No New Coronavirus Cases In Skokie For First Time In Months

SKOKIE, IL — For the first time since Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Illinois, village officials reported there were zero new cases of COVID-19 Sunday among village residents. According to Skokie Health Department Director Dr. Catherine Counard, two Skokie residents remained hospitalized Monday, with 35 more currently in isolation. The number of residents classified as currently ill has fallen by more than 66 percent, down from over 110 in the past month.

"Overall good news, but we are of course aware that COVID-19 has not gone away, and we all need to be more vigilant during the coming months to prevent a resurgence in cases in the village until we have a vaccine to prevent illness, perhaps by early next year," Counard said at Monday's village board meeting.

Thirty four village residents have died so far, Counard said, including three nursing home residents who have died in the past three weeks.

"So far, there've been 23 outbreaks of COVID-19 in a wide range of facilities and business," Counard said. "Health department staff have worked closely with the management teams of these facilities to bring outbreaks under control."

Most nursing home administrators are now testing staff and residents who have not yet contracted the virus every four days, regardless of symptoms, in an effort to detect outbreaks before they spread among a population most vulnerable to severe complications, she said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office reported 41 COVID-19-related deaths among people with Skokie addresses as of Monday. It has a higher count because it includes people who were temporarily residing in one of the village's long-term care facilities when they died, Village Manager John Lockerby explained.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported updated provisional coronavirus data Friday from licensed Skokie nursing homes showing nine new deaths since the start of last month:

Lieberman Geriatric Center — 67 cases, 7 deaths
The Grove of Skokie — 27 cases, 6 deaths
Alden North Shore — 3 cases, 1 death
Citadel of Skokie — 4 cases, 2 deaths

Over the same period, there have been 52 new cases among nursing home residents and staff, according to IDPH. All but five of them were reported at Lieberman Geriatric Center, while Alden North Shore has reported no new cases or deaths in the past five weeks.

The Skokie Health Department has so far received more than $800,000 in grants to support its efforts to track down new infections as they are detected, Counard said. The money has been used to support nursing, social work, health inspectors and contact tracers to get in touch with those who have had contact with potentially contagious people.

Last month, Counard attended a remote meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which provides guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the best use of vaccines.

Public health experts are working to balance a desire to get the most vulnerable populations vaccinated as soon as possible, while at the same time distributing as many vaccines as possible, to as many people as possible, as rapidly as possible, she explained. Targeting vaccines too narrowly or restricting channels of distribution could slow the rate of vaccination and delay widespread immunity.

The health department has not had to deal with many complaints about violations of public health regulations in the village, Counard said, but when they do come in they receive immediate attention. If a complaint is received on a weekend or after businesses hours, sometimes Skokie police will pay a visit.

"They'll swing by, and the uniform has a pretty good impact on getting compliance without having to say a whole lot," Counard told trustees.

Police have also participated in conference calls with management of businesses that have not been in compliance with in Phase 4 of the governor's "Restore Illinois" reopening plan, she explained.

Over the coming days, village staff plan to contact every registered business in the village to ensure they are informed of safety restrictions in place, best practices for preventing infections and how to respond if someone at a workplace tests positive, according to Counard.

The health director said there is still very little certain about the mechanism of the virus, which appears to attack virtually every part of the body and has been associated with a broad range of symptoms and after-effects.

"Scientists are racing everyday to better understand the impact of the virus," she said. "But it's dangerous at this point, considering our lack of knowledge and understanding of the long-term course of this disease, for anyone to knowingly put themselves at higher risk of infection by not taking the simple precautions of social distancing, washing their hands and wearing face coverings."

Earlier: 38 Deaths, 69 Active COVID-19 Cases: Skokie Coronavirus Update