Officials from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced a new presumptive positive case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The patient is a Chicago woman in her 50s who is an employee at Jacqueline B. Vaughn Occupational High School in the Portage Park neighborhood, which will be closed next week out of an abundance of caution. She is currently hospitalized and in stable condition. CDPH and CPS are reaching out individually to connect with all students and their families as well as school employees. The woman was on a cruise, the Grand Princess, and disembarked in San Francisco on Feb. 21 and returned to Chicago on Feb. 24. On March 4, the cruise line first announced that there had been COVID-19 cases associated with the ship. There are actions the general public, as well as, organizations can take to help minimize the risk of spread of COVID-19:

• Healthcare providers should be on the look-out for people with fever and respiratory symptoms and ask for detailed travel history. Follow CDC’s Guidance for Healthcare Professionals.

• Childcare programs, K-12 schools and colleges/universities should review their emergency operations plans, including strategies for social distancing and on-line learning. Schools should consider postponing or cancelling student foreign exchange programs.

• Businesses and employers should actively encourage sick employees to stay home when sick, perform hand hygiene, and cover coughs and sneezes. Businesses should review their emergency operations plan, including identification of essential business functions, teleworking and flexible sick leave policies.