Stephenson County's COVID cases fall 38%; Illinois cases plummet 37%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
Nurses Debbie Black and Rachel Lee double check a COVID-19 vaccine dose for a child during a vaccine clinic in Hamilton, Massachusetts, on Sept. 9.
Nurses Debbie Black and Rachel Lee double check a COVID-19 vaccine dose for a child during a vaccine clinic in Hamilton, Massachusetts, on Sept. 9.

Illinois reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 10,945 new cases. That's down 37% from the previous week's tally of 17,373 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Illinois ranked 27th 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 19.4% from the week before, with 323,859 cases reported. With 3.81% of the country's population, Illinois had 3.38% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 10 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Stephenson County reported 49 cases and no deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 79 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 13,687 cases and 172 deaths.

Across Illinois, cases fell in 80 counties, with the best declines in Cook County, with 4,319 cases from 7,654 a week earlier; in Lake County, with 669 cases from 1,833; and in DuPage County, with 814 cases from 1,050.

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

Within Illinois, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Hardin County with 209 cases per 100,000 per week; Pope County with 192; and Crawford County with 187. 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 4,319 cases; DuPage County, with 814 cases; and Lake County, with 669. Weekly case counts rose in 17 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Stark, Massac and Greene counties.

In Illinois, 74 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 88 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,762,220 people in Illinois have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 39,698 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 96,397,885 people have tested positive and 1,059,605 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, Oct. 2. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 2,663

  • The week before that: 2,717

  • Four weeks ago: 3,058

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 51,355

  • The week before that: 53,692

  • Four weeks ago: 61,434

Hospitals in 17 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 17 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 Journal Standard: Stephenson County reported 49 additional COVID-19 cases this week