Where do you think you got COVID? A lot of Illinois residents are answering 'School'

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Where do you think you got COVID-19? In Illinois, a huge percentage of people say: "School."

Data provided by the Illinois Department of Health shows that "school" is the most common location when contact tracers ask people with COVID-19 where they might have been exposed. The information is gathered by asking people to recall locations visited in the 14 days before symptoms started or the test happened. Some cases might have more than one potential location listed.

  • School 42.6%
  • Other 9.29%
  • Hospital or Clinic 5.81%
  • Restaurant/Bar 5.05%
  • Business/Retail 4.38%
  • Office 4.02%
  • Grocery 3.94%
  • Factory 3.24%
  • Daycare 2.63%

The Department of Health emphasizes that these are locations where "COVID-19 exposure may have occurred, not that these are definitive exposure or outbreak locations."

Across Illinois since the pandemic started, 2,382,437 cases have been reported and at least 28,361 Illinois residents have died.

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