While the rate of people testing positive for COVID-19 weekly fell to its lowest level since cases started appearing in Brookfield in late March, the Cook County Department of Public Health reported two deaths from the disease in Brookfield last week.
The victims were both men, one between the ages of 60 and 69 and the other over the age of 80, according to an online dashboard tracking deaths from the disease which has taken the lives of nearly 1,400 people in Cook County, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Statewide, as of May 25, more than 112,000 people throughout the state had tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 4,800 had died from the upper respiratory disease, which results from infection by the novel coronavirus.
As of the morning of March 26, the county reported that 140 people in Brookfield had tested positive for COVID-19. That was just a 7.7 percent increase in new cases week over week. In the prior seven weeks, Brookfield had not seen a rate of increase lower than 22 percent.
The two deaths reported in Brookfield last week brought the total for the village to three. The men died on May 18 and May 21, according to the county.
There were no new fatal cases of COVID-19 reported in either Riverside or North Riverside in the past week, keeping the number at two each in those villages.
Riverside saw the rate of new cases reported in that village fall for the second straight week. According to Cook County 80 people in Riverside have now tested positive for COVID-19, up from 68 a week ago.
North Riverside, meanwhile, saw one of highest weekly increases in new reported cases since mid-April. As of the morning of May 26, there had been a 37.5 percent increase in new cases week over week, according to the county, with the total rising to 66.
It was the second straight week where the rate of new cases in North Riverside had increased.
CVS opens North Riverside testing site
On May 22, the CVS pharmacy chain opened a number of new drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites at pharmacies in 14 states, including Illinois.
Among those sites were a pair that opened May 22 in the near west suburbs of Chicago, including the CVS at 7200 Cermak Road in North Riverside and the one at 345 Madison St. in Oak Park.
According to information provided by CVS, each testing site has the capacity to conduct about 50 tests per day. Health insurance is accepted at the sites and the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act states that there should be no out-of-pocket cost to anyone tested.
People wishing to be tested must pre-register online. Patients will be directed to use the drive-thru and must stay in their vehicles. An employee will provide the patient a test kit and the patient will conduct a self-swab, as directed by the CVS employee, who will observe and make sure it’s performed properly.
The tests are collected and sent to a third-party lab. Results are available in about three days, according to CVS.
