While Oak Park and River Forest residents took the holidays off, COVID-19 didn’t. From Dec. 28 to Jan. 4, 132 Oak Parkers and 32 River Foresters tested positive for the novel coronavirus. 

According to the Oak Park Department of Public Health, 2,198 Oak Park residents have had COVID-19 since it started reporting positive results on May 18. 

Oak Park has had 100 or more new cases of COVID-19 in nine of the last 10 weeks and is averaging 10 cases a day. River Forest is averaging 4.4 cases a day and had 10 people test positive on Dec. 30, the second highest single-day total in December. 

The Oak Park Department of Public Health also reported another fatality in a long-term care facility. A 79-year-old woman at Belmont Village of Oak Park died after testing positive for COVID-19, the village announced on Jan. 4. 

Belmont Village of Oak Park has had seven residents die due to COVID-19 related complications since the start of the pandemic. It has also had 28 residents and 30 staff members test positive for coronavirus, according to the village. 

As for other long-term care facilities, Berkeley Nursing & Rehabilitation Center has had 47 residents and 15 staffers test positive for COVID-19 while 11 residents have died after contracting coronavirus. Brookdale Oak Park has had 11 resident and 23 staff cases while two residents died of COVID-19 related complications. Oak Park Arms has had nine resident and four staff cases while having one resident die after they contracted COVID-19. Oasis of Oak Park has had 23 resident and 12 staff COVID-19 cases while 12 residents died due to COVID-19 related complications. 

According to Natalia Derevyanny, Cook County’s director of communications, 8,378 people in the county have died after contracting COVID-19.

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