BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. — The Bonner Springs/Edwardsville School District announced Wednesday that it is canceling classes for the rest of the week due to an uptick in student and staff absent due to illness.

The school district released a statement Wednesday afternoon stating “in an effort to give our school community time to get well and avoid causing further disruption in the learning process, school will not be in session on Thursday, January 13 and Friday, January 14.

The school district will also be off Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Students and staff are expected to return on Tuesday Jan. 18.

The current policy for the school district has optional masking for high school students. If a student or staff test positive for COVID-19 they must isolate for five days from the start of symptoms or positive test date if no symptoms and 24 hours fever free.

A mask will need to be worn for five days upon returning to school after five days of isolation. If unable or refusal to wear a mask, then a 10-day isolation is required, according to the school district.

On Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports the number of Kansans testing positive for the coronavirus jumped by 22,240 in just two days. This is the first time Kansas has reported a jump of over 20,000 since the pandemic began.

The state samples about two percent of the positive cases for variants. Since Monday, 94 samples tested positive for the omicron variant, while 18 are the delta variant.

KDHE said 27 more Kansas deaths have been linked to COVID-19, bringing the state’s death toll to 7,141. In addition, in the past two days, 139 more Kansans have been hospitalized with COVID-19. Of the 106 hospitals reporting to the KDHE Wednesday, there are a total of 991 COVID-19 patients currently being treated. Of those, 211 are in intensive care, and 110 are on ventilators.