La Salle County woman in her 80s dies from COVID-19 complications: health officials

A La Salle County woman in her 80s has died from complications related to COVID-19, the La Salle County Health Department announced Friday.

It was unclear when the woman died. There have been 21 coronavirus-related deaths countywide in 2023, however, and six reported in the past three months.

Jenny Barrie, a La Salle County Health Department health educator, said in November that deaths are not always reported during the month they occur. There can be a lag in reporting within the state system, as the deaths were determined to be COVID-19-related after further review from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

La Salle County is back to low risk for COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to the county’s health department, under standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

La Salle County’s community level is based on these combined indicators. In the past seven days through Thursday, the rate of new hospital admissions of confirmed COVID-19 cases was 3.3 per 100,000 residents, and 3.7% of staffed inpatient beds were in use by patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the CDC website.

From Dec. 22 to Dec. 28, there were 108 new COVID-19 cases confirmed by the La Salle County Health Department. The La Salle County Health Department has no way of monitoring at-home test results, Barrie said. There have been 526 COVID-19-related deaths in the county since the beginning of the pandemic.