Schools should end in-person learning, Lake County Health Department recommends

Citing "substantial" community transmission of COVID-19 and a rising number of cases, Lake County health officials Tuesday recommended that all public and private schools in the county switch to virtual learning.

"We continue to work closely with our school superintendents to equip them with data and tools to make informed decisions," Mark Pfister, executive director of the Lake County Health Department, said in a statement Tuesday. "Now the decision is up to school districts, to use their expertise and authority to make this difficult decision for the health and safety of their school communities and the greater Lake County community as a whole."

According to the health department, the seven-day rolling average daily incidence rate, or new-case rate, in Lake County rose from about 14 cases per 100,000 residents on Oct. 11 to 22.7 cases per 100,000 residents Oct. 17. Anything above 14 new daily cases per 100,000 residents is considered "substantial" community transmission, health officials said.

Under the Northern Illinois Return to School Metrics plan used in Lake County, when the rate exceeds 14 cases per 100,000 residents, schools should move to exclusively remote learning, according to the health department.

"This is not a recommendation we take lightly," Pfister said. "Schools are being asked to utilize virtual learning not because schools are the main driver of our new infections, but because the levels of community transmission warrant extra measures to keep our students, staff, and their families safe.

"Schools alone cannot bear this burden - we must all take personal responsibility to keep this virus from spreading in any way that we can."