A First For Elmhurst Hospital During Pandemic

ELMHURST, IL — It's a first for Elmhurst Hospital during the pandemic: As of Wednesday, it had no coronavirus patients whatsoever.

The number of patients dropped to one in early September, but it had not reached that level again until recently.

The hospital's coronavirus caseload has plunged since early May, when it had as many as 35 virus patients. For much of the last week, it had three. On Nov. 17, the hospital reached a high of 84.

Since the pandemic started, 188 people have died at the hospital as a result of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Only five of those deaths have been in the last month. None have been in the last week.

With the pandemic fading, the hospital announced last week that it would reduce the frequency of its public coronavirus reports to every week, instead of every weekday.

So far this week, Elmhurst has seen four new coronavirus cases, according to the DuPage County Health Department. Most people with the coronavirus do not have to go to the hospital.