Elmhurst Virus Rate Increase Picks Up Again

ELMHURST, IL — The increase in Elmhurst's coronavirus cases picked up again last week. As of Sunday, Elmhurst saw 39 new cases, a 7 percent increase, according to the DuPage County Health Department. The local caseload has jumped by a quarter over the last four weeks.

As of Sunday, Elmhurst had seen 44 coronavirus-related deaths so far, according to the health department. That's the same as a week earlier.

Nursing homes are often hotbeds for the coronavirus, but those numbers have only increased slightly in recent weeks. In Elmhurst, The Grove of Elmhurst reported 97 cases as of Friday, the same as it has been for a while, according to the state Department of Public Health. It was followed by 42 at Artis Senior Living and 17 at Lexington of Elmhurst. The total coronavirus deaths are 20 at Artis, 12 at Lexington and 13 at The Grove. Artis' outbreak was early in the crisis and the home has seen no effects in months, according to Artis.

The case numbers at nursing homes include employees, who may live elsewhere and thus excluded from Elmhurst's overall number.

Here's a look at the coronavirus numbers in Elmhurst:

In DuPage County, Addison has the highest number of cases with 1,052, which works out to 28.9 per thousand. It is followed by West Chicago, with 1,000 cases, or 37.3 per thousand. Despite the high caseloads, both towns have seen relatively few deaths — 9 in Addison and 12 in West Chicago.

As of Sunday, Elmhurst had 13.3 coronavirus cases per thousand people. The figure compares to 10.6 in Darien, 11.5 in Western Springs, 11.6 in La Grange Park, 13.7 in Clarendon Hills, 14.9 in DuPage County, 16.2 in Hinsdale, 19.1 in Burr Ridge, 19.6 in suburban Cook County and 23 in La Grange.

As of Sunday, Illinois' coronavirus case count increased to 220,178, up 7 percent from a week earlier. The coronavirus has claimed the lives of 7,880 state residents.

Nationally, 5.9 million people have caught the virus, up 10 percent from the week before. A total of 180,605 people have died from the virus in the United States.

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Meanwhile, Elmhurst Hospital's coronavirus caseload was four as of Monday, down three from a week earlier. In the early weeks of the pandemic, the number hovered around 60.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus at the hospital remains at 82, the same for three weeks in a row.

Since March 24, 504 patients have been discharged from Elmhurst Hospital following treatment for confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the hospital. Elmhurst Hospital's patient base covers an area far greater than Elmhurst itself.