The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed Thursday that 61-year-old Patricia Frieson from the South Side died from the coronavirus, the first death in Illinois linked to the disease.
The office said Frieson died from bronchopneumonia caused by the virus, with asthma, diabetes mellitus and hypertensive cardiovascular disease listed as contributing factors. The office ruled the death was natural.
Frieson, a retired nurse who lived in the Gresham neighborhood, died on Monday after she had difficulty breathing and was hospitalized.
The medical examiner’s office doesn’t often rule on natural deaths in which the cause is apparent, such as with influenza deaths, because doctors can sign off on the cause of death in many cases, according to Natalia Derevyanny, a spokeswoman for the office.
“We very rarely see any kind of deaths in this realm,” she said.
But because Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle signed a disaster proclamation earlier this month, all coronavirus deaths in the county will be referred to the medical examiner’s office, she said.
