COVID-19 claims another Sangamon County life; 107 new cases reported

A woman in her 80s who tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 18 died late Thursday at HSHS St. John’s Hospital, bringing the number of Sangamon County deaths related to the virus to 66, the county health department announced Friday.

Sangamon County officials also reported 107 new coronavirus cases and the Illinois Department of Corrections said there has been a resurgence of cases at the state prison at Jacksonville.

The Sangamon County Department of Public Health also reported that 37 residents with the virus were hospitalized as of Friday. The number was 22 on Thursday.

The hospitalizations included an infant, a young child, and one person each in their 20s and 30s. Also hospitalized were four people in their 40s, six in their 50s, eight each in their 60s and 70s, five in their 80s and two in their 90s.

Among the new cases were an infant, seven young children, six teens, 17 people each in their 20s and 30s, 14 in their 40s, 20 in their 50s, 12 in their 60s, nine in their 70s, three in their 80s and one in their 90s. The county has now had 4,417 cases with 2,554 people who have recovered.

Morgan County officials reported of 27 newly diagnosed cases reported Friday, 20 were among inmates at Jacksonville Correctional Center.

That prison, said corrections spokeswoman Lindsey Hess, “is experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases due to infection spreading to an additional housing unit.” She said the facility activated its incident command center “to implement aggressive mitigation measures.”

According to the corrections department website, 49 staff members and 393 inmates at Jacksonville have tested positive during the pandemic, and 41 of those staff members and 257 of the inmates have recovered.

Besides the newly infected inmates, the Morgan County Public Health Department Friday also said two teens, three people in their 40s and one each in their 50s and 90s tested positive. The county has had 989 cases, with 26 deaths and 803 people released from restrictions.

Logan County officials Friday reported 21 new cases of the virus. They include two each in their teens and 60s, one person each in their 20s and 70s, three in their 30s, four in their 40s, and eight in their 50s. The county has had 637 cases, with five deaths and 549 people who have recovered.

Two new cases of the virus were reported Friday in Cass County – men in their 40s and 60s. The county has had 477 cases, with 11 deaths and 446 people who recovered.

Three new cases were reported Friday in Menard County, bringing the total to 192, with one death and 157 people who recovered.

The Christian-Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency reported Friday that four employees at Pana Community Hospital had tested positive for COVID-19. The hospital was fully functional and open for walk-in and emergency traffic needs of the community, the agency said.

On Thursday, Christian County had 35 new virus cases, bringing the total to 1,144, with 32 deaths. In Montgomery County, 13 new cases Thursday brought the total there to 617 cases, with 16 deaths.

Macoupin County officials reported 19 new cases Thursday, bringing the total to 896, with 14 deaths.

Contact Bernard Schoenburg: Bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com, 788-1540, twitter.com/bschoenburg