COVID-19 Outbreak Reported at Mokena SD159: Superintendent

MOKENA, IL — Mokena School District 159 reported 19 positive COVID-19 cases Aug. 27, according to D159 Superintendent Mark Cohen. As a result, a first-grade classroom at Mokena Elementary School was placed under quarantine, per Will County Health Department guidance, Cohen said.

That class is expected to resume in-person learning after the Labor Day holiday, Cohen said. Students are currently doing their classwork remotely.

It is not known how many of the 19 cases were specific to the MES classroom because the district reports aggregated data, Cohen said. This means the cases were spread across multiple classrooms in the district's three schools: Mokena Elementary, Mokena Intermediate School and Mokena Junior High School.

"The 19 cases reported last week were district wide," Cohen said. "We do not report data by school, grade level, or classroom; only across the District. The more granular the data the greater the chance of it being traced back to an individual. When a case pops up we only notify the parents in the classroom and any close contacts to limit the spread of student medical information. We do not want to reveal any personally identifiable information so we only report aggregate data."

Cohen said that at least some of the reported infections date back before the school year began on Aug. 18.

Related:

• Mokena Junior High Principal Tests Positive For The Coronavirus
• 26 COVID-19 Outbreaks At IL Schools, 546 Schools With Exposures
• COVID-19 Outbreak Reported at Nelson Ridge School

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 outbreak at MES was not reported in the latest IDPH data for schools, as "Outbreak information is reported once the outbreak investigation is considered complete," according to the IDPH website. The outbreak likely will appear in this week's report, which will be posted on Friday, Cohen said.

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