Lake County judge tests positive for COVID-19

A Lake County judge has tested positive for COVID-19.

Officials at the 19th Judicial Circuit Court were notified Tuesday afternoon that a judge had tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a statement from Chief Judge Diane E. Winter’s office.

A court spokeswoman said the judge has not been hospitalized as of Wednesday and is “resting comfortable at home.”

The judge was on the bench the week of April 27 for bond court in courtroom T-110 at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, officials said.

He was last in the courtroom on May 1, but started feeling ill that afternoon and got tested over the weekend, officials said. Everyone who was in the courtroom was notified and the Lake County Health Department has begun contact tracing.

Court employees and staff at the Lake County circuit clerk’s, public defender’s, sheriff’s and state’s attorney’s offices and private attorneys were notified, and some are self-quarantining and seeking testing in the wake of the judge’s diagnosis, according to the court.

All spaces the judge had occupied were deep-cleaned, court officials said.