5 more cold-weather deaths in Cook County raise season’s toll to 15

At least 15 people have died from cold weather so far this season in Cook County.

The five latest deaths were announced Thursday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

They include a woman and three men who died in Chicago:

• A man died Nov. 1 in the 700 block of West Wilson Avenue in Uptown, the medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy revealed the 58-year-old died of metastatic cancer with cold exposure as a likely factor.
• Another man died Nov. 13 in the 3700 block of South Archer Avenue in Brighton Park. The 43-year-old died from alcohol and fentanyl toxicity, with cold weather as a contributing factor.
• On Dec. 1, a 61-year-old man died at Mount Sinai Hospital, officials said. He died of toxicity from alcohol, fentanyl and heroin, along with cold weather as a contributing factor.
• A woman died Dec. 4 in the 400 block of East Marquette Road in West Woodlawn. The woman, 48, died of drug toxicity with cold exposure as a contributing factor.
• Another woman died Dec. 29 at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, officials said. The 55-year-old died of hypothermia due to cold exposure with hypertension and diabetes as contributing factors.

The city of Chicago opens six warming centers, Monday through Friday, when temperatures are below freezing. They are listed online here.

The county also operates suburban warming centers, listed online here.

Last week, the county announced two more cold-exposure deaths as temperatures plummeted into the teens.

Last winter, at least 37 deaths countywide were attributed to cold weather.