Here is all the information we’ve been collecting on child care settings, camps and schools. Below, you’ll find our crowdsourced data, official state level data, and information on media coverage of outbreaks.
Our Data on COVID-19 in Child Care Settings
Below you can find our crowd-sourced data on COVID-19 cases in child care and camps.
This data has serious limitations. It would be much, much better to have universal or random sampling of centers. Even better would be to have random testing of children and staff so we could see asymptomatic cases. It is hard to evaluate biases here, but our guess is that this somewhat understates COVID-19 cases since children without symptoms are not reported here.
We are grateful for help on this from many people — the participants, obviously, as well as winnie.com, the YMCA and the American Camp Association.
High level summary: survey of child care settings open throughout the pandemic
Our initial efforts focused on child care settings — mostly with very young children — which were open through most of the pandemic. Although this data is not updated, you can see it all here.
Ongoing tracking data in open child care settings
Our current efforts are focued on tracking a sample of locations as they remain open. You can see all of the data for that sample here. Here is a quick top-line as of August 24, 2020.
If you would like to contribute to this data…
Please consider being part of our tracking sample. Enter baseline data here.
Media Coverage of Outbreaks in Camps and Child Care
Here is a list of outbreaks in child care, camps, and schools that we’ve gathered from news reports. Although case count estimates are unknown for some of the outbreaks, we tried to only include outbreaks that have resulted in at least 3 positive cases.
State Level Data on Child Care Facilities
Below, for each state, we report what we’ve found so far from “official” sources. A key note here is that in nearly all cases the states are limited to reporting cases in child care settings, or clusters, and rarely do they provide any information on numbers of total people working in these settings or enrolled. So, these data are only useful to a point.
(If you know of ones we’ve missed, let us know!)
Arizona
The Arizona Department of Health Services reports the number of congregate settings with confirmed positive COVID-19 cases on its data dashboard. As of November 8, 2020, the number of child/day care facilities with positive COVID-19 cases is 97.
California
The California Department of Social Services Child Care Program Office collects data on positive COVID-19 cases for child care facilities statewide. Cases are reported for state-licensed child care facilities that have at least nine or more children in care to protect confidentiality. The department reports the number of open child care centers and the number of positive cases in children, parents, and staff by county.
As of November 5, 2020, the total number of COVID-19 cases in child care facilities is 3666.
This table shows the change in the statewide total number of COVID-19 positive cases in child care facilities for the given period.
This table shows the total number of child care facilities and family child care homes that are currently open.
This table shows the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in child care facilities and family child care homes among staff, children, parents and others (such as non-parent family members). Small family child care homes provide care to no more than 8 children and large family child care homes provide care to no more than 14 children.
Colorado
Data on confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks in various settings — including child care centers, group homes, and camps — are updated weekly on the Colorado State Web Portal as an Excel file. Case counts are provided by each facility with an outbreak, which is defined as two or more confirmed cases that began in a 14-day period. Both active and resolved outbreaks are listed. This table shows the case counts and number of facilities affected as of November 4, 2020:
Georgia
Temporary closures (not necessarily due to COVID-19 outbreaks) of child care facilities are updated daily by Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning. The Department also reports some information about confirmed COVID-19 cases by county. This table shows the number of licensed child facilities that are temporarily closed as of November 8, 2020:
Kansas
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports data on cases in daycare and schools on its data dashboard and in its COVID-19 Summary, which is updated three times per week. This table shows the cumulative number of COVID-19 outbreaks in daycare sites and schools as of November 8, 2020:
Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services reports data on cases in state operated facilities and congregate care sites by state agency. Agencies report data from group homes, with the exception of The Department of Youth Services, which includes both group homes and facility settings, many of which are co-located. Client cases and recoveries are only for clients included in the current census and do not include all site cases and recoveries over time.
This table shows the number of positive cases in congregate care sites in Massachusetts as of November 4, 2020:
Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Health releases data on potential exposure in child care settings in its weekly COVID-19 report. The number of confirmed cases includes children and staff that attended a child care program while infectious, or those who test positive and attended a child care program that reported a confirmed case in the past 28 days. Child care programs include licensed child care centers, certified centers, summer day camps, and school-age care during peacetime emergencies. In-home child care is not included.
