Local COVID-19 testing, cases climb ahead of Thanksgiving weekend

As major holidays approach, COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the state and area.

Data from Northwestern Medicine shows that the COVID-19 positivity rate in New Trier Township as of Friday, Nov. 19, was 2.75 percent, up from 1.8 percent over the previous seven days, and the Township was seeing a seven-day average of 17.9 new cases per day, more than double the rate at the beginning of November (7.29 on Nov. 1). 

The new positive cases are also high across suburban Cook County, which counted 717 new cases on Tuesday, Nov. 16 — the most since Jan. 22; however, testing is at a pandemic high in the county as people prepare for holiday travel, according to data from the Cook County Department of Public Health.

More than 33,000 COVID-19 tests were administered on Nov. 4 and more than 26,000 on Nov. 14, as other seasonal illnesses affect the local population. The positivity rate during the high-testing period is 3.8 percent, the highest in three months, but far from other surges in 2021 — 6.7 percent in July and 7.7 percent in January. 

More locally, Winnetka (+180%) and Wilmette (+138%) new cases have more than doubled over the past two weeks, according to the county, while numbers are also up in Northfield (60%) and Glencoe (29%) in the same timeframe — the last two weeks of October versus the first two weeks of November. 

Kenilworth’s 13 new cases over the past seven days is the highest weekly total since November 2020, while Wilmette’s 101 cases over the prior two weeks is the highest since early April, the village said. 

Across the state, the fastest-growing demographic for new cases is children aged 5-11, which is seeing a seven-day average of 566 new cases per day — 1,034 new cases, 233 in suburban Cook County, were reported for the age group on Thursday, Nov. 18, state data shows

In suburban Cook County, hospital bed availability is down to 14 percent from 17 percent one month ago. The number of COVID-19 patients in country hospitals has increased for 18 straight days, according to state data.

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