Sunnyvale (Texas) Independent School District closed the doors at its three schools on Tuesday and Wednesday after influenza kept 85 students at its elementary school home on Monday, according to a report from KXAN.
While the schools are closed, janitors will work to disinfect each of the district's three campuses. The school district, which is located just east of Dallas, has approximately 1,800 students. The shutdown is the first time in 10 years the district has canceled school due to a flu outbreak, according to a report from NBC 5.
"We felt like just given the proximity of our three campuses and the fact that the kids share the same school buses and we have shared personnel and things like that, that it was just going to be in our best interest to shut down for a couple of days," Doug Williams, district superintendent, told NBC 5. "We need to make sure the schools are disinfected, and then hopefully everyone can come back or as many as possible can come back and we can resume business as usual."
Flu activity has been steadily increasing over the past several weeks, with more than 6,000 laboratory specimens taken from patients testing positive for the virus as of Dec. 2. Seven influenza-associated pediatric deaths have been reported thus far in the 2017-18 flu season.
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