CHICAGO (WAND) - Illinois schools are returning to normal operating procedures for infectious diseases as part of an updated executive order.
Gov. JB Prtizker's office announced school exclusion requirements have been lifted, which will shift them back to ordinary infectious disease handling processes. The executive order was initially set up to standardize Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requirements for schools and alleviate burdens on overwhelmed local health departments from having to provide individualized recommendations, a press release said.
Schools and local health departments are now able to go back to their longstanding authority to address infectious disease cases among students and staff.
It is recommended by the CDC and Illinois Department of Public Health that students, teachers and staff stay home if they have a confirmed COVID-19 case or have any signs of infectious illness, including COVID-19. Schools should continue to recommend closes contacts stay home, the state said, and will keep coordinating with local health departments to determine if a close contact should stay home, based on CDC guidance.
“We are at a stage in this pandemic where we have more tools than ever before to help prevent severe illness due to COVID-19, including safe and effective vaccines and new treatments,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “With almost half of the entire Illinois population not only vaccinated, but boosted and up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, as well as high levels of population immunity from both vaccination and infections, the risk of outbreaks causing severe illness is reduced. In-person learning is important for the social, emotional, and mental health of students, and schools should continue to work with their local health departments to assess risks and implement mitigations as needed to protect their students and staff."
See more about the revised executive order and COVID-19 guidance here.
