Kaneland Harter Middle School now on state’s COVID-19 school outbreak list; new cases among Kane kids, teens down for second consecutive week

KANE COUNTY – Kaneland Harter Middle School joins Kaneland High School and Kaneland John Shields Elementary School on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 school outbreak list, which was updated on Sept. 24.

Kaneland Harter Middle School is reported to have fewer than five cases among students, with a classroom as the source of exposure, according to IDPH.

There are now 15 Kane County schools on the list, up from 13 on Sept. 17. The list is updated every Friday.

In addition to Kaneland Harter, Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin is also new on the Sept. 24 list, with fewer than five cases among students, with a classroom as the source of exposure.

Grace McWayne Elementary School in Batavia was new to the list on Sept. 17, with fewer than five cases among students, with a classroom as the source of exposure.

Kaneland High School was placed on the list Sept. 10, with fewer than five cases among students, with the classroom as a source of exposure.

Kaneland John Shields Elementary School has been on the list since Aug. 27, with fewer than five cases among staff and students, with the classroom as the source of exposure.

According to the IDPH, the school outbreak data “includes entries elicited from cases opened within the previous 30 days from date of update.”

Creekside Elementary School in Elgin first appeared on the list Sept. 17, had fewer than five cases among students. Garfield Elementary School in Elgin also first appeared on the list Sept. 17 with fewer than five cases among staff and students.

Remaining on list again on Sept. 24 were Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora with fewer than five cases among staff and students; Hampshire High School with between 11 and 16 cases among students; Willard Elementary School in South Elgin with fewer than five cases among students; East Aurora District 131; Fox Meadow Elementary School in South Elgin District U-46 with five or fewer cases among students; Gary D. Wright Elementary School in Hampshire in District 300 with fewer than five cases among students; Holy Angels Catholic School in Aurora with five to 10 cases among staff and students; and Sleepy Hollow Elementary School with five to 10 cases among staff and students.

According to the IDPH, schools are considered to have an outbreak if they report two or more COVID-19 cases who “may have shared exposure on school grounds and are from different households.”

In Kane County, IDPH data shows that new COVID-19 cases are down in kids and teens for the second consecutive week.

For the week ending Sept. 18, the most recent data available, there were 69 new cases among kids ages 5 to 11 and 56 new cases among adolescents ages 12 to 17.

For the week ending Sept. 11, there were 110 COVID-19 cases among children 5 to 11 and 90 cases in adolescents 12 to 17. That’s down from the week of Sept. 4, which showed 120 COVID-19 cases in children 5-11 and 96 cases in adolescents.