Plainfield Has Most COVID-19 Cases Among Ages 5-18 In Will County

PLAINFIELD, IL — The Will County Health Department reported 35 new positive COVID-19 cases among student-aged children in Plainfield, the highest in the county, according to data from the week of Aug. 9. But Plainfield School District 202, which has students from several towns including Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Naperville and Joliet, has tracked even more cases in recent weeks, reporting more than 120 cases among students and over a dozen cases among staff.

Neighboring towns Bolingbrook and Joliet — with 32 and 29 positive cases, respectively — trail Plainfield with the second- and third-highest number of cases among kids ages 5 to 18, WCHD reported.

Custer Park and Rockdale are the only two Will County towns that reported no positive cases among students, according to the county's dashboard.

The first day of school for most Plainfield students was Aug. 18, and Plainfield School District 202 began tracking COVID-19 numbers on their own starting Aug. 11. The district's dashboard shows a significantly higher number of cases. Officials reported 124 positive cases among students and 13 among staff between Aug. 11 and Aug. 26. A total of 345 students and 16 staff members were directly exposed to the virus, according to the dashboard.

The district is following guidance from local health departments and the Illinois Department of Public Health that anyone who tested positive or was directly exposed is required to quarantine.

This year, District 202 students returned to school full-time, with remote learning only offered to students in quarantine. Students are also required to wear masks indoors.

Under Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's mask mandate, students and school staff are required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status. Following his Aug. 4 announcement, district officials released a statement saying schools would comply with the mandate.

Additional information about the district's mask policy, including guidelines for exceptions, can be found on its COVID-19 information page.

Two schools, Lutheran School of St. Luke's in Itasca and Bethany Lutheran School in Naperville, lost their state recognition, which impacts student diplomas, scholarship opportunities and athletics, for going against Pritzker's mask mandate, Patch reported. Trinity Christian School in Shorewood also lost its recognition before regaining it a few days later for instating a mask policy, according to an ABC 7 report.

Pritzker announced Thursday that teachers in Illinois, along with health care workers and college students, are required to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing, Patch reported.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 and older, while the shot is still under emergency authorization for children ages 12 to 15.

In District 202, vaccination rates continue to increase, and current Will County data shows 52.47 percent, or 66,980, of people in the district are fully vaccinated. Among 12-18-year-olds, 55.47 percent, or 9,195 people, are fully vaccinated.

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