VA School Closes As Students Self-Quarantine After Italy Trip

RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY, VA — Wakefield Country Day School in Rappahannock County is shutting down until Monday over coronavirus concerns after two-dozen students, teachers and friends traveled recently to Northern Italy, ground zero for the coronavirus in Europe. The school trip to Italy ended Feb. 25, InsideNoVa reported Thursday.

The school sent a letter to Wakefield parents, staffers and students Wednesday explaining that the proactive move to close the school is based on a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control recommending that recent travelers to Italy self-quarantine for 14 days.

On Wednesday, the Italian government ordered the closure of all schools and universities until March 15 as it tries to contain Europe’s worst outbreak of coronavirus, which has claimed 107 lives. According to the Johns Hopkins Univeristy Center for Systems Science and Engineering, about 97,840 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed around the world. Italy has reported 3,858 confirmed cases of the virus.

“Given that the travel group included students with siblings at WCDS and WCDS teachers, for administrative ease and to provide additional comfort to the community I have decided to close school for the remainder of this week," Wakefield Head of School Jessica Andrus Lindstrom wrote in the letter. "During this time as an extra precaution we will perform another deep cleaning of the classrooms, auditorium, gym, bathrooms, and hallways to ensure that germs are kept at bay."

Don’t miss updates about precautions in Virginia as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

The new coronavirus, COVID-19, is a respiratory illness first identified in an outbreak in the city of Wuhan in China's Hubei province. Caused by a novel coronavirus, the respiratory illness can be spread from person to person. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it is thought to be spread between people in close contact with another through droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Currently, there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in Virginia, although three potential cases of coronavirus are pending testing with the Virginia Department of Health.

Lindstrom wrote in the letter that none of the trip participants were sick at any time during the trip, nor are any sick now, according to the InsideNoVa report.

The private school, which serves preschool through grade 12, has about 130 students and 36 staff and serves, InsideNova reported.