COVID-19 Cases Dip By Nearly 70 Percent At District 99 Schools

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — The number of students who tested positive for coronavirus at Community High School District 99 has dropped significantly since the start of January, according to new data from the district.

During the week of Jan. 24, 58 students tested positive for coronavirus throughout District 99's two schools. This reflects a decrease of nearly 70 percent when compared to the week of Jan. 3, when 171 students tested positive for the virus.

Positive cases have steadily declined at District 99 since the week of Jan. 3. The statistics for coronavirus cases among students in January are as follows:

• Jan. 3: 171 positive cases
• Jan. 10: 117 positive cases
• Jan. 17: 88 positive cases
• Jan. 24: 58 positive cases

In an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, students and staff are required to wear masks and urged to stay home and get tested for coronavirus if they show any signs of illness. Students and staff are also urged not to come to school if they experience the following symptoms or conditions:

• Fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
• New cough
• Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
• Fatigue from unknown cause
• Muscle or body ache from unknown cause
• New onset of headache that is moderate to severe
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Close contact (3 feet or fewer with mask or 6 feet or fewer without a mask) with someone who tested positive for coronavirus via nasal swab in the last 10 days

On Jan. 19, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced that coronavirus hospitalizations had declined throughout the state. Despite the decrease in cases, they urged caution.

Pritzker said, "Despite the recent indications of fewer new infections and fewer new hospital admissions ahead, it breaks my heart to know that in the coming weeks, hundreds more may die, among the thousands that are already seriously ill from COVID."

On Monday, Northwestern Medicine announced that the first Illinois case of "stealth omicron," a coronavirus subvariant, had been detected.

Judd Hultquist, Northwestern Medicine's Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution, said in a news release Monday, "It is unclear if the arrival of this new variant will result in a surge of local cases, but it is an important reminder that we are still in the middle of an ongoing pandemic."