Several schools across Mississippi closed in recent weeks amid large outbreaks of influenza and other illnesses. The closures came as flu cases surged statewide to the highest levels in over a year.
St. Andrews Episcopal School closed its upper school campus in Ridgeland, Miss., on Thursday, Jan. 30, and Friday, Jan. 31, after a significant portion of the student body was either absent or had to leave school due to illnesses earlier that week.
“We realized on Wednesday that we had a problem,” St. Andrews Associate Head of School for Advancement and Community Relations Stephanie Garriga told the Mississippi Free Press.
“I would say we’ve been experiencing students who have been sick all week, but we really hit a threshold when a third of our student body in Upper School, nine through 12, had the flu and other students were contracting it—because it’s contagious—and going home in the middle of the day,” she said.
Garriga said on Jan. 30 that a large number of students at the lower, middle, and early childhood programs located on the Jackson campus were out sick. During the day, several others left with fever and symptoms.
“They had been in class exposing other children to their symptoms and the flu,” she said. “We made the decision then to go ahead and allow our lower school, our early childhood program and our middle school to stay home (Friday) and the weekend to rest and recover.”
West Union Attendance Center in Myrtle, Miss., also closed Thursday, Jan. 30, and Friday, Jan. 31, “due to widespread illness among students and staff.” WTVA News reported that 214 students were absent due to illness on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Both schools canceled all sports and extracurricular activities for the days they were closed. West Union would have hosted Itawamba AHS for its Senior Night Basketball game. Its Facebook page said the senior night activities would happen at a later date. .
St. Andrews is planning to make up the missed activities at a later date.
“In fact, I’ve already seen them rescheduled,” Garriga said.
Houlka Attendance Center in Houlka, Miss., also closed on Jan 31 along with Winona Christian School in Winona, Miss. Both reported widespread illness among staff and students.
Garriga said St. Andrews will not have to make up the missed days.
“We are fortunate in an independent school, we build in extra days for this kind of event,” she said. “It can be an illness outbreak or a weather incident, so students will not be behind in what they need to learn this year in our curriculum.”
St. Andrews and Winona Christian are independent schools under the MidSouth Association of Independent Schools. Houlka and West Union are public schools under the Mississippi Department of Education. Houlka announced on its social media accounts that the school will make up the missed day on February 17.
‘If Your Child Is Sick, Don’t Let Them Go to School’
Mississippi Department of Education Public Information Officer Shanderia K. Minor said only two schools out of the state’s 869 reported closures during the week of Jan. 31. Both were due to the spread of flu in their facilities. She said the office is not concerned at this point. Minor said no closures were reported during the week of Feb. 3-7.
“MDE does not view this as alarming, but rather preventive protocols, and will continue to monitor closures,” Minor told the Mississippi Free Press on Feb. 3. “Closing schools to prevent the spread of a flu virus is not unusual when there is a high concentration of the flu.”
Schools report absence data to MDE, but that data does not include the cause of the absence.
Mississippi State Health Department data showed that the percentage of patients in doctors’ offices with flu-like symptoms climbed from 8.7% for the week ending in Jan. 25 to 9.1% ending in Feb. 1. MSDH External Affairs & Media Relations Director Greg Flynn said cases are spiking later this year than last year but that cases are still within the normal range.
“Last year, the highest rate of flu that we were seeing came in December,” he