Rise In COVID Cases May Force Schools To Rethink Mask Guidelines

CHICAGO — As school districts prepare to reopen their classrooms to students in the coming weeks, a rise in confirmed coronavirus cases around the country may affect how district administrators handle the surge within their respective districts heading into the new academic year.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance amid increased numbers of positive cases as the delta variant continues to cause COVID-19 spikes. The CDC recommended that residents, including those who are fully vaccinated, should wear masks indoors in places where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are rising, including parts of Illinois.

Health officials said Tuesday that the U.S. is seeing an average of 43,700 new cases each day over the past week. As of Monday, the state’s rolling seven-day average for confirmed cases stood at 3.5 percent, and more than 10,800 cases of COVID-19 involving the delta variant had been reported.

Yet as numbers rise, state health officials have not indicated whether they will announce more-stringent masking guidelines for students as schools prepare to open. Officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health are remaining aligned with CDC guidelines as they relate to schools, which strongly recommend that students ages 2 and up who are not vaccinated should continue to wear masks when they are indoors.

Unvaccinated students should also wear masks in crowded outdoor settings or during activities involving close contact with other students and people who are not fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. That is especially true, officials wrote, in areas of "substantial" to "high" transmission rates.

School districts are permitted to verify student vaccination status in a number of ways, including requiring proof of vaccination records, health officials said.

Several Illinois school districts, including Chicago Public Schools, announced last week that students will be required to wear masks this fall regardless of their vaccination status. The decision to require masks comes after the CDC and Illinois Department of Public Health updated their guidance earlier this month.

In school district such as Plainfield School District 202 and Indian Prairie School District 204 in Naperville, masks are optional for students — for now. Although administrators in both districts are recommending students wear face coverings as the ongoing pandemic continues, officials have stopped short of making masks a requirement.

However, District 204 Superintendent Adrian Talley said that as district officials continue to monitor the level of positive tests, the district is reserving the right to “add an additional layer of protection” that may include requiring masks.

In Plainfield, Superintendent Lane Abrell said that the new guidance from state health officials gives local districts more latitude to work with as schools across the state prepare for a full return to in-person learning this fall.

In addition to the mask guidance for unvaccinated students, the CDC also recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of distance between students within classrooms, combined with indoor mask-wearing by people who are not fully vaccinated.

Dr. Donald K. Brown, a pediatrician for Northwestern Medicine, said masking will help in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Illinois schools.

"The best intervention we have had for COVID has been masking, it's clear," Brown said. "Many people might not want to hear that, but masking has been the best answer so far."

Tuesday’s announcement from the CDC comes at a time when about 42 percent of Illinois residents remain unvaccinated. Last week, the state saw nearly 8,000 new positive COVID-19 cases, which is a 171 percent increase from two weeks ago, state officials said.