6 more Cook County court employees test positive for COVID-19

Six more Cook County court employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, raising the total number of chief judge’s employees to test positive to 169.

According to a statement from Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office, the new cases include:

• an adult probation department employee at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse;
• an adult probation department employee at the Criminal Courthouse Administration Building;
• an employee at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center;
• an administrative worker at the Bridgeview Courthouse;
• a court reporter working at 69 W. Washington St.; and
• an employee at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse.

So far, 62 residents and 73 employees of Juvenile Temporary Detention Center on the Near West Side have tested positive for COVID-19.

Since the spring, most court hearings were postponed or held virtually to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Despite the recent increase in coronavirus cases statewide, several court functions are still carried out by people inside buildings.

These numbers don’t include the positive cases among employees of the circuit court clerk’s office, which has more than 1,400 total employees.

On Tuesday, officials said a traffic court judge at the Daley Center tested positive for the virus.

The chief judge’s office has about 2,600 employees and 400 judges.