SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Illinois health officials said the state will adopt federal definitions for what should be considered a Pre-K to 12 school outbreak of COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously recommended two cases associated with a school should be considered an outbreak. The new recommendation, which Illinois will adopt, calls a school outbreak as either multiple cases comprising at least 10 percent of student, teachers or staff within a core group or at least three cases within a specified core group.
A core group is defined as individuals who were together in an exposure period. As examples, the health department said this could be limited to a classroom, a sports team, before/after school care, performing arts, or other groups, and likely does not apply to the full school population.
"To be considered part of an outbreak in a school, cases must meet the criteria for a probable or confirmed school-associated case with a positive test result, or the start of symptoms within 14 days of each other," the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a press release. "These individuals are identified to be close contacts with each other while in the school setting and not another setting outside of school. The cases must also be epidemiologically linked to the school setting or extracurricular activity, meaning they were at the same place at the same time."
“In an effort to more confidently establish whether transmission of COVID-19 occurred in school versus another location, IDPH is following CDC’s recommendations and adopting Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ guidance, which updates what is considered to be a school-associated outbreak,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “This change in criteria will continue to identify outbreaks and help prevent further spread, but also help rule out outbreaks that are not associated with the school.”
People can click here for more details about school outbreaks, exclusion, guidance and frequently asked questions.
