KANSAS CITY, Kan. Students at a metro private school won’t be returning to class for a few days.

Leaders at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic School in Kansas City, Kansas, confirmed that classes are canceled until Tuesday due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the school.

The school said on social media that classes are expected to resume after the Labor Day break. The post doesn’t specify whether students, faculty – or both – are affected by this spread.

School closures were common during the pandemic, but seeing one nowadays is concerning to physicians at the University of Kansas Health System. 

“We haven’t seen closures for a couple of years now, so I would imagine the leaders of this school had a good reason,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, infectious disease specialist at the hospital.

Dr. Hawkinson said COVID-19 cases have seen a small increase over the past few weeks, but as of now, the hospital isn’t compiling any running totals of patients or cases. He is also reminding the public that other viruses that display cold-like symptoms are also spreading, as they often do when school groups begin fall classes.

“It’s concerning that this early in the school year, we already have a closure,” Dr. Hawkinson said Thursday.

“But we’ve all heard for the past few weeks either anecdotes of people who’ve been ill, or people in our community,  or just specific communities who are having increasing numbers of COVID as well. I think this is one good example of that.”

He said the public should consider reviving some forms of pandemic-era precautions, such as proper hand hygiene and avoiding unnecessary touching of the hands and eyes.

On Thursday, FOX4 News reached out to both the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Wyandotte County Health Department, but neither provided any current COVID-related data for our coverage.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas sent us the following statement:

“Thank you for reaching out. The health and safety of our students and staff remain our highest priority, and our schools follow established safety and health protocols. At this time, I don’t have additional information to share.”