CPS logged 245 COVID-19 cases, with nearly 5,500 students and staff potentially exposed, in first 2 weeks of school
Chicago Public Schools logged 245 cases of COVID-19 and identified more than 5,400 close contacts of infected people in the first two weeks of classes, according to data released by the district Wednesday.
The news comes as CPS again missed its own deadline to provide free coronavirus tests in all schools for students and staff who sign up for its weekly testing program. CPS initially planned to set up testing districtwide by Sept. 1, then the date was pushed to Sept. 15. CPS says it expects to offer nasal swabs at 170 schools this week, far fewer than the 500-plus district-run schools. CPS said additional schools will be added to the program as more COVID-19 testers pass background checks.
”The district is in the process of ramping up to provide COVID-19 testing of staff and students with signed consent to 100% of schools on a weekly basis. We are currently on target to test at 170 schools this week with full implementation by the end of the month,” CPS said in a statement. “We are working diligently to expand testing capacity and, in the meantime, encourage all students and staff members to opt-in to the testing program.”
Nearly 2,200 tests were administered from Aug. 29 to Wednesday, with no positive cases detected and 96 results deemed invalid, according to district data.
Only 9,400 students and 6,200 staff members have signed up for the testing program, which is voluntary except for unvaccinated staff members and unvaccinated or half-vaccinated student-athletes during their sports seasons. CPS has not released attendance numbers for this school year, but the district hoped to welcome back more than 300,000 students on Aug. 30.
CPS is reporting 155 student and 90 adult cases from Aug. 29 to Saturday, according to Wednesday’s data. The district has been updating its online case tracker once a week, on Wednesdays, but it has not been consistent with the type and amount of information released.
Data on the number of COVID-19 cases, the number of people in quarantine and the number of quarantining pods — small class sizes of about 15 students — was initially posted the first week of school. Last week, the district started to post only the number of confirmed cases and the number of close contacts, defined as someone who comes within 6 feet of an infected person for 15 or more minutes in a 24-hour period. Pods are no longer part of the picture.
CPS’ tracker update last week included numbers into Wednesday. CPS did not report any case data from this week on Wednesday, but did add to last week’s numbers.
The Chicago Teachers Union and some parents have accused CPS of providing an incomplete count of cases and close contacts on its tracker. A CPS official told union leaders Tuesday that 98 staff members and 5,665 students had been directed to quarantine as of Saturday.
William Howard Taft High School in Norwood Park seems to have been hit especially hard by COVID-19 this school year, logging eight cases through Saturday, with 555 close contacts identified. Five cases were reported at Carl Schurz High School in the Old Irving Park neighborhood just last week, with 164 close contacts flagged, per CPS data. Three cases at Lane Tech High, reported last week, led to 409 close contacts identified.
The district’s online tracker doesn’t include information about charter schools that are part of CPS but privately managed. Zizumbo Elementary, a Southwest Side charter school, shifted to remote learning this week after three COVID-19 cases were identified Monday.
It’s unclear how many people have quarantined since the start of school. Fully vaccinated, asymptomatic people aren’t being directed to quarantine for the standard 14-day period, but an entire classroom may initially be told to stay home while contact tracers suss out who in the class is vaccinated. Children younger than 12 are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Some parents have cited the rising case numbers as a reason why CPS should allow anyone to participate in remote, synchronous learning, not just the “medically fragile” students enrolled in the district’s Virtual Academy, the students told to isolate because they tested positive for the virus and the students directed to quarantine because they were determined to be a close contact.
