Since Oct. 1, more than 600 local public school students were reported in quarantine due to possible COVID-19 exposure, and 55 more virus cases were identified in Genoa-Kingston, DeKalb and Sycamore schools, according to the most recent available data.
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 3.8% seven-day positivity rate within DeKalb School District 428 communities, including DeKalb, Malta and Cortland. From Sept. 25 through Oct. 1, there were three employees who tested positive for COVID-19 and 17 students who contracted the virus in the DeKalb School District. No employees were quarantined, however 419 students were in quarantine districtwide.
According to enrollment numbers from the most recent available Illinois Report Card data, DeKalb School District’s quarantine rate is about 6.3% of its student body population, which was about 6,600 in the 2019-2020 school year.
As of Oct. 1 in the Sycamore School District, 12 students tested positive for COVID-19, with 34 students in quarantine due to close contact and 125 students in quarantine. One employee has tested positive for COVID-19, and one is in quarantine. Sycamore School District’s quarantine rate is about 4.2% of its student body of 3,713, according to the most recent available enrollment data.
The most recent data for Genoa-Kingston School District is as of Oct. 3. According to a social media post by Superintendent Brent O’Daniell, less than 10 students and staff members member tested positive for COVID-19. Less than 10 staff members are in quarantine, but 32 students are quarantined. According to enrollment data, that means about 2.01% 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 O’Daniell and is also shared on the district’s website.