ST. LOUIS — St. John Vianney High School has delayed the start of it spring semester and plans to have students learn virtually during the first week.
Sapna Jos, director of communications for the school, told 5 On Your Side the start of classes has been delayed until Jan. 5 and classes will be virtual from Jan. 5-7. Jos said the school will evaluate at the end of the week whether students should return to in-person learning on Monday, Jan. 10.
Other schools around the St. Louis area have also decided to temporarily transition to virtual learning due to a rise in COVID-19 cases across the community.
The Edwardsville school district announced on Sunday that sixth through 12th graders will be learning virtually this week. The district said it will re-evaluate COVID numbers at the end of the week. Kindergarten through fifth grade students, FLS and CASTLE students will still attend classes in-person.
In the Brooklyn Unit School District 188, students from preschool to 12th grade started classes Monday morning via remote learning and will do so for the next two weeks.
When East St. Louis students return from winter break on Tuesday, they will also be learning virtually. East St. Louis schools hope to return to in-person learning after the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
These school districts seem to be following the lead of the state.
Starting Monday, there are new COVID-19 changes in effect in Illinois, which is considered a high transmission area. Governor JB Pritzker made the changes to try to get a hold on the spread.
Pritzker is urging hospitals to delay elective surgeries and other non-emergency procedures to keep more beds open.
Across the state, there are 2,967 staffed ICU beds. Currently, 1,010 of those beds are filled with COVID-19 patients. The state has 313 ICU beds available.