DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin said this morning he believes the county will be returning to “near normal” in the summer.
“Near Normal”
“I think we could all agree that the sooner we get folks vaccinated the sooner we will begin to see a return to what we previously considered normal,” said Cronin at this morning’s State of The County virtual event.
The fight against COVID-19 is still ongoing, but the county is nearing a hopeful end. Cronin said the county has administered about 70% of its initial COVID-19 vaccines.
“We do believe in the coming weeks supplies will become more plentiful,” said Cronin. “We will be on the frontlines moving quickly to get it administered.”
Impacts of COVID-19
At the State of The County event Cronin acknowledged the havoc the coronavirus pandemic has caused, taking a moment of silence to remember community members that have died due to COVID-19.
The county has felt the financial impact of the virus. In April the county’s unemployment rate peaked at 14.7%, which was the highest rate in 30 years according to Cronin.
“I’m pleased to say the unemployment rate in DuPage has dropped each month since April. To the adjusted rate we now see at 5.4% for the most recent month of November,” said Cronin.
Cronin said the county is still seeing financial damage due to the mitigations.
Much Needed Help
In his address Cronin highlighted organizations like workNet DuPage, which saved nearly 700 jobs and Choose DuPage, which awarded more than $20 million to businesses in DuPage County.
Cronin said 2021 will be a transitional year, and in order to move forward the county will need to apply what they learned in 2020.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
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