At least five people have been infected with coronavirus after attending a non-school-sanctioned “mini-prom” in southeastern Illinois, officials said Friday.
Wabash County health officials want to find everyone who attended the Aug. 4 event in Mount Carmel, which is about 150 miles east of St. Louis. Louis and 130 miles west of Louisville, Kentucky.
In addition to the five infected so far, another 40 people with close contact with her have been quarantined, Wabash County Health Department administrator Judy Wissel told NBC News on Friday. To date, none of them have been admitted to hospital.
Under state guidelines, as many as 50 people can gather inside as long as they can safely distance themselves socially. But “none of the photos we saw had face masks on,” Wissel said.
Several teenagers in the area have posted photos of themselves – girls in jackets, boys in tuxedos – on Instagram on or around August 4th.
Although they were ready for a formal event, it was not clear if they would attend one. Some used the hashtag #quarantineprom.
The “mini-prom” goers were from Mt. Carmel High School. They threw the party in place of their traditional formal end of the year, which was called by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Wissel.
“It was just a subgroup of kids coming together to have a prom,” she said. “I’m not sure if parents had a role or it at least helped make it together.”
Wabash Unit Community Schools Superintendent Chuck Bleyer insists the neighborhood had no role in the “mini-prom.”
“I don’t know who organized the event or how many attended,” Bleyer said. “In addition, no school staff was involved. Although the term ‘prom’ is used, it was purely private with no school connection.”
The attendees “mini-prom” rented party space in the Anderson Building, at 15039 Four H Center Lane, officials said.
A woman who answered the phone number for the Anderson Building declined to say who rented the space on Aug. 4 and declined to comment.
Janhvi Bhojwani contributed.
