DeKalb County public school COVID-19 numbers for week of Oct. 25

More than 475 local public school students were reported in quarantine because of possible COVID-19 exposure last week, and 30 new COVID-19 cases were identified in local students.

That’s according to the most recent available data from Genoa-Kingston, DeKalb and Sycamore schools.

COVID-19 case and quarantine data released by local schools is provisional, with most recent statistics varying by district.

There is a 4.0% seven-day positivity rate within DeKalb School District 428 communities, including DeKalb, Malta and Cortland. From Oct. 23 through Friday, Oct. 29, there were four employees who tested positive for COVID-19 and 13 students who contracted the virus in the DeKalb School District. No employees were quarantined, but 404 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 6.2% of its student body population, which was 6,412 in the 2020-2021 school year.

As of Nov. 1 in the Sycamore School District, 16 students tested positive for COVID-19, with 29 students excluded in quarantine because of close contact and 68 students in quarantine. Two employees tested positive for COVID-19, and two employees were excluded because of close contact. Sycamore School District’s quarantine rate is about 1.9% of its student body of 3,533, according to the most recent available enrollment data.

The most recent data for Genoa-Kingston School District is as of Oct. 28, which includes statistics from Oct. 15 through Oct. 28. According to a social media post by Superintendent Brent O’Daniell, one student tested positive for COVID-19. Four students are in quarantine, although they did not test positive. No employees tested positive or are in quarantine. According to enrollment data, that means about 0.3% of Genoa-Kingston School District’s student population of 1,480 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 also is shared on the district’s website.