Now Tracking Monee & Beecher: Regional COVID-19 Numbers Increase

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- With one vaccine approved and one on the cusp of approval, eNews Park Forest begins tracking the COVID-19 statistics for Monee and Beecher. At a reader’s request, we are expanding our coverage to 32 towns up from the 30 we have tracked for months.

At last, there is a modicum of good news to share with this report: the number of projected deceased in Illinois has dropped, due largely to the beginning of the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Illinois is projected to see 24,575 deaths by April 1, 2021, nearly a year since Cook County began tracking these virus-related deaths. This marks the first time the projection of deaths for Illinois has dropped, at 27,497 when we last tracked. This projection shows easing scenarios due to vaccine distribution. The United States as a whole still will lose over half-a-million people by that date if nothing changes, these figures according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington. The IHME predicts 538,893 COVID-related deaths by April 1 in the United States.

But the two contiguous Will County municipalities add 1,040 cases of the virus to our tally, with Beecher currently at 550 cases and Monee at 490. Sadly, the two towns also add 23 deaths to the overall total; Beecher lost 14 people from the virus and Monee lost 9.

Park Forest remains at 21 deceased from SARS-CoV-2 and now has 1,487 cases since the pandemic began. When we last counted on December 5, Park Forest had 1,348 cases of the capricious infection.

Our combined number of deaths for the region stands at 781. This number is inflated by Cicero’s 146 deceased. We began tracking Cicero early on as it is a very large community with almost 84,000 people.

A complete rendering of Cook County COVID-19-related deaths follows in the next chart.

The dangers of the spread of COVID-19 are multiple and complex, as Dr. Timothy Angelotti, MD Ph.D., recently told eNews Park Forest, “The problem is it’s not about death, it’s not about the healthy people or the people that get very little illness from this. It’s about the surge that can happen in a hospital setting when you have a whole bunch of people get infected.

“Our biggest fear, and that’s what people don’t appreciate, that if you want a hospital full of people who are full of COVID then keep doing what we’re doing. Then all other medical care will go by the wayside until we get control of this. Do you want us to cancel elective surgeries again?”

Dr. Angelotti is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine (ICU) at the Stanford University Medical Center. His Ph.D. is in pharmacology, and our entire interview with Dr. Angelotti is forthcoming.

Our complete interview with Dr. Angelotti follows. It’s worth watching if the reader, for whatever reason, believes COVID-19 to be a hoax.

COVID-19 at Ludeman Center

According to the state of Illinois, as of December 16, Ludeman Center in Park Forest has 258 residents who tested positive for COVID-19, this figure up from 249 when we last tallied. Of these, 245 have recovered. A total of 193 staff members at Ludeman have tested positive, up from 183 at our last count. Of these, 171 recovered and returned to work.

Ludeman Center currently employs 932 people and has 335 residents according to the latest figures supplied by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Current COVID-19 Cases for 30 South Suburban Towns

Where do we stand today with COVID-19?

Park Forest now has 1,487 cases and a rate of 6939.19 per 100,000.

Chicago Heights has 2,560 cases and a current rate per 100k of 8455.54. Cicero leads still with 10,000 cases and the highest rate of the 30 by far at 11,920.51. This makes Cicero the first of our 30 towns to pass the 11,000 per 100k mark in cases.

Long-Term Effects of COVID-19

We have no data on how many people are suffering lingering effects of COVID nor does anyone know yet if some conditions those have since recovering will become chronic.

We do have one interview forthcoming with a woman who had COVID in April of 2020 and still has not recovered. She has not tasted food in the eight months since she caught COVID. The disease ravaged her lungs, which now, at 47, are like those of a 70-year-old, her physician tells her.

The CDC reports that it “is actively working to learn more about the whole range of short- and long-term health effects associated with COVID-19. As the pandemic unfolds, we are learning that many organs besides the lungs are affected by COVID-19 and there are many ways the infection can affect someone’s health.”

