As COVID-19 numbers rise, DuPage County Health Department recommends 100% remote learning

As COVID-19 case numbers and positivity rates continue to climb in DuPage County and throughout the western suburbs, the DuPage County Health Department is recommending that schools move to 100% remote learning.

The health department, in a Monday news release, said that community transmission of COVID-19 in the county now meets the "substantial" level, at which point the health department encourages remote learning "to help protect the health, safety and well being of students, teachers, school staff, family and communities," the release stated.

“While remote learning is recommended, school officials are encouraged to use their discretion and expertise to determine which populations of students should receive in-person instruction whose needs are less likely to be met by virtual instruction," the health department said in the release.

"In addition to county-level metrics and COVID-19 surveillance data, school-level considerations are important as well, such as case and outbreak activity, specific trends and distribution of cases, absenteeism among students and staff within a school and alternate remote learning site options and safety protocols. In every learning model, school districts are also advised to follow the health and safety protocols set forth by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and DCHD."

DuPage County on Friday reported a single-day record 338 new COVID-19 infections. It has reported 150 or more cases for six consecutive days. DuPage County's seven-day rolling positivity average has climbed from 4.5% to 7.2% over the last 14 days, with the West Suburban Region's positivity rate at 8.5%. The region could be subject to extra mitigations, such as indoor dining being restricted, should the average be at or above 8% for a third consecutive day on Tuesday.

The health department said that it has received "reports of dozens of students and staff as COVID-19 cases have been received in recent weeks, though public health investigations so far have found the majority of case reports not to be linked with outbreak activity inside the school."

"The risk of school-associated outbreak activity, however, increases with rising COVID-19 activity in the community," DuPage health officials said in the release.

The new direction comes as several DuPage County schools are in the process of pivoting to in-person learning – but three days after one district announced it's changing course.

Elmhurst Unit District 205, which was the first unit district in DuPage County to welcome back all students to school for hybrid learning earlier this month, announced Friday that it was switching from hybrid to remote instruction for two weeks starting Oct. 21.

The district cited several COVID-19 metrics in making its decision, including the substantial community transmission in the county, the weekly case count per 100,000 population and the rise in case rate for young people under the age of 20.

Community High School District 99 in Downers Grove had its freshmen in school the week of Oct. 5 for a "dry run" of a hybrid schedule, with the rest of students returning to school this week.

Downers Grove Grade School District 58 students are scheduled to return for in-person instruction Oct. 20, with middle school and high school students in Wheaton-Warrenville Community Unit School District 200 also to return to school in mid-October for two days a week in a hybrid schedule of in-person and remote learning.

“Lowering rates of community transmission is essential to achieving our goal of safely reopening all schools,” DuPage County Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said in a statement. “School leaders in DuPage County are working to do everything they can to take all necessary precautions to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in our schools, but each member of our community must do their part to support them. As the number of cases in DuPage County rises, it becomes more challenging for schools to prevent transmission in school settings. "