Cicero’s COVID-19 Positivity Rates Increase Prompting New Restrictions
One of the COVID-19 testing sites in Cicero located at 1845 S. Laramie Avenue. Photo by the Cicero Community Collaborative
By Jesus J. Montero
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that starting Wednesday Oct. 28 Suburban Cook County, including Cicero and Berwyn, will have to follow stricter guidelines to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
For bars and restaurants, this includes no indoor dining or bar service, no seating of multiple parties at one table and all outdoor dining and bar service will have to close at 11 p.m. Social events and gatherings will be limited to 25 guests or 25 percent of overall room capacity.
For a full list of the new guidelines, visit here.
Cicero is still experiencing a high number of COVID-19 cases including confirmed cases at Morton College.
Since the start of the Fall 2020 semester at Morton College, which began the school year with a combination of remote and in-person learning, there have been 6 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on campus. The 6 confirmed cases include students, staff and faculty members who contracted the virus.
As of October 27, there are 5,645 COVID-19 cases, 213 of them reported in the last week according to the Illinois Department of public Health.
According to the same data, 20% of cases in Cicero are people ages 20-29 followed by people ages 40-49 at 19%. Children less than 20 years of age make up 13% of documented cases in Cicero.
Illinois is currently at 9,568 COVID-19 related deaths. Other newsrooms in Chicago have reported on the long-term effects of COVID-19 experienced by people who have recovered.
In an official statement, Blanca Jara, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, at Morton confirmed the number of cases and said that the school uses social media pages, the Panther Portal, emails and the school’s mobile app to ensure all community members receive COVID-19 updates.
For a list of COVID-19 testing sites in and near Cicero visit our page at this link.
*This article has been updated to reflect that 6 cases have been confirmed at Morton College since the beginning of the Fall semester with 13 cases total since the start of the pandemic.
Jesus J. Montero is a multimedia journalist. He recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Journalism from DePaul University and is a reporter with Cicero Independiente.