These tables reflect the cumulative number of lab-confirmed cases among staff and attendees of child care programs as of November 5, 2020:
Nevada
The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services reports case counts in child care facilities on its dashboard of facilities with positive COVID cases. The dashboard breaks down case numbers by children and staff, and reports the number of childcare facilities with confirmed positive cases by county. This table shows the number of confirmed cases among residents and staff in childcare facilities in Nevada as of November 8, 2020:
North Carolina
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reports information about outbreaks and clusters in child care and school settings on its data dashboard. It also updates the COVID-19 Ongoing Clusters in Child Care and School Settings Report twice a week. The report includes the names of licensed child care and school settings where there is an ongoing cluster, and the number of positive COVID-19 cases and deaths related to that cluster. Child care or school settings with less than 10 children or staff are not included to protect confidentiality.
A COVID-19 cluster is defined as a minimum of five laboratory confirmed cases with illness onset or initial positive results within a 14-day period and plausible epidemiologic linkage between cases. A cluster is considered over if there is no evidence of continued transmission within the setting. This is measured as 28 days with no new cases after the latest date of onset in a symptomatic person or the latest date of testing in an asymptomatic person.
The report also contains a previous clusters section, which includes clusters that have been closed since the last report was published.
This table shows the number of clusters in child care and school settings as of November 6, 2020:
This table shows the number of weekly ongoing clusters in child care/school settings as of November 6, 2020:
This table shows the number of previous clusters since the last report that are now considered over as of November 6, 2020:
Sources: data dashboard, weekly ongoing clusters
Ohio
Although Ohio does not report positive cases in childcare settings on its data dashboard, the governor addressed case counts linked to childcare in a recent update. After contact tracing was performed, approximately 75% of cases were determined to be from community spread.
This table reflects the data that was announced by Governor DeWine on July 28.
Oregon
The Oregon Public Health Division lists outbreaks in schools and child care facilities in its COVID-19 Weekly Report. In order to protect privacy, the Oregon Health Authority only reports school and child care outbreaks with five or more cases, and only for schools or child care centers with at least 30 students. If more than 50% of the population at the school or child care center are COVID-19 cases, then specific case numbers are not reported. Case counts include all persons linked to the outbreak, which may include household members or other close contacts. Resolved outbreaks are reported after 28 days without a new case.
A full list of the specific facilities affected can be found in the weekly report. These tables provide the total cases and number of child care facilities with active and recently resolved COVID-19 outbreaks of November 4, 2020:
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services shares data on the cumulative number of cases in state-licensed child care facilities, residential treatment settings, group homes, and other congregate care facilities. Positive cases are reported for both children and staff by county and by state agency. Data is self-reported by providers and is not validated against data from the Department of Health. Case counts for these facilities may be retroactively adjusted.
The tables below reflect cumulative case counts as of November 6, 2020 for each of the following state agencies.
Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) Licensed Child Care Facilities:
Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) Licensed Residential Facilities:
Office of Child, Youth, and Families (OCYF) Licensed Residential Facilities:
Rhode Island
Rhode Island does not officially report data on child care centers, but a recent CDC study reports the number of positive cases in child care centers from June 1-July 31, 2020. The table below shows the number of positive cases among children and staff.
Texas
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission provides COVID-19 case data in licensed child care centers, school-age programs, and before or after-school programs. This data is self-reported by the affected facilities and can be found as an Excel spreadsheet on the HHSC website.
This table shows the COVID-19 case counts in Texas child care centers, school-age programs, and before or after-school programs for the given day, and the cumulative total since March 2020:
Sources: Source
Tennessee
The Tennessee Department of Human Services does not maintain a tally of how many children or staffers have tested positive. However, the Tennessee Lookout has reported on the estimated number of child care facilities with positive cases. A full list of affected child care facilities as of July 10 can be found here. As of July 14, the estimated number of child care facilities with positive COVID-19 cases is 47.
Utah
The Utah Department of Health reports outbreaks in child care facilities under the Community Outbreaks tab on its COVID-19 Surveillance dashboard. Two or more cases associated with a setting outside of the household within 14 days is considered an outbreak. Outbreak data are preliminary and may change as public health completes investigations or updates analyses.
Data on cases in schools can be found under a separate tab. School-associated cases are defined as confirmed cases who have attended, worked in, or visited a K-12 school in-person for more than 15 minutes while symptomatic or within 14 days of their symptom onset. The “other/unknown” category refers to school volunteers, non-teaching staff, and cases that are school-associated but did not specify their role at the school. School-associated cases are reported by school districts and age groups.
This table shows the number of cases in child care facilities as of November 8, 2020:
This table shows the cumulative case counts in the 2020-2021 school year for school-associated cases as of November 8, 2020:
Virginia
The Virginia Department of Health reports data on outbreaks in various types of facilities on its COVID-19 daily dashboard, which now includes child care facilities and K-12 schools as categories. This table shows the number of outbreaks, cases, and deaths in these settings as of November 8, 2020:
