Feature image by Trevor Bexon
Several Huffaker Elementary School students who were tested for coronavirus, which was due to a family member of one of the children experiencing symptoms, all had negative results, the health district said late Friday.
A man in his 50s who has a child attending Huffaker is still believed to be a “presumptive positive” case, although his test results are pending. His child tested negative.
The man’s condition was linked to the Grand Princess cruise ship outbreak. He has been self-isolating at home.
This prompted the health district to recommend the Washoe County School District shut down Huffaker on Friday as a precaution. The school will reopen Monday.
“We are relieved that we received no additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 today,” district health officer Kevin Dick said in a statement. “The health district and Washoe County School District took extreme precaution by closing the school on Friday to prevent anyone from contracting the virus. I appreciate the cooperative effort of the school district to ensure the safety of those children and other members of our community.”
A statement from Kristen McNeill, school district interim superintendent, was as follows:
“Parents, students and staff can rest assured that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Huffaker Elementary School. We want to thank the health district for their diligent work to ensure safety of our students and staff. I’m pleased to report that Huffaker will be open on Monday.”
COVID-19 is a respiratory virus identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in late December. It has sickened more than 100,000 and killed almost 3,500 worldwide.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 164 coronavirus cases in 19 states. Thirty-six cases were travel-related, 18 were person-to-person spread, and 110 are under investigation.
Some news outlets are putting the nationwide number closer to 300. Since state and local health departments are constantly testing and reporting cases, the CDC said there could be a several day discrepancy with case totals.
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Carla has an undergraduate degree in journalism and more than 10 years experience as a daily newspaper reporter. She grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., moved to the Reno area in 2002 and wrote for the Reno Gazette-Journal for 8 years, covering a variety of topics. Prior to that, she covered local government in Fort Pierce, Fla.
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