NC elementary school closes after 17 kids test positive for COVID, 95 in quarantine

A North Carolina elementary school switched temporarily to remote learning on Tuesday after nearly 100 students were quarantined due to a “surge” in COVID-19 cases, school and health officials said.

W.M. Irvin Elementary School in Concord was closed after 17 students tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and 95 students were quarantined, Cabarrus Health Alliance officials said. The alliance is Cabarrus County’s health department.

The totals represent about 19% of students at the school, officials said.

Students who tested positive have been isolated and their close contacts also quarantined, according to the alliance.

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The school will undergo a deep cleaning so the building will be ready when students and staff return from spring break on April 13, Cabarrus County Schools Interim Superintendent Brian Schultz said in a news release issued by the Health Alliance.

The school system “follows rigorous cleaning and sanitizing protocols” recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, school officials said in the release.

After spring break, the district will continue to require “temperature checks, mask wearing, frequent hand washing and social distancing,” officials said.

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Health officials said they haven’t been able to link the cases. If they did, they’d identify the cases as a COVID-19 cluster.

According to state health officials, a cluster in a school is five or more cases with initial positive results in two weeks and having occurred in the same classroom, bus or other setting.

“Our goal is for all children to end the school year, healthy and in-person,” alliance Health Director Dr. Bonnie Coyle said in the release. “With the surge in cases at this school, we believe transitioning to remote learning will assist with stopping the spread and allow students to return safely after Spring Break.”

Parents of students at the school should contact their primary care doctor if they or their children at the school develop such COVID-19 symptoms as fever, chills, coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, and loss of taste or smell.

Those without a primary care provider should call the alliance at 704-920-1213.