COVID-19 cases creep up in some Southland districts as new year begins

Sep. 2—Some south and southwest suburban school districts are reporting increases in positive COVID-19 cases and instances of close contact requiring quarantines, while state health officials reported an outbreak of the coronavirus at a New Lenox elementary school.

Separately, the principal of Mokena Junior High in Elementary District 159 told families Tuesday he is at home after testing positive for the virus.

COVID-19 outbreaks are determined by local public health officials, and the threshold for an outbreak has changed recently, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

In New Lenox Elementary District 122, the outbreak at Nelson Ridge Elementary involves fewer than five students, according to the public health department.

The district's school year began Aug. 18, and for the first few days the district reported 10 positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff, while the number for the period ended Aug. 29 had increased to 37, according to the district.

At Nelson Ridge, there had been four cases reported during the initial days of the school year, and that increased to 18 for the period Aug. 23 through Aug. 29, according to the district.

The cases in the most recent week at the school are a combination of students and staff, according to Superintendent Lori Motsch. She said the additional cases were not, according to the Will County Department of Public Health, determined to be an outbreak.

Previously, a COVID-19 outbreak at a school was defined as five or more positive cases, but that number has dropped to two or more by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Case numbers include before- and after-school programs as well as athletics, according to the state health department.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Aug. 4 that all public and private kindergarten through 12th-grade schools would have to abide by universal masking, regardless of vaccination status. Some districts had, before the start of the school year, informed parents that masks would be optional.

The governor has since said that teachers will need to be vaccinated, although those who choose not to will have to undergo weekly testing for the virus.

School districts have said they are abiding by the mask mandate and putting other precautions in place, including social distancing, to reduce possible virus transmission.

Mike Rolinitis, who has been principal at Mokena Junior High School since 2009, told families that what he thought was a head cold turned out to be COVID-19, and he is quarantining at home.

The principal was not, before being tested, in close contact with any staff or students, and nobody at the school has had to quarantine as a result, according to District 159 Superintendent Mark Cohen.

As of Monday, District 159 reported 59 students were at home either due to positive test or close contact.

School in the district began Aug. 18, and other districts have reported a rise in positive COVID-19 cases and close contact cases as numbers have risen across the region.

According to the Cook County Department of Health, positivity rates have dipped, from 5.7% as of Aug. 12 to 4.7% as of Aug. 27.

In Lincoln-Way High School District 210, the district reported that in communities it serves the positivity rates had increased from 6.7% as of Aug. 23 to 9.4% as of Aug. 26.

The district has schools in Will County in Frankfort and New Lenox and noted at its website the positivity rate had been under 3% at the end of June.

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As of Aug. 27, the district reported 18 COVID-19 positive cases among students and staff, and 24 quarantine cases due to close contact.

High School District 230 began classes Aug. 16 at its schools in Orland Park, Palos Hills and Tinley Park. COVID-19 positive cases were 15 for the week that ended Aug. 20, but had risen to 23 for the week ended Aug. 27.

However, close contact cases requiring quarantining had fallen from 34 for the initial week of school to six for the week ended Aug. 27.

In High School District 218, with schools in Blue Island, Oak Lawn and Palos Heights, the number of confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases was 16 for the week ended Aug. 27, while close contact cases were 42.

The school year began Aug. 17, and for the initial week of the school year there were 14 confirmed or probable cases and 17 close contact cases, according to the district.

mnolan@tribpub.com

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