CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The state’s most recent information on COVID-19 outbreaks in schools indicates more than half of them in the Chicago area originated with sports activities.
The Illinois Department of Public Health school outbreak dashboard through last Friday list nine school outbreaks of COVID-19. An outbreak is defined as five or more COVID-19 cases. Of those nine schools, five of the outbreaks involved sports; three originated in classrooms, and one was through a non-sports activity.
IDPH spokeswoman Melaney Arnold told the Daily Herald that while it’s hard to determine where COVID-19 exposures occurred, "we are hearing during investigations about people unmasked in locker rooms, weight rooms, social gatherings, bus rides, and even on the field (not wearing or improperly wearing masks)."
Additionally, she said, some athletes are playing while symptomatic and not getting tested "for fear of missing playing time or quarantine."
According to the Daily Herald, after reports of COVID-19 infections rising in early March, the Lake County Health Department investigated and found 22 cases involving two sports teams at Deerfield High School and one team at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein.
Additionally, suburban Cook County had a sports-related outbreak at Reavis High School in Burbank; and Will County had a sports-related outbreak at Peotone Junior High School. In McHenry County, Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake had one outbreak that was related to non-sports activities.
There were no outbreaks listed for Kane County.
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