Drug Overdose A Leading Cause Of Deaths In Kendall Co.: Coroner

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — Deaths in Kendall County have gone up by 25 percent this year as compared to 2019, County Coroner Jacquie Purcell told the county board during its Tuesday meeting.

She acknowledged the deaths from COVID-19 but said that the official deaths from the virus only account for a part of the total death toll. Drug overdoses and residents not seeking treatment at hospitals due to the pandemic have contributed to this spike, Purcell said.

"Our death count is definitely going up," she said. "I know we're in the middle of a pandemic, but we can't really forget about the epidemic that we also have as far as our drug overdoses, our opioid deaths. We still have to not forget about those individuals in our community."

As of Tuesday, Purcell's office recorded 353 deaths in the county. At this time last year, the office had recorded 281. Of those deaths, 12 were caused by drug overdoses. During 2018, there were 11 deaths by drug overdose and in 2019 there were four. Purcell cited staying home as one of the reasons for an increase in people overdosing.

She said it is difficult to get a full picture of the pandemic's impact on Kendall County because some infected residents travel to and later die in hospitals outside the county, and they are not counted by the coroner's office. According to the Kendall County Health Department, 33 residents have died from COVID-19 as of Monday.

Twice as many residents died this January than the previous year. Purcell said the number of deaths in the county could further increase in the coming weeks. She also said that the Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora has as many patients with the virus as it has staff who are out because of COVID-19.

"We are now in the thick of it," said county board member Audra Hendrix. "Regardless of whether you think you're in a risk group... it's about the other people who are, or the other people who have to go into nursing homes to take care of older people or medical staff that needs to remain healthy."