OREGON – The COVID-19 positivity rate in Ogle County has plunged, the County Board learned at it March 15 meeting.
Kyle Auman, Ogle County Health Department administrator, told the board that the positivity rate in the county was 2.14 percent, which he said was the “lowest we’ve seen in quite some time.”
The last time Auman reported to the board on COVID in the county was in January, when the positivity rate was 22.58 percent.
Auman said the number of cases continues to taper off, with the County Health Department seeing about five cases per day.
He told the board the CDC has changed the data it uses to measure COVID, and that Ogle County is now considered to be at a low level.
Auman said throughout the pandemic, the Health Department addressed 13,897 cases of COVID. A total of 60.18 percent of the county’s population is vaccinated and there was a total of 128 deaths from COVID to date.
Overall, 64.03 percent of the population in Illinois is vaccinated.
“Hopefully we’ll keep these levels where they and we’ll continue to taper off and we’ll be able to get back to more routine business at the Health Department,” Auman said.
That includes a recently completed assessment of health services in the county. Auman said the top areas the county identified to address are mental health, chronic disease and access to care. “We’re looking forward to addressing those over the next couple of years and partnering with local organizations to address those issues,” he said.
