Over two-thirds of all residents at Riverside’s Miller Rehabilitation Center in Kankakee have now become infected with the deadly pandemic. The Center is now the deadliest in all of Kankakee County, accounting for the loss of 14 of its residents due to COVID-19.
The second closest facility in death totals is the Manteno Veterans’ Home, which now reports three deaths on Saturday. Shaprio Developmental Center remains atop most cases at a facility with 129, reporting one death to date.
The information was released this weekend by the Illinois Department of Public Health as 48 of Riverside’s 70 residents at the facility have now become infected. Miller Center has now been reporting cases of the virus among its residents for well over a month, but first confirmed cases through state outlets on April 15th.
Public connections to the pandemic become more visual as corporations such as Del Monte and McDonald’s in the City of Kankakee experienced their up-close connections with the pandemic in the past week. Meanwhile, the City of Kankakee and other government officials push for a sense of normalcy among a pandemic, voting to push reopening efforts further last Tuesday.
As of Friday, Kankakee County had 640 active cases of COVID-19. Since late March, 264 cases have been reported at long-care facilities in the County.
The County is coming off its worst statistical week to date, reporting 222 cases of the virus last week. No new cases will be announced by the Kankakee County Health Department until Monday as it has chosen to stop reporting on the weekend.
