Pritzker issues executive order lifting school exclusion requirements

Illinois schools may go back to the ordinary processes for handling infectious diseases among students and staff under an executive order issued Friday by Gov. JB Pritzker.

“As we move forward in our fight against COVID-19, schools should continue to look to their local health departments, (Illinois Department of Public Health) and the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for guidance in dealing with this virus as they do for all communicable diseases,” he said in a statement.

Officials said all schools continue to have the legal authority to address confirmed, suspected and contacts of infectious disease cases, which includes sending students home who have COVID-19. Schools are recommended to work with their local health department to determine whether close contacts should stay home based on CDC guidance.

The order does not affect school districts’ ability to require masks at their discretion.

Previously, any staff or student who tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, had to stay home for at least five days.

As of Thursday, 843 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, down 38 from Wednesday and down 300 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 153 were in intensive care units, down nine from Wednesday and down 58 from the prior week. There were 77 patients on ventilators, down five from Wednesday and down 26 from the prior week.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 10,462 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases last week, down 19.7 percent from the prior week. There were 272 new deaths reported last week, down 23.4 percent from the prior week.

The new cases bring the state total to 3,037,199, while the death toll increased to 32,926.

The seven-day average for new cases on Friday was 1,495, down 366 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 39, down 12 from the prior week.

The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests is 1.4 percent. The seven-day statewide test positivity using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests is 1.6 percent.

About 80.8 percent of eligible Illinoisans ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 71.8 percent are fully vaccinated.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 21,157,960 COVID-19 vaccines, per state data, including 4,166,253 booster doses. The seven-day average of doses administered is 12,488.

Sixty percent of total doses administered went to white Illinoisans, while 15.5 went to Latinx residents, 11 percent to Black residents and 7.2 to Asian residents. About 3.2 percent went to those identified as “other races” while 2.5 percent are “unknown.”