Kane Co. Board Rejects Effort To Withhold Coronavirus Death Data

GENEVA, IL — The Kane County Board narrowly shot down a proposal last week that would’ve blocked the county’s main communication arm from publishing the coroner’s news releases on coronavirus-related deaths. Board Chairman Chris Lauzen’s proposal for the county to only publish statistics from the Kane County Health Department fell by a 12-11 vote, according to a report by the Kane County Chronicle.

Lauzen moved to stop Kane County Connects from republishing Coroner Rob Russell’s weekly coronavirus reports, as his statistics include all deaths recorded in Kane County while the health department is reporting the number of residents who have died of coronavirus-related symptoms.

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Russell has emphasized in his updates that all deaths at Kane County hospitals are included in his statistics, but Lauzen had hoped to eliminate any “unnecessary ambiguity or confusion” by scrapping Russell’s numbers from the county’s newsletter, the report states.

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Rick Nagel, who runs Kane County Connects, encouraged the board to vote against Lauzen’s proposal and said not reporting the coroner’s data would not solve the problem, according to the report. The coroner’s releases include the most accurate information available, Nagel said, noting statistical inconsistencies between the Kane County Health Department’s coronavirus dashboard and the Illinois Department of Public Health's data.

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“The data (Russell) prepares comes from death certificates entered by physicians,” Nagel said, according to the report. “Not anyone here disputes the accuracy. This is information Kane County residents want to have. … Why wouldn’t we want to hear the most accurate, detailed information?”