Burr Ridge Mayor: Pandemic Appears To 'Wane In Terms Of Severity'

BURR RIDGE, IL — With the onset of the pandemic in March, Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso began issuing public statements every day on the coronavirus. Sometimes he shifted to other topics of public concern — the Black Lives Matter protests, among them — but his focus has remained the pandemic.

Grasso has gradually reduced the frequency of his statements, but still issued far more than his counterparts in other towns. In his most recent statement, he said he would limit his messages to Fridays as the "pandemic appears to wane in terms of severity."

"Should urgent news occur, a message would be sent as soon as possible," Grasso said. "I hope we are truly seeing the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel."

He said Burr Ridge's numbers have stabilized.

"It is my hope that any significant increases are behind us and that a steady downward trend begins again next week," the mayor said.

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As of Sunday, Burr Ridge saw an 8 percent increase in its coronavirus caseload from a week earlier, according to county health authorities. The cases number 206, up 15 from a week before.

As of Sunday, Burr Ridge had 19.1 coronavirus cases per thousand people. The figure compares to 10.6 in Darien, 11.5 in Western Springs, 11.6 in La Grange Park, 13.3 in Elmhurst, 13.7 in Clarendon Hills, 14.9 in DuPage County, 16.2 in Hinsdale, 19.6 in suburban Cook County and 23 in La Grange.

As of Sunday, Illinois' coronavirus case count increased to 220,178, up 7 percent from a week earlier. The coronavirus has claimed the lives of 7,880 state residents.

Nationally, 5.9 million people have caught the virus, up 10 percent from the week before. A total of 180,605 people have died from the virus in the United States.