Covid-19 Outbreak At Illinois Youth Camp That Didn’t Check Vaccination Status

A youth summer camp in central Illinois didn’t check the Covid-19 vaccination statuses of attendees. The camp didn’t require face masks while indoors either. Gee what could possibly go wrong?

How about a Covid-19 outbreak? Remember when Principal Vernon said in the movie The Breakfast Club, “Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns?” Well, messing with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) can get you the spikes, the spikes that the SARS-CoV2 uses to enter your cells, that is.

So far, at least 85 teens and adult staff members from the Crossing Camp in Schuyler County, Illinois, have already tested positive for Covid-19. One young adult, who by the way was not vaccinated, ended up in the hospital. The camp for high school-aged teens went from June 13 to 17.

Again, the camp did not require face masks, not even indoors. That was despite the fact that “only a handful of campers and staff” may have gotten the Covid-19 vaccine prior to attending the camp, as the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) later determined. Only a handful is not very many unless you are talking about really large hands.

Here’s a WGEM news segment on the outbreak:

The outbreak didn’t stop at the Crossing Camp. Nope the virus crossed over to Adams County when two of the campers subsequently made their way to a nearby conference there. The result was 11 more reported Covid-19 cases. The IDPH indicated that “at least 70% of those cases were unvaccinated.” According to the IDPH, only about 40% of all people in Schuyler and Adams counties have been fully vaccinated.

If you go to the 2021 Camper Registration website, you’ll now find the following statement: “Due to a recent outbreak of Covid 19 related to Student Camp June 13-17, we have made the difficult decision to postpone our 4th & 5th-grade Crossing Camp.” The website also says, “4th & 5th-grade camp will now be held August 12-15. Your registration will automatically be transferred to those dates.”

This campy story shows what may happen when you don’t require either Covid-19 vaccination or face mask use and social distancing. Not requiring either is almost like an invitation for Covid-19 coronavirus to “come on down to the camp. No need to bring your bags or tent because there will be plenty of humans to live in here.”

Even though many people are acting as if the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic were over, it really isn’t. The pandemic is not like the short-lived sitcom “Dads.” You can’t just cancel it because it is really bad. The virus is still spreading. In fact, as I wrote last Sunday for Forbes, the more contagious Delta variant of the virus is spreading. Just like that standard story line for horror movies (which incidentally are often set at Summer camps), the most dangerous time can be when people think that a threat has passed when it hasn’t and begin to relax way too soon.