Loyola Academy in Wilmette has will remain closed Tuesday, after a student reported exposure to someone who tested positive for the Coronavirus.
The Jesuit high school, which draws about half its 2,000 students from the City of Chicago, including Rogers Park and Edgewater, announced late Sunday that they were cancelling classes Monday. School officials said that, although both the affected students and their family have not shown any symptoms of the virus, they are keeping the school closed Tuesday out of an abundance of caution.
Loyola Academy President Fr. Patrick McGrath, S.J., said that city and state health officials “have assured us that the steps we have taken are above and beyond their recommendations.” But he added “we would much rather take steps that allow us to learn the facts while keeping everyone in our community safe.”
According to Loyola, the parent of a student contacted the school nurse via email and stated that the student and the student’s family had contact with an individual who public health officials report has tested positive for COVID-19, the official name for the Coronavirus. The student in question was in class last week, through Friday, March 6, and the student and the student’s family are all in a voluntary 14-day quarantine, and are not showing any symptoms of the virus.
Loyola officials were advised that “contacts of contacts” are not at risk of the virus.