“One of the health effects that CDC is closely watching and working to understand relates to COVID-19 and the heart,” the CDC says. “Heart conditions associated with COVID-19 include inflammation and damage to the heart muscle itself, known as myocarditis, or inflammation of the covering of the heart, known as pericarditis. These conditions can occur by themselves or in combination. Heart damage may be an important part of severe disease and death from COVID-19, especially in older people with underlying illness. Heart damage like this might also explain some frequently reported long-term symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain, and heart palpitations.”

The CDC stresses that the “risk of heart damage may not be limited to older and middle-aged adults. For example, young adults with COVID-19, including athletes, can also suffer from myocarditis. Severe heart damage has occurred in young, healthy people, but is rare. There may be more cases of mild effects of COVID-19 on the heart that can be diagnosed with special imaging tests, including in younger people with mild or minimal symptoms; however, the long-term significance of these mild effects on the heart are unknown. CDC will continue to assess and provide updates as new data emerge.”

Current Numbers for Neighboring Towns

As of this writing, Steger has 564 cases, Flossmoor 507, and Richton Park 807. Olympia Fields is at 218, Sauk Village is at 517, Glenwood 599, Tinley Park 3,264, and South Chicago Heights has 236.

Harvey has 1,603 cases, Country Club Hills has 1,089 cases, Orland Park 4,024, Lynwood 572, Lansing 2,317, Homewood 1,072, South Holland 1,621, Markham 711, and Crete 1,022.

Ford Heights now has 105 cases, and Calumet City has 2,552.

As of this writing, Will County now reports 47,889 cases of the virus. There are now 653 deaths from COVID-19 in Will County.

Deceased from COVID-19

The Cook County Medical Examiner now reports 7,513 total COVID-19 related deaths since March 16, 2020. This figure is from today’s date, December 17, 2020.

COVID-19 Deaths for 30 Towns

This table was updated with statistics for Beecher and Monee on Dec. 18 at 9:26 PM.

State of Illinois: Most Recent Update

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today, December 17, reported 8,828 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 181 additional deaths.

• Boone County: 1 male 90s
• Bureau County: 1 female 90s
• Carroll County: 1 female 60s
• Champaign County: 1 female 70s
• Christian County: 1 female 80s
• Clinton County: 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
• Coles County: 1 female 80s
• Cook County: 1 male 20s, 3 males 40s, 6 males 50s, 3 females 60s, 5 males 60s, 10 females 70s, 18 males 70s, 5 females 80s, 6 males 80s, 5 females 90s, 4 males 90s, 1 female 100+
• Crawford County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
• Dewitt County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
• DuPage County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+
• Edwards County: 1 female 80s
• Effingham County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 70s
• Fayette County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
• Ford County: 1 female 80s
• Franklin County: 1 male 80s
• Grundy County: 1 female 100+
• Hardin County: 1 male 80s
• Henry County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 female 100+
• Iroquois County: 1 male 80s
• Jackson County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
• Kane County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
• Kankakee County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
• Knox County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
• Lake County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
• LaSalle County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
• Livingston County: 1 female 60s
• Macoupin County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
• Madison County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 90s, 1 male 90s
• Marshall County: 1 male 70s
• Mason County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
• Massac County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s
• McHenry County: 1 female 50s, 1 male 60s
• McLean County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 3 males 80s, 1 male 90s
• Mercer County: 1 female 80s
• Peoria County: 1 female 90s
• Perry County: 1 female 90s
• Randolph County: 1 male 50s
• Richland County: 1 female 60s
• Rock Island County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
• Sangamon County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
• Shelby County: 1 female 90s
• St. Clair County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s
• Stark County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
• Tazewell County: 1 female 80s, 3 males 80s
• Vermilion County: 1 male 60s
• White County: 2 males 80s
• Whiteside County: 1 male 90s
• Will County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s
• Williamson County: 2 males 70s
• Winnebago County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 879,428 cases, including 14,835 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 92,015 specimens for a total 12,147,3093.

As of last night, 4,804 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,063 patients were in the ICU and 575 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from December 10 – December 16, 2020 is 8.4%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from December 10 – December 16, 2020 is 10.0%.

*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered.  Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted.  For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email [email protected].

eNews Park Forest will continue to track SARS-CoV-2 in our area.