COVID-19 Cases Dip By Nearly 68 Percent At District 203 Schools

NAPERVILLE, IL — The number of students who tested positive for coronavirus at Naperville Community Unit School District 203 has dropped significantly since the start of January, according to new data from the district.

During the week of Jan. 23, fewer than 165 students tested positive for coronavirus throughout the 22 schools that make up the district. This reflects a decrease of nearly 68 percent when compared to the first week of January, when more than 500 students tested positive for the virus.

Positive cases have steadily declined at District 203 since the week of Jan. 2. The statistics for coronavirus cases among students in January are as follows:

• Week of Jan. 3: At least 500 positive cases
• Week of Jan. 10: At least 400 positive cases
• Week of Jan. 16: 278 positive cases
• Week of Jan. 23: More than 160 positive cases

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."