Weekly COVID cases highest in two months, but still labeled at 'low community level'

GALESBURG — Knox County reported 52 new COVID cases last week. That's the highest weekly number in nearly two months and more than four times higher than the previous week.

The last time Knox County reported a higher number was Feb. 28 when 71 new COVID cases were reported. COVID cases then were declining after peaking Jan. 10 at 1,082 new cases due to the omicron variant.

New cases per week in Knox County

Feb. 21: 111

Feb. 28: 71

March 7: 33

March 14: 14

March 21: 16

March 28: 10

April 4: 3

April 11: 6

April 18: 9

April 25: 52

Throughout the pandemic Knox County has reported 12,581 cases and 215 deaths.

“We have seen small incremental increases; however, as you can see on the map the majority of counties remain at low community levels,” Michele Gabriel, public health administrator of the Knox County Health Department, said in an email.

The map Gabriel referenced, which is provided by the Illinois Department of Health and data from the CDC, shows Knox County at a low “community level.” The community level is determined by a combination of metrics: new COVID-19 hospital admissions, staffed COVID-19 inpatients and total new COVID-19 cases all per 100,00 population in the past seven days.

Gabriel wrote that the county health department no longer has information on where new cases are appearing — such as in schools or shopping centers — as the IDPH no longer records that data on their website and local contract tracing has changed.

On whether the new rise of cases can be attributed to a new variant, Gabriel responded that the CDC has the most up-to-date information on variant trends.

The Register-Mail asked if the increased number of cases last week could be the beginning of a wave of cases in the county.

"I can never predict where the numbers of COVID cases will go unless there are clear severe trends that become obvious due to severe case numbers," Gabriel wrote.

New coronavirus cases leaped in Illinois in the week ending Sunday, April 24, rising 39.2% as 19,551 cases were reported. The previous week had 14,049 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Illinois ranked 11th 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 57.1% from the week before, with 351,599 cases reported.

With 3.81% of the country's population, Illinois had 5.56% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 42 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 Champaign County with 371 cases per 100,000 per week; Piatt County with 294; and McLean County with 231. 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 9,227 cases; DuPage County, with 2,107 cases; and Lake County, with 1,404. Weekly case counts rose in 80 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Cook, DuPage and Lake 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 76.6% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 77.5%, 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 Sunday, Illinois reported administering another 106,253 vaccine doses, including 7,895 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 140,576 vaccine doses, including 6,358 first doses. In all, Illinois reported it has administered 22,495,034 total doses.

Across Illinois, cases fell in 19 counties, with the best declines in Champaign County, with 778 cases from 961 a week earlier; in Franklin County, with -36 cases from -4; and in Iroquois County, with 10 cases from 19.

In Illinois, 58 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 45 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,114,036 people in Illinois have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 36,001 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 80,984,914 people have tested positive and 991,254 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, April 24.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

• Last week: 2,507

• The week before that: 2,240

• Four weeks ago: 2,219

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

• Last week: 40,571

• The week before that: 37,500

• Four weeks ago: 39,316

Hospitals in 37 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 42 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 of USA TODAY Network contributed to this report. 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 52 additional COVID-19 cases this week