Dupage Policy Journal

Illinois state Sen. John Curran (R-Woodridge) says that DuPage County is in prime position to move forward with the state's reopening plans, .

“A lot of DuPage County is already open,” Curran told the DuPage Policy Journal. “The biggest area of concern for the residents I talk to is schools. There's a big concern there because schools, for the most part, are not open except for online or remote learning only.”

There have been 13,274 coronavirus cases and 527 deaths countywide, according to the DuPage County Department of Health dashboard.

Illinois state Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) | File photo

But Curran says the statistics belie reality.

“There seems to be a lot of emphasis placed on positivity rate, and our positivity rates seems to be high, however, when you look at overall number of cases and current trend lines on deaths, whether they occur in a nursing home or in the community, they're in fact extremely low to none,” Curran said. 

The state moved into Phase 4 of Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan, Restore Illinois, on June 26. This phase permits indoor dining at restaurants, health and fitness club openings, movies and theaters, museums and zoos, for example, and increases the size of social gatherings to up to 50 people. Phase 4 also allows travel, child care centers and schools to reopen but only under guidance by the Illinois Department of Health.

Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) believes schools are better equipped to decide for themselves whether or not to reopen their classrooms.

“Decisions should be made at the school level and it may be different for grade schools, lower-level schools and for high schools,” he said. 

Currently, it’s not clear when and if DuPage schools will reopen for in-person instruction, and Curran believes that part of the problem is that additional guidance is still being released by the Department of Health, which requires time for school districts to digest.

“As this guidance continues to be released late, much if not all of the guidance is not dependent upon where we're at currently in terms of being in Phase 4 or where our individual health metrics are,” Curran said. “This guidance could have been released months ago when you read it. It's not based on current health metrics. Our hospitalization rate and our ICU bed rates, for example, are both excellent.”

DuPage and Kane counties have been grouped together into Region 8, which is being called West Suburban, according to the state’s Restore Illinois mitigation plan.

Among the obstacles to reopening schools are the different demands of parents, according to Oberweis.

“Some parents are concerned that certain schools might require masks and they don't want their kids to go where masks are required,” Oberweis told the DuPage Policy Journal. “Other parents are worried that they won't require masks and they don't want their kids to go if they aren't requiring masks.”

Another obstacle is lack of knowledge about the coronavirus. 

“We're still learning every day about this terrible disease and the best ways to stop it from spreading,” Oberweis said. “I think we're learning more and I think hopefully within the next 90 days or so we'll have our first vaccines available.”