Knox County's COVID weekly cases jump 64%, highest weekly total since Feb. 28

Tom Martin and Mike Stucka
·4 min read
Making Sacrifices 2 of 8Dimitri screams with delight when he gets the answer.Luis and Irene Ferrolho have spent most of the past 15 months of the pandemic at home with their children, twins Alexandra and Dimitri, 8 years old. Because Dimitri suffers from severe disability due to being born premature, they can’t risk exposure to the Covid-19 virus. Irene had to quit her job and help the children with virtual learning and therapy and Luis does his work online from home. While they have grown closer to each other, they do look forward to less isolation when it is safer for Dimitri

GALESBURG — New weekly COVID-19 cases in Knox County reached the highest weekly number since Feb. 28.

Knox County reported 69 cases last week. The Feb. 28 number was 71 new cases. The low mark since Feb. 28 was three new cases reported April 4 in Knox County. Weekly cases jumped to 52 April 25 and then declined slightly until this week.

Throughout the pandemic Knox County has reported 12,722 cases.

While cases are increasing, deaths have not followed suit. The last COVID-19 recorded death was April 15. That brings the current death toll from COVID-19 to 215 deaths for the entire pandemic.

When, where to get vaccinations in Knox County

The Illinois Department of Public Health reports 58% of Knox County residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccines are widely available, each clinic offers primary series, additional doses first boosters and second boosters of Moderna for adults 18 and up and Pfizer boosters for those 12 years and up. Pfizer primary, pediatric and adolescent series is available to those 5 years of age and up. Registration links can be found at www.knoxcountyhealth.org Walk-ins are welcome:

• Tuesday, May 17th, at the Unified Command Vaccine Center 1:30pm-3:30pm.

• Thursday, May 19th at the Unified Command Vaccine Center 8:30am-10:30am.

• Thursday, May 19th at the Hurd-Hendricks Fellowship Hall 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Illinois COVID-19 cases up 31%

New coronavirus cases leaped in Illinois in the week ending Sunday, rising 30.7% as 40,026 cases were reported. The previous week had 30,633 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Illinois ranked eighth 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 21.4% from the week before, with 605,127 cases reported. With 3.81% of the country's population, Illinois had 6.61% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 47 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 Logan County with 542 cases per 100,000 per week; DuPage County with 459; and Champaign County with 454. 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 18,370 cases; DuPage County, with 4,238 cases; and Lake County, with 2,788. Weekly case counts rose in 81 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Cook, DuPage and Will counties.

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

Illinois ranked 21st among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 76.7% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 77.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Wednesday, Illinois reported administering another 122,081 vaccine doses, including 11,405 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 118,794 vaccine doses, including 14,140 first doses. In all, Illinois reported it has administered 22,673,553 total doses.

Illinois reports 45 COVID deaths in past week

In Illinois, 45 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 46 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,209,341 people in Illinois have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 36,138 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 82,468,606 people have tested positive and 999,602 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 Sunday, May 15.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 3,099

  • The week before that: 2,633

  • Four weeks ago: 2,240

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 49,753

  • The week before that: 44,912

  • Four weeks ago: 37,527

Hospitals in 45 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 29 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 41 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 69 additional COVID-19 cases this week this week