COVID-19 Outbreak Reported at Manhattan SD114: Officials

MANHATTAN, IL — Anna McDonald Elementary School was listed as a source of a COVID-19 outbreak, according to the latest data posted Friday on the Illinois Department of Public Health's website. This is the first time a District 114 school has been placed on the outbreak list since classes started Aug. 25.

The outbreak was limited to a fourth-grade class with fewer than five cases, said Manhattan School District 114 Superintendent Rusty Ragon. No quarantine was required because of the outbreak, Ragon said.

"We told [the Will County Health Department] what we were doing as far as mitigations, and we've been contract tracing with them all along and keeping them informed," Ragon said.

Manhattan School District 114 has reported 47 total COVID-19 cases since July 1, according to information on the district's website. Of those cases, 42 have been among students.

"Our goal has been to get in-person learning all five days [of the school week]," Ragon said. "We've been able, at the junior high, to have all of our events, have all of our athletics. And when we think about the number of events that we've been hosting, the things we've been doing, all the steps we put in place, we've been fortunate enough and not have had more cases.

We're very thankful for that. Our goal is to keep plugging away and hopefully have a successful year and keep all the kids in all year long."

The Illinois Department of Public Health defines an outbreak as two or more COVID-19 cases among people from different households who may have had a shared exposure, such as at school. The source of the outbreak was listed as "classroom," according to IDPH.

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