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Valley High reports small COVID outbreak; facility following Illinois surveillance rules and vaccine clinics
Summary
Administrators said the facility has COVID cases spread across floors, is conducting broad surveillance testing required under Illinois rules and held a flu and COVID vaccine clinic; staff vaccine uptake remains low, officials said.
Valley High administrators reported an on-site COVID outbreak on Oct. 3, described vaccination and testing steps and noted state surveillance requirements that expand testing after a single symptomatic case.
The administrator said the second floor appears past its peak and the first floor is beginning to show positive tests. "Second Floor seems like we're past the peak of it, and we're on the downside. First Floor looks like they're just starting to come into having, some residents that have tested positive," the administrator said.
Under Illinois rules cited by the administrator, a symptomatic positive result triggers broad-based surveillance testing; administrators said that testing often uncovers asymptomatic positives. "In Illinois, we are still required to broad based surveillance test. So if 1 person is symptomatic and gets tested positive, now we start testing everyone. And once you start testing everyone, you find all your asymptomatic positives," the administrator said.
Staffing and visitor measures were described as in place: staff are asked to wear masks in the building, and a facility flu and COVID vaccine clinic was held the previous day. The administrator said most residents accepted vaccination but staff uptake of the COVID vaccine was low: "I only have 3 staff members that took the COVID vaccine," the administrator said.
Administrators said they are balancing infection-control isolation requirements with residents who report minimal symptoms and do not want to remain isolated.
No formal policy changes or board votes were recorded on the outbreak response during the meeting; administrators said they are following state reporting and testing requirements and will continue to monitor case counts and staffing needs.
