Cold-related death count rises to 28 in Cook County for season

The Cook County medical examiners’ office has confirmed three more deaths related to cold weather, bringing the season’s count to 28.

The three deaths happened last month and in November 2019, autopsy results recently confirmed.

Two resulted in accidental overdoses of heroin and fentanyl, with cold weather as a contributing factor, the medical examiner’s office said.

One was a 48-year-old woman taken from the 9600 block of Brandy Court in Des Plaines to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she died Jan. 16.

Another was a 49-year-old man who died Nov. 9 in the 4700 block of West Fullerton Avenue in Belmont Cragin on the Northwest Side, the medical examiner’s office said.

The third fatality, a 40-year-old man, died Nov. 8, 2019 from alcohol abuse and cold weather in the 1700 block of West 43rd Street in the Back of the Yards on the South Side.

Last season, 60 cold-related deaths were reported in Cook County between Sept. 14, 2018, and May 23, 2019.