Amelia Finefrock
A North Riverside school will be closed for the remainder of the week due to a flu outbreak, causing the Chicago area school to shut down due to the sick students and staff.
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According to the Chicago Tribune, Brian J. Ganan – Komarek School Superintendent announced on Monday that the school that serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade will be closed through Friday to help students recover while the school is disinfected.
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“I know that this may be an inconvenience, but this year’s flu is extremely contagious and dangerous,” Ganan said in a letter to parents via the school website. “I need to ensure that our students are safe and not exposed to the virus.”
The closure follows suit after last week’s closing of Aurora’s Illinois Math and Science Academy due to the flu symptoms among students. According to the news outlet, about 14 percent of the school’s 637 students reported flu-like symptoms on its campus health office, with about 24 percent of its 55 staff members were out sick.
The news outlet reported that this past weekend, Komarek was reported to be already disinfected but both students and staff continued to go home sick, according to Ganan.
Home as well as sporting events will be postponed along with the closure of after-school activities, according to the news outlet. The school will have class on President’s Day and the Monday after spring break to make up the lost days so it will not be required to add all the additional days in the summer.
According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the organization has determined the flu to be widespread, nationwide – excluding the District of Columbia and Hawaii, the news outlet reports.
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Hospitals in Cook County have witnessed huge increases in influenza cases in this past 2017-18 season. According to the Chicago area, in the last week of December – there were more than 1,500 confirmed cases of influenza according to county officials, the news outlet reported.
According to the news outlet, since October, as of last week – Chicago has had 203 flu-related intensive car unit hospitalizations and of those, a dozen ICU deaths were reported in Chicago, according to medical director of the immunization program, Dr. Marielle Fracchione, at the Chicago Department of Public Health.
