COVID-19 Data

During Summer 2022, this page will report Total Cases, Individuals in Quarantine or Isolation, and data from our Screening Testing Program among staff working in schools and students attending CPS summer programs, including summer school.

For archived data from the 2021-22 School Year, view the COVID-19 Data for SY21-22 page.

Tracking and publishing COVID-19 cases in a district with over 330,000 students, over 40,000 permanent staff, and over 500 district-run schools can be extremely complex. As the pandemic has evolved, our dashboard has evolved and expanded to include more data. So before you dive into the numbers, please take a moment to read about how we currently collect and report the information in our dashboard. Please keep in mind that numbers are dynamic and subject to change.

The total cases data on this page shows all cases among CPS students and staff starting on Thursday, June 16, 2022, the day after the last day of school for CPS teachers. Cases are displayed at both the District level and the individual school level; counts can be viewed by day or by week. Keep in mind that case counts are not a measure of transmission in schools and numerous studies have shown that schools are not sites of significant COVID-19 transmission.

CPS is notified of cases in two key ways:

Weekly Screening Testing: CPS offers free COVID-19 testing in every school every week during summer programs, which run from Tuesday, July 6 until Friday, August 5. When a positive case is detected, CPS is notified, and the case is posted on the dashboard on the day the result is received. These case counts are subject to change as cases are investigated and verified. Sign your student up for weekly testing
Self-Reported Cases: When a student or staff member submits a positive test through our self-reporting tool, the case gets posted on our dashboard that same day. These case counts are subject to change as cases are investigated and verified. Report a positive COVID-19 case

Why does CPS treat these cases differently?Results that come in through our weekly screening program are more timely and accurate than self-reported cases. Self-reported cases take time to investigate and verify; some self-reported cases turn out to be duplicates or unconfirmed reports. In the interest of transparency, we are providing both totals.

What does CPS do when there is a duplicate case? Oftentimes when students or staff members receive a positive result from our weekly screening program, they also report it through our self-reporting tool, creating a duplicate case and inflating the number of total cases. The self-reporting tool gives the student or staff member the option of providing significant information regarding the case to assist the contact tracing team in their investigation of the case. If the self-reported record of the case has more information than the screen-tested record of the case, we may remove the screen-tested record from the total number of screen-tested cases and keep the self-submitted record of the case so that the contact tracer has the most information at their hands to undergo their investigation of the case.

For more information on our reporting and terminology, view the footnotes below.

The individuals in quarantine/isolation data on this page shows the number of students and staff who are either teaching or learning from home because they have either tested positive for COVID-19 or have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive. Totals are displayed at both the District level and the individual school level.

For more information on our reporting and terminology, view the footnotes below.

This section reports the results of our district's screening testing program. Testing for the 2021-22 School Year ended on Friday, June 10th and resumes on Tuesday, July 6 for CPS Summer Programs. This section also shows the positivity rate, which is the number of positive, validated cases detected in the screening testing divided by the number of tests administered.

For more information on our reporting and terminology, view the footnotes below.

Daily District Cases

Quarantined/Isolated Individuals

Adults Self-Reported Positive: Adult cases reported to the district through the CPS contact tracing self report form, regardless of investigation status. This will include cases where an investigation has not yet started, is in progress, or closed. Because cases still under investigation may not be confirmed, case counts are dynamic and subject to change.
Adults Screen-Tested Positive: The total number of positive adult tests resulted through the District’s on-site COVID-19 screening program. This metric does not include positive self-reported cases. Case counts are dynamic and subject to change. Adults exclude students who are 18 years or older.
Students Self-Reported Positive: Student cases reported to the district through the CPS contact tracing self report form, regardless of investigation status. This will include cases where an investigation has not yet started, or is in progress, or closed. Because cases still under investigation may not be confirmed, case counts are dynamic and subject to change.
Students Screen-Tested Positive: The total number of positive student tests resulted through the District’s on-site COVID-19 screening program. This metric is validated to ensure it’s matched against a student and does not include positive self-reported cases. Case counts are dynamic and subject to change. Students include those individuals who are 18 years or older.
Quarantined/Isolated: Quarantined/Isolated numbers include those individuals that are quarantined as well as those in isolation and are subject to change based on the investigation of open cases. Counts of Quarantined/Isolated individuals reflect daily totals for the specified day, counted at the indicated time. Individuals may be included in daily totals for multiple days. Individuals who are quarantined are excluded from CPS property. The movement of these individuals is restricted to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
7 Day Average: The 7 Day Average on the chart above shows a moving average of adults and students in quarantine/isolation over a seven-day window, aggregated on the last day. The 7 Day Average is calculated as a Simple Moving Average and is intended to give a clear view of trends.
Actionable Cases: CPS only reports Actionable Cases on our dashboards. Actionable Cases represent cases where an individual either tested positive while inside a district building or tested positive while outside a district building but entered a building while infectious. Non-Actionable Cases are cases where an individual tested positive while outside a district building and did not enter a district building while infectious.
Close Contact: Defined by the CDC as being within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for 15 or more minutes within a 24-hour period during the individual’s contagious period, with or without a mask. In the classroom, close contact between students is defined as being within 3 feet for 15 or more minutes within a 24-hour period during the positive student’s contagious period, with a mask.

