Lake County Coronavirus Update: 173 New Cases, No New Deaths

LAKE COUNTY, IL—The Lake County Health Department is reporting 173 additional cases of the new coronavirus and no new deaths in Lake County since Thursday. This brings the total number of Lake County COVID-19 cases to 3,794 including 127 deaths as of Friday.

County officials said the health department is investigating 33 long-term care facilities in the county that have two or more positive cases. These 33 facilities have a combined total of 599 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 83 deaths.

A state-operated community based testing site will open in Waukegan Sunday, May 3. The site will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., or until 500 tests are completed each day. The testing site is located at 2161 Northwestern Avenue. Testing is free.

Who can be tested:

• All individuals with symptoms

• People in the following groups with or without symptoms:
• Individuals exposed to confirmed COVID-19 cases
• Individuals with compromised immune systems and/or chronic medical conditions
• Healthcare workers
• First responders
• Employees of correctional facilities
• Employees who support Critical Infrastructure (grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, gas stations, public utilities, factories, childcare and sanitation)
• Individuals slated to receive elective surgery within 72 hours

Definition of Symptoms

• Fever, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell

"We thank the State of Illinois for expanding testing in Lake County and particularly in Waukegan, an area that is particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Lake County Health Department Executive Director Mark Pfister. "Greater access to testing will provide a more complete picture of the impact of COVID-19 on our communities. The Health Department’s dedicated Communicable Disease team is ready to complement the increase in tests with thorough contact tracing to identify and prevent additional cases in Lake County. "

For full details of the Waukegan Community-Based Testing Site, visit www.lakecountyil.gov/coronavirus.

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