POLK COUNTY, Ga. — The Polk School District closed down schools and facilities on Friday and Monday, citing flu and norovirus cases. 

The school district said the closures allowed for a deep cleaning after it reported on Thursday that 761 students and 63 school-level staff members were sick. It said those numbers amount to “10% or more of our student population at each school and a shortage of necessary staff to operate effectively.”

“This decision is not made lightly, and as always, we will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our students, staff, and community. Extra-curricular activities and after-school events will not be affected,” the school district wrote in part in a statement.

The school district said classes will resume as scheduled on Tuesday. 

Dr. Lauren Middlebrooks, with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, said norovirus is highly contagious, noting she’s seeing many more cases this year than in the past five years. 

“We’ve just seen more and more cases. I assume more and more people might be testing for it, but it is a stomach virus,” Dr. Middlebrooks said. “It has its traditional symptoms of maybe fever, but also crampy, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.”

She said it can be transmitted through either ingestion or contamination. 

“If the kids are sick, and they’re coming to school, they’re wiping themselves, maybe not washing their hands completely, and then playing with friends, then skin-to-skin contact is another way that it can be transmitted. And unlike some viruses, this one in particular doesn’t die very quickly,” she explained. “Hand sanitizer isn’t going to cut it, so we have to start using soap and water, and the appropriate hand washing precautions would be soap and water for a 20-second scrub.”

Dr. Middlebrooks said norovirus’ intensity can range. 

“Norovirus could be as mild as maybe a 24-72-hour illness of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but you could have lasting symptoms for potentially as long as two weeks,” she said. “And we also know that even when symptoms improve, you can continue to shed that virus in your stool or your bowel movements for up to two weeks, even after symptoms resolve. But one of the main complications that we see with stomach viruses, especially norovirus, is dehydration.” 

She said kids need to stay home from school if they’re still exhibiting symptoms. 

“If you can keep your child home for 24 hours after the diarrhea stops, that would be the safest bet,” Dr. Middlebrooks said. “At minimum, please keep them home while they’re actively having symptoms.”