The total number of people testing positive for COVID-19, the upper respiratory disease resulting from infection by the novel coronavirus, vaulted past 300 in Brookfield, with another 20 cases added in the seven-day period ending on the morning of Sept. 1.
After seeing the rate of new cases plummet through June and into the first part of July, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Brookfield didn’t hit 200 until July 20. But in the last six weeks Brookfield has seen more than 100 new cases, including 40 in the past two weeks.
On the other hand, no Brookfield resident has died as a result of contracting COVID-19 since June 7. To date, the village has recorded four deaths from the disease.
After seeing the number of new cases drop two weeks in a row, Riverside also saw an uptick in new cases last week, with 12 more residents testing positive for COVID-19 for the seven-day period ending the morning of Sept. 1.
That count has pushed the village’s total to 163 since the pandemic began, with 42 coming in the past five weeks. That’s roughly half the time it took for Riverside to amass the 42 cases before that.
Like Brookfield, Riverside hasn’t recorded a death from COVID-19 in some time. The last fatality was reported, by Riverside’s fire chief, on May 4. The Cook County Medical Examiner did not record that death as being from Riverside due to a clerical error. Likewise, the medical examiner did record a death in Riverside on July 19. But an examination of that record online showed that case to be out of North Riverside.
Riverside has had two deaths that the Landmark has been able to confirm since the start of the pandemic.
Seven more people in North Riverside tested positive for COVID-19 for the seven-day period ending the morning of Sept. 1, bringing that village’s total to 113.
North Riverside has added 21 cases in the past three weeks. The previous 21 cases in North Riverside were recorded over an 11-week period.
Statewide positivity rate at 4.1%
As of Monday, the rolling seven-day average positivity rate throughout the state was 4.1 percent, while the positivity rate in Regions 4 and 7 of the state’s reopening plan either remained roughly flat or increased as of Aug. 28 despite added restrictions.
Region 7 – which contains Kankakee and Will Counties – saw its positivity rate increase to 8.8 percent as of Friday after new restrictions took effect last Wednesday. In Region 4, which includes the Metro East area on the Missouri border, the positivity rate was 10.4 percent as of Friday after nearly two weeks of restrictions.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said more restrictions can come this week if the positivity rate in the area does not decrease.
Southern Illinois, in Region 5, had a positivity rate of 7.4 percent, the third highest. In Region 2, which includes Peoria and several surrounding counties, the positivity rate was 6.8 percent, and in suburban Cook County, or Region 10, the rate was 6.9 percent.
All other regions ranged from 1.6 percent in east-central Illinois’ Region 6 to 6.2 percent in Region 9, which include McHenry and Lake Counties.
From Saturday through Monday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported an average of 1,846 new cases each day among 46,618 tests completed on average. The positivity rate was roughly 4 percent over that span.
As of Monday, there were 8,026 virus-related deaths recorded in the state after a total of 29 were reported the previous three days. There have been 235,023 cases of the virus confirmed since the pandemic began, and IDPH reports the recovery rate is 95 percent for individuals who are at least 42 days removed from a positive COVID diagnosis.
More than 4 million tests have been conducted in the state.
Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.
