KANKAKEE – Local health officials announced Monday evening 245 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents in Kankakee County. The area saw a single-day record Friday recording 103 new cases. No additional information was released by the Kankakee County Health Department (KCHD) as to which cases came per day dating back to last Saturday.
KCHD does not report on the weekend.
Among new cases reported Monday evening included 52 cases among those in their 20s, the most for any age group during the span. School-aged residents accounted for 31 cases countywide during the weekend report.
There are now 991 active cases in Kankakee, including 28 residents currently hospitalized for the virus.
With Election Day less than 24-hours away, Kankakee County Clerk Dan Hendrickson asked residents to ‘be mindful’ on Election Day, including wearing a mask to your local polling place. Kankakee County Health Department will be closed on Election Day due to its address being utilized as a polling place in Kankakee.
Region 7’s rolling seven-day positivity increased to 12.4% on Monday, setting a new regional record. Additional mitigations could be announced as early as Thursday in Region 7, which would limit gatherings to 10 people or less under TIER 2 mitigation efforts.
Restrictions have begun to slowly cross across area hospitals in the area. On Sunday, Morris Hospital began to enact visitor restrictions; Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox enacted similar restrictions Monday, limiting visitors only to pediatric patients, patients with mental health issues, developmental delays, dementia, or those at end-of-life. No outpatient services will allow visitors with limited exemptions.
During a meeting of the Kankakee County Board last week, Kankakee County Health Department Administrator John Bevis asked area residents to be on the lookout for a 312 area code. That number could be a contact tracer trying to reach out to you. “The Contact Tracing call is a 312 area code. It just is, we can’t do anything about that. Statewide, it’s the same number. It’s 312-777-1999. It should come across as “COVID CONTACT TRACING”,” Bevis told the County Board last week.
