DeKalb County public school COVID-19 cases, quarantine numbers for week ending Sept. 10

More than 600 students quarantined in local school districts as of Sept. 10

School Bus at Huntley Middle School in DeKalb, IL on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

Over the past week, more than 600 local students were reported in quarantine due to possible COVID-19 exposure, and 62 more virus cases were identified in DeKalb County schools according to data released Monday.

COVID-19 case and quarantine data released by DeKalb, Sycamore and Genoa-Kingston schools is provisional, with most recent statistics varying by district.

There is a 5.6% seven-day positivity rate within DeKalb School District 428 communities, including DeKalb, Malta and Cortland. From Sept. 6 through last Friday, there were three positive staff cases and 31 positive student cases of COVID-19 in the DeKalb School District. Seven staff members and 442 students were in quarantine districtwide as of last Friday.

According to enrollment numbers from the most recent available Illinois Report Card data, DeKalb School District’s quarantine rate is about 6.7% of its student body population which was about 6,600 in the 2019-2020 school year.

In the Sycamore School District, 27 students have tested positive for COVID-19 this week, with 49 students in quarantine due to close contact and 150 students in quarantine. No staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 and no staff members are in quarantine. Sycamore School District’s quarantine rate is about 4% of its student body of 3,713, according to the most recent available enrollment data.

Genoa-Kingston School District Brent O’Daniell sent out a Tweet on Friday, Sept. 10, stating that one student tested positive for COVID-19. No staff members had tested positive, but one was in quarantine, and 10 students are in quarantine. According to enrollment data, that means about 0.6% of Genoa-Kingston School District’s student population of 1,587 is in quarantine.

Each school district updates its COVID-19 reports at least once a week. In DeKalb, data is collected each Friday and will be updated on the district’s website each Monday, according to the website. In Sycamore, the COVID-19 online data page is updated weekly. Genoa-Kingston’s data is released weekly via a Twitter post from Superintendent Brent O’Daniell and is also shared on the district’s website.

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