Staff and Student COVID-19 Screening Testing

Staff and student COVID-19 screening testing concluded June 10 for school year 2021-22 and will resume when summer session begins July 6, 2022. Because screening testing data is compiled weekly, summer session data will become available July 10. However, some individuals may still be submitting take-home test kits, and results will be reported below.

Screen Tested: CPS conducts onsite COVID-19 staff and student screening testing across the District during CPS Summer Programs, which run from Wednesday, July 6 through Friday, August 5. The data in the table above reflects only the results of the on-site tests. This data does not reflect any self-reported COVID-19 test results submitted by staff, students, or family members. Case counts are subject to change.
Tests Completed: The total number of test results that have been processed through the CPS COVID-19 screening program for the range of dates above. Each sample reported in the count is first collected in the field, then processed and analyzed by the lab, and finally, reported to the District. Results are expected to be reported within 72 hours of collection but additional time may be required to process some tests. Therefore, case counts are subject to change.
Tested Positive: The total number COVID-19 screening program tests that returned a confirmed positive result. Occasionally, duplicate cases are removed from this total if the duplicate record submitted through the self-reporting tool provides more information to assist contact tracers in their investigation of the case. Case counts are subject to change.
Percent Tested Positive: The percent test positive is calculated using the following formula: Percent Tested Positive = (Tested Positive / (Tests Completed - Invalid)) * 100. Test positivity is calculated using the date the test was administered.
Invalid: The total number of CPS COVID-19 screening program tests that returned an inconclusive result.

Version Notes

As we expand our COVID-19 reporting, we're tracking major changes to this page. View the latest updates below.

September 27, 2022

The date range for Daily District and School cases has been updated to align with the school calendar and ensure full weeks are reflected between data pages. The date range for Summer 2022 has been changed from 6/16/2022 - 8/18/2022 to 6/19/2022 - 8/20/2022.
The date range for Weekly District and School cases has been updated to align with the school calendar and ensure full weeks are reflected between data pages. The starting week has been changed from 6/12/2022 - 6/18/2022 to 6/19/2022 - 6/25/2022.
The date range for Quarantined/Isolated Individuals has been updated to align with the school calendar and ensure full weeks are reflected between data pages. The date range for Summer 2022 has been changed from 6/16/2022 - 8/18/2022 to 6/19/2022 - 8/20/2022.
The starting and ending weeks for Staff and Student COVID-19 Screening Testing have been updated to align with the school calendar and ensure full weeks are reflected between data pages. The starting week has been changed from 6/12/2022 - 6/18/2022 to 6/19/2022 - 6/25/2022. The ending week has been changed from 8/7/2022 - 8/13/2022 to 8/14/2022 - 8/20/2022.

September 19, 2022

Modified case totals processing to address issue where, under certain conditions, some cases that were later deemed inactionable in system of record were not removed from school-level day and week totals.

COVID-19 Data for Summer 2022

The COVID-19 Data Dashboard is designed to provide parents, staff, students, and other community members with timely, accurate, and useful information about how COVID-19 is impacting our school communities.

Daily District Cases

Total Cases

Quarantined/Isolated Individuals

Individuals In Quarantine/Isolation

Daily School Cases

Quarantined/Isolated Individuals

Staff and Student COVID-19 Screening Testing

Version Notes

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