Another County Resident Dies from COVID

By Travis Volz

Washington County has lost another resident to COVID, the 35th person to die in the county since the start of the pandemic. 

Last week’s death is the first since October, when two county residents’ deaths were reported as COVID-related.

The Washington County Health Department no longer reports case counts and deaths, and the Illinois Department of Public Health does not provide specific information on the age or sex of COVID deaths.

Information on the IDPH website and data from WCHD show a difference in the number of deaths, with WCHD data showing an additional four COVID-related deaths in the county.

According to WCHD Administrator Elizabeth Lehde, this discrepancy could be due to the state reporting deaths as “probable” or some other difference in reporting. The 35 reported deaths is based on the last WCHD report combined with any new deaths on the IDPH website.

Read the full story in this week’s issue