Coronavirus death toll rises to six in Illinois
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The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Saturday that another person died from COVID-19-related illnesses for a total of six statewide deaths since the outbreak began.
The Cook County man who died was in his 70s.
The number of COVID-19 cases statewide as of Saturday is 753, which is an increase of 168 from the 585 reported on Friday.
Last Saturday, the total number of cases in Illinois was at 64.
It was last Saturday when the first metro-east cases were reported. Two Clair County women who had traveled overseas were the first cases in the county, officials announced last Saturday.
Overall, authorities have reported nine COVID-19 cases in the southwestern Illinois counties of St. Clair, Madison, Clinton and Washington as of Saturday.
Here’s a breakdown of the area cases:
▪ St. Clair County has three cases: One woman is in her 60s and the other is in her 70s. They both traveled overseas and were recovering at home. The third case is a man in his 50s. As of Saturday, 44 people had been tested for coronavirus and eight of these tests are pending.
▪ Madison County has two cases: A man in his 60s and a man in his 30s. Both traveled internationally and are now recovering at home.
▪ Clinton County has three cases: A woman in her 60s, a man in his 60s and woman in her 20s. None had traveled internationally.
▪ Washington County has one case: A male in his 30s who had traveled to Chicago. He is self-quarantining.
In Missouri, officials have announced the death of a St. Louis County woman, who has been identified by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as Judy Wilson-Griffin, a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital. St. Louis County had 17 COVID-19 cases as of Saturday while the city of St. Louis reported 10 positive cases.
As of Saturday, no deaths have been reported in the metro-east.
Illinois and metro-east health department directors have refused to release additional information about the victims, such as their hometowns.
Barb Hohlt, director of the St. Clair County Health Department, has said further information about the patients cannot be released because such a disclosure would violate federal privacy rules under HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
For more information about COVID-19 cases in Illinois, go to the state’s coronavirus page at coronavirus.illinois.gov
This story was originally published March 21, 2020 at 2:44 PM.
