New COVID cases remain flat as positivity rates decline

New weekly cases of COVID-19 in Brookfield, Riverside and North Riverside remain roughly on par with what the area has experienced for the past nine weeks, though positivity rates remain very low and no new fatal cases have been reported in any of the three towns since August.

As of Oct. 4, Brookfield reported 22 new cases during the prior week, while Riverside reported 14 and North Riverside nine. The median number of new cases over the past nine weeks in Brookfield, Riverside and North Riverside is 24, 12 and nine, respectively.

The COVID-19 delta variant has been responsible for the uptick in new cases experienced in the area beginning around mid-July, but in mid-August the number of new weekly cases started to plateau and has remained roughly constant since that time.

Local vaccination rates continue to climb, albeit slowly, with the Cook County Department of Health reporting 82.7 percent of Riverside residents fully vaccinated. The county is reporting that 60.2 percent of Brookfield residents are fully vaccinated, while North Riverside has eclipsed the 40 percent mark, but still lags far behind both neighboring towns and the state as a whole.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 62.8 percent of state residents 12 and older have been vaccinated, with 78.4 percent of the 65+ population vaccinated.

The 7-day rolling number of vaccines administered in the state is also up a bit statewide at 30,177 as of Oct. 2, according to IDPH. On Sept. 16 that 7-day rolling number stood at 20,159.

Increasing numbers of vaccinations, partly due to state mandates for those working in schools and healthcare settings, may also be contributing to a fall in 7-day rolling positivity rates.

In Illinois Region 10, which encompasses all of suburban Cook County, the 7-day rolling positivity rate was 2.1 percent, down from 3 percent on Sept. 21. That tracks with what is being recorded at the local level.

According to the Northwestern University School of Medicine’s online COVID-19 dashboard, the 7-day rolling positivity rate in Brookfield was 2.05 percent as of Oct. 4, while the rate in the 60546 ZIP code, which includes Riverside and North Riverside, had dropped to 1.05 percent.