During the month of September, Oak Park and River Forest had 164 people test positive for COVID-19 between the two villages. Oak Park had 128 people test positive while River Forest reported 36 residents had contracted COVID-19.
Both of the villages’ governments have been tracking and posting updates on their respective websites to keep the public up to date on the latest COVID-19 related activity.
According to the village’s website, 31 Oak Parkers have died after testing positive for COVID-19 since officials started tracking pandemic data in March.
Oak Park Public Health Director Mike Charley announced on Sept. 2 that two residents between the ages of 40-60 years old died after testing positive for COVID-19. No other Oak Park residents were reported dead after contracting coronavirus in the month of September.
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s online dashboard of suburban COVID-19 deaths, one River Forest resident has died from the disease since the pandemic swept through the area earlier this year. The person who died was a man over the age of 80. He died May 18.
The Cook County Department of Public Health’s online map tracking the spread of COVID-19 shows that 165 River Forest residents had tested positive for the disease in total as of Sept. 28.
During this past month, the stretch between Sept. 24-28 hit Oak Park the hardest, as Charley announced 36 residents tested positive for the novel coronavirus in that time frame.
On Sept. 7, 22 positive cases were reported. Three days later, Wednesday Journal reported that 24 Oak Park and River Forest High School students had tested positive for COVID-19 from Aug. 15- Sept. 9.
At that time, District 200 Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams sent an email to families indicating the spike in cases occurred due to a large gathering at an area home.
From Saturday through Monday, the state as a whole averaged 1,918 new cases and 52,394 test results daily. There were 1,709 new cases reported in the previous 24 hours Monday, and 13 additional virus-related deaths. There now have been 8,614 Illinoisans killed by COVID-19.
The IDPH reported 52 deaths from Saturday to Monday, bringing the total death count in the state to 8,614 people. With 41,142 tests reported in the previous hours, the test positivity rate statewide was 4.15 percent in the previous 24 hours, the Illinois Department of Public Health said. That’s a full percentage point higher than the rate reported Sunday.
Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.
