COVID-19, Local, Park Forest, Science

Park Forest Passes Matteson as South Suburb with Most Known COVID-19 Cases at 102


coronavirus covid-19 idph
(IDPH)

Peak Projection for Illinois Improves

Numbers revised at 11:35 PM on April 8, 2020

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- It’s not a distinction any town wants. The Village of Park Forest now has more known cases of COVID-19 than any other municipality in the South Suburbs, according to the Cook County Department of Public Health. Park Forest has 102 known cases or 546.27 per 100,000. Matteson has 101 cases, 531.33 cases per 100,000.

As of April 8, Chicago Heights has 75 cases, Steger has 20, Flossmoor 32, Richton Park 55, Olympia Fields 23, Sauk Village 30, Glenwood 37, Tinley Park 51, and South Chicago Heights has 8.

Harvey has 55 cases, Country Club Hills has 67 cases, Orland Park 70, Lynwood 40, Lansing 65, Homewood 54, South Holland 83, Calumet City 95, and Markham 45. Ford Heights has 7 cases.

But the projection for the peak of the disease in the state of Illinois has improved from April 16 to April 11, three days hence,  according to projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington.

IHME has also reduced the projected need for invasive ventilators for the state from 1,575 on April 5 to 604 as of today’s date. The research center also shows no ICU bed shortage for the state, where April 5 there was a projected shortage of 722 ICU beds.

Peak projection for Illinois IHME
COVID-19 peak projections for Illinois as of April 8, 2020. (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation data visualization)

A spokesperson at Victory Center on Main Street in Park Forest said no residents there have tested positive for COVID-19.

Also, as of this writing, no first responders in Park Forest have tested positive for the virus. That includes Fire and Police personnel.

As of April 08, 2020, there are a total of 3969 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in suburban Cook County and 129 deaths. Sixty-three congregate settings, such as long term care facilities or nursing homes, are reporting one or more confirmed cases.

13,549 people tested positive in the state of Illinois. Of those who tested positive, 380 died, or 2.8%, 28 per 100,000 of those who test positive. That figure is much higher than the common flu, which has a death rate of approximately 0.1% in the United States, according to The New York Times.

A total of 68,732 tests for the virus were performed thus far in the state.

Gov. JB Pritzker ordered Illinois residents to stay at home as of March 21. Executive Order No. 10 requires all residents to stay home, with exceptions for essential needs or business activities. Gatherings of 10 people or more are prohibited. The order extends through April 30, 2020.

Erratum: A revision of the numbers in this article incorrectly stated that Markham had 445 cases of COVID-19. The correct number is 45. Thanks to a reader for pointing out the error, since corrected.


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