Knox County's COVID cases fall 41%; county remains in high transmission

Tom Martin, Galesburg Register-Mail
·3 min read

GALESBURG — New weekly COVID-19 cases dipped below 100 in Knox County for the first time in a month, yet the county remains in high transmission.

Knox County reported 95 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 162 cases and one death. Since April 15, two deaths have been reported, bringing the COVID death toll to 217 for the duration of the pandemic. The number of total cases reported is 13,546.

The 95 cases is down 41% from the previous week's 162 cases and matches the number reported May 23. Numbers had increased the two previous weeks.

Recent COVID stories: Knox County reports first COVID death in two months, remains in high transmission

According to the CDC, residents in counties with a high transmission rate should wear masks indoors in public and on public transportation. Transmission rate for Knox County is at 209 per 100K people, down from 334 per 100K two weeks ago, but still considered high transmission.

Fulton and Peoria counties are also high transmission, while Henry, Mercer, Warren are medium transmission. Stark County has a low transmission rate.

Illinois reported 27,094 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, from 27,112 the week before of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Illinois ranked 18th 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 decreased 1.2% from the week before, with 721,538 cases reported. With 3.81% of the country's population, Illinois had 3.76% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 24 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Within Illinois, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Johnson County with 475 cases per 100,000 per week; Morgan County with 469; and Vermilion County with 429. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

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

Across Illinois, cases fell in 45 counties, with the best declines in Cook County, with 10,380 cases from 10,639 a week earlier; in Sangamon County, with 670 cases from 777; and in Champaign County, with 483 cases from 572.

In Illinois, 100 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 121 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,407,189 people in Illinois have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 38,510 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 86,967,639 people have tested positive and 1,015,938 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Illinois's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Monday, June 20.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 3,210

  • The week before that: 2,949

  • Four weeks ago: 3,070

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 59,453

  • The week before that: 57,887

  • Four weeks ago: 52,588

Illinois's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, June 26. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 3,246

  • The week before that: 3,017

  • Four weeks ago: 3,106

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 63,626

  • The week before that: 57,605

  • Four weeks ago: 54,872

Hospitals in 34 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 25 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 39 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.

Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com contributed the data for this story. 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.

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Knox County reported 95 additional COVID-19 cases this week this week