Burr Ridge Mayor's 'Respectful Pushback'

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge has seen four more coronavirus cases in the last week, moving the total to 69, according to health authorities. Meanwhile, Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso and other mayors in DuPage County are pushing to reopen businesses.

Burr Ridge's case count may be driven largely by the outbreak at Harvester Place assisted living facility, which had 37 coronavirus cases and 11 related deaths as of Friday.

In his daily coronavirus bulletins since March, Grasso has been mostly supportive of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's orders related to the coronavirus outbreak. But the mayor has been slightly more critical in recent days, as he and other mayors are pushing for a faster reopening of the economy.

Illinois Coronavirus Update May 11: 77,741 Cases, 3,406 Deaths — Don't miss updates in Burr Ridge as they are announced — Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

On Saturday, Grasso said Pritzker seems to have consulted with no one in economics or trade associations before devising his Restore Illinois plan. He said the governor also has not consulted legislative leaders or responded to a letter written by an association of DuPage County mayors. Grasso and other mayors object to DuPage County being included in the region with Cook County, saying Cook's slower progress could hold back the suburbs in reopening.

Grasso called the letter from DuPage County mayors "respectful pushback." He said he walked the Village Center and County Line Square on Friday afternoon and as a result, he became "more convinced our shops — and restaurants that wish to open — can open responsibly when the health metrics are met."

"We can enforce social distancing and the use of face coverings, use parking lots, tents, portable bathrooms, hand sanitizer stations and all required health precautions," Grasso said. "We cannot allow slackers and bad behavior. If we can convince the governor to let us open, then we should be prepared to enforce the rules."

As of Sunday, Burr Ridge had 6.1 coronavirus cases per thousand people. That compares to 1.8 in Western Springs, 3.3 in Clarendon Hills, 3.5 in Elmhurst, 3.6 in La Grange Park, 5 in DuPage County, 7.9 in La Grange and 9.2 in Hinsdale.

Some other suburbs, meanwhile, are seeing higher rates. Park Forest, for example, has 16.8 cases per thousand people.

As of Sunday, Illinois' coronavirus case count increased to 77,741, up 26 percent from a week earlier. 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.