Sadly right before Knox County ringed in a New Year it hit a grim-milestone; 100 deaths related to COVID-19.
Figures provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health show that with five new deaths added to Knox’s total Thursday, the COVID death toll stands at 104.
Knox’s first COVID death came back on July 22, when a female in her 70’s passed.
The five new deaths Thursday were two males in their 60’s, 2 females in their 80’s, and a female in her 90’s.
Public health officials worried that the Christmas holiday would spark a surge in new cases. Using a 7-day rolling average Knox’s confirmed cases have gone up since Dec. 27.
Some positive developments however are that ICU bed availability in our region is improving if only slightly.
After going below 20 percent availability right before Christmas, it’s been hovering just above that threshold since Christmas.
