EU reports low number of on-campus COVID-19 cases amidst national spike

When the United States entered lockdown in March due to COVID-19, it was believed that the country would be able to reopen safely. 

Now, as we approach 8 months since the early days of the pandemic, not a lot has changed. Cases nationwide are still steadily rising, with nearly 300,000 new cases being reported in the last week alone by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

As of early October, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports that DuPage county makes up over 16% of the total 300,000 cases in the state. Dupage County has seen approximately 18,200 confirmed cases and 567 deaths. 

Throughout August and September, a total of 1,340 people were tested on-campus at Elmhurst University. 6 people tested positive, but all are reported to have made a full recovery. There were 23 total cases (including those that were self-reported) amongst students, staff, and faculty, with 2 people still in recovery as of the beginning of October.

The move to reopen schools and other non-essential businesses has been met with widespread scrutiny for the resulting spike in COVID-19 cases.

When schools reopened in August, it was reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics that there was a 90% increase over four weeks in cases in children between 0 and 24 years old. Many schools returned to remote learning just weeks after reopening.

In an interview with PBS in August, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed his opinion on reopening schools. He believes schools in areas with a lower level of cases can reopen with caution. 

However, he emphasized that schools in red zones, as Illinois currently is, should “think carefully before [they] jump into school.”