After seeing essentially no new cases of COVID-19 in Brookfield for the past four weeks, numbers headed back up during the week that ended on the morning of July 20.
From June 8 through July 13, the village saw just four new cases. Since July 13, however, the Cook County Department of Public Health reported eight new cases of COVID-19 in Brookfield.
That’s most cases in one week in the village since the week ending on the morning of June 8. That bump in cases corresponds to an increase in the seven-day rolling positivity rate in Brookfield, which as of July 19 stood at 3.08 percent, according to the Northwestern School of Medicine’s online COVID-19 dashboard. The positivity rate in Brookfield in recent weeks had been at 1 percent or lower.
Meanwhile, the positivity rate in ZIP code 60546, which includes both Riverside and North Riverside remains below 1 percent. As of July 19, according to the Northwestern online dashboard, the seven-day rolling positivity rate was 0.9 percent, up from 0.38 percent the week before.
Riverside and North Riverside each experienced one new case of COVID-19 for the week ending on the morning of July 20. It’s the first time since June 8 that all three villages in the Landmark’s coverage area reported at least one new case of COVID-19.
There have been no deaths attributed to COVID-19 in any of the three villages for some time now. The most recent local fatality was reported in Brookfield on March 24. The most recent North Riverside fatality was on Jan. 11, while no Riverside resident has died as a result of COVID-19 since Dec. 17, 2020, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s online database.
Health officials at all levels of government have been warning people in recent weeks to guard against the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant, which originated in India, but is now considered responsible for a recent spike in cases throughout the United States.
However, that does not seem to have increased the rate at which Illinoisans are being vaccinated against COVID-19. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the seven-day rolling average of vaccine doses administered in the state stood at 20,628. On June 26, that average stood at 44,391, and on May 20 it stood at 82,284.
More than 90 percent of Riverside residents eligible have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of July 19, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health, with 76.7 percent fully vaccinated.
In Brookfield, 54.9 percent were fully vaccinated and 66.2 percent had been given at least one dose. North Riverside residents continue to be the most vaccine-resistant of the three villages, with just 36 percent fully vaccinated and 43.1 percent having received one dose.
Statewide, 55.6 percent of Illinois residents age 12+ have been fully vaccinated, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, with 71.1 percent having received at least one dose.
