases and zero deaths; that was the week students returned to schools throughout the area.

New weekly COVID cases in Knox County

Aug. 22-28 - 89 cases

Aug. 15-21 - 72 cases

Aug. 8-14 - 117 cases

Aug. 1-7 - 100 cases

Throughout the pandemic Knox County has reported 14,513 cases and 224 deaths. After recording four deaths Aug. 8-14, no more COVID deaths have been reported in Knox County.

Counties neighboring Knox County — Fulton, Henry, Mercer, Peoria and Warren — were also in medium transmission, according to the CDC. In the region, only Henderson County was listed as in high transmission.

The CDC reports that 60.1% of Knox County residents are fully vaccinated.

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Illinois COVID cases drops 3.1%

Illinois reported 24,297 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, down 3.1% from the previous week. The previous week had 25,084 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Illinois ranked 19th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 10.8% from the week before, with 654,873 cases reported. With 3.81% of the country's population, Illinois had 3.71% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 16 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

​ Across Illinois, cases fell in 48 counties, with the best declines in Cook County, with 8,057 cases from 8,883 a week earlier; in DuPage County, with 1,575 cases from 1,806; and in Lake County, with 1,286 cases from 1,410. ​

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

​Within Illinois, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Johnson County with 999 cases per 100,000 per week; Gallatin County with 808; and Hardin County with 680. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Cook County, with 8,057 cases; DuPage County, with 1,575 cases; and Will County, with 1,306. Weekly case counts rose in 51 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Champaign, McHenry and Jackson counties.

In Illinois, 104 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 72 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,670,258 people in Illinois have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 39,284 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 94,190,979 people have tested positive and 1,043,840 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Illinois's COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Aug. 28. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 3,235

  • The week before that: 3,296

  • Four weeks ago: 3,329

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 66,008

  • The week before that: 66,216

  • Four weeks ago: 72,118

Hospitals in 20 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 21 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 25 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Knox County reported 89 additional COVID-19 cases this week this week