Hundreds of students and instructors at Harrisburg’s Bishop McDevitt High School became ill with an unidentified sickness, forcing the school to suspend in-person classes.
The number of teachers and students who were ill by the middle of the week was alarming.
According to Char Riley, the mother of senior Sadie Riley, “I heard that over 300 students and a number of teachers were out.”
Although PennLive was unable to get in touch with school officials, parents stated that the extremely contagious gastrointestinal disease known as norovirus is thought to be the source of the outbreak.
Throughout the week, we received emails essentially informing us that students and professors were absent, according to Scott Baum, whose son Camden Baum competes in wrestling. A large number of pupils canceled.
Baum claimed that although his son had started to feel ill at the beginning of the week, he improved nearly immediately.
Baum responded, “He’s just a little cold.” It’s not so severe, in my opinion. He was throwing up or something.
By Thursday, school administrators had canceled in-person classes and switched to online instruction. Friday would also be a virtual day, according to the parents.
The Harrisburg Diocese, which is in charge of the private Catholic high school, did not respond to requests for comment.
Last month, the norovirus spread throughout the area, sending a large number of patients to ERs. The virus can be easily contracted by air droplets, which is the primary way that the infection can spread swiftly within a family or a school.
According to Riley, “I understand that [the school is] going to do a deep cleaning this week.”
Bishop McDevitt hosted a wrestling competition on Wednesday night between two other high schools, despite the widespread illness present.
Stories by
Ivey DeJesus