Burr Ridge Mayor Warns Older People

BURR RIDGE, IL — As Burr Ridge's mayor pushes for a faster reopening of the economy, the village is seeing only small increases in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases. As of Sunday, the number was 75, up from 69 a week earlier.

Burr Ridge's case count may be driven, in part, by the outbreak at Harvester Place assisted living facility, which had 37 cases and 12 related deaths as of Friday. But Burr Ridge's overall number likely does not include all the nursing home cases. That's because county health departments count confirmed cases, while the state's nursing home figures include both confirmed and presumed cases. Also, nursing home numbers include employees, who may live in other towns.

Illinois Coronavirus Update May 18: 94,191 Cases, 4,177 Deaths — Don't miss updates in Burr Ridge as they are announced — Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

As of Sunday, Burr Ridge had 6.9 coronavirus cases per thousand people. The rates are 2.5 in Western Springs, 4 in Clarendon Hills, 4.1 in Elmhurst, 4.3 in Darien 4.6 in La Grange Park, 6.4 in DuPage County, 9.4 in La Grange and 9.6 in Hinsdale.

In his daily bulletin on the coronavirus Sunday, Mayor Gary Grasso said that while he continues to push to reopen the economy sooner, he wanted to caution those 60 and older once the opening happens. He noted that nearly all of coronavirus-related deaths have been among older people. According to the county's figures, those younger than 60 account for less than 5 percent of deaths. "For those over 60: know and weigh the risks when we reopen," the mayor said.

Illinois' coronavirus case count increased to 77,741, up 26 percent from a week earlier, according to Sunday's numbers. The coronavirus has claimed the lives of 3,406 Illinois residents. Health authorities do not provide the number of deaths by municipality.

Nationally, nearly 1.4 million people have caught the virus, and 80,574 people have died from it.