The neighborhood of South Lawndale, aka Little Village, home to the recent power plant smokestack disaster, can add one more trophy to its showcase of immiseration: 149 residents in 60623 have died because of COVID, more fatalities than in any other Illinois zip code.
The death data also reveal disparities in morbidity for those with COVID diagnoses. For instance, among the 304 COVID cases in 60415, just southwest of Oak Lawn, 34 people (11 percent) died. In DuPage County’s 60188 zip code, 656 COVID diagnoses meant 29 deaths, a 4.4 percent morbidity rate.
And in Little Village, fewer than one in ten residents are over 60. Yet for every 2,000 residents, three have died from COVID, compared to Streeterville’s mortality rate of one in 7,000 (on the higher end of the IDPH range) to one in 28,000 (the lower end).
Kohn added, “I think section 2 of 2020-35’s suspension of timely investigation of complaints (other than those of abuse and neglect) is particularly concerning. The Governor is essentially giving the agency the freedom not to respond to even serious known problems.”
Discussing the months of Pritzker’s deregulation of nursing homes during the pandemic, Levin said, “We’re basically saying trust the industry to provide care in all the other areas where they’ve historically failed. No one is watching them and they have the COVID excuse. This may have been the worst time to relax oversight.” v
