Burr Ridge Mayor Criticizes Governor's Plan

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge is continuing to see small increases in the number of coronavirus cases. As of Sunday, the number of cases in Burr Ridge was 81, up from 75 a week earlier, amounting to an 8 percent jump.

Meanwhile, Burr Ridge's mayor continues to criticize the governor's plan to reopen the state'e economy.

Earlier in the pandemic, Burr Ridge's caseload was driven, in part, by the outbreak at Harvester Place assisted living facility, which the state reported had 37 cases and 12 related deaths. But the numbers over the last couple of weeks indicate that the facility's outbreak appears to have been contained.

Illinois Coronavirus Update May 24: 110,304 Cases, 4,856 Deaths — Don't miss updates in Burr Ridge as they are announced — Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Burr Ridge's overall number likely does not include all cases at long-term care facilities such as Harvester Place. The state's figures include employees, who may live in other towns.

As of Sunday, Burr Ridge had 6.5 coronavirus cases per thousand people. That compares to 2.9 in Western Springs, 4.5 in Clarendon Hills, 4.6 in Elmhurst, 4.9 in Darien, 5.3 in La Grange Park, 7.7 in DuPage County, 10 in Hinsdale and 10.5 in La Grange.

In his daily bulletins on the coronavirus, Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso continues to call for a quicker reopening of the economy than Gov. J.B. Pritzker's plan. He noted that 17 percent of coronavirus tests in DuPage County came back positive as of May 1. That number dropped to 9 percent by May 17.

"DuPage County had met the crucial metric of positivity to open by mid-May," Grasso said in his bulletin Sunday. "Had the Governor not grouped the DuPage communities — which includes all of Burr Ridge — with Cook County, we could have reopened almost two weeks ago, well in time for this holiday weekend."

He said he remained supportive of the governor's closure of the economy in March.

"However, the bald fact is that had he applied a different approach to the collar counties and most of downstate, a lot of economic misery would have been dampened or avoided. His decisions appear to have been tempered by treating Chicago's needs over the rest of the state," Grasso said.

As of Sunday, Illinois' coronavirus case count increased to 110,304, up 17 percent from a week earlier. The coronavirus has claimed the lives of 4,856 state residents. Health departments do not provide the number of deaths by municipality.

Nationally, 1.7 million people have caught the virus, and 98,035 have died from it.