The American Boychoir School from New Jersey made an unplanned stop in Galesburg Tuesday, but it wasn’t to sing.
In a bad case of contagiousness, all 26 boys in the choir tested positive for strep throat causing a delay in tour plans.
Heading from Champaign to northwest Illinois on their 29 day tour of the Midwest, the choir initally stopped in Galesburg when two of the boys complained of severely sore throats.
According to a Cottage Hospital News Release, Assistant Tour Director Faith Alacar took the sick boys to the Cottage Walk-in-Clinic at the East Main Street Hy-Vee.
Just as the Tuesday appointment wrapped up, four other boys complained of symptoms of strep and were the next to be sent to the clinic.
All six choir members tested positive and were given prescriptions for antibiotics before the entire choir tested positive Wednesday.
Alacar decided to cancel the next two tour stops in DeKalb and Rockford and stay in Galesburg to recover. The boys are on the mend today and the antibiotics are working, according to Alacar.
The choir is in Des Moines, Iowa where they are preparing for a performance at a Drake University school rally.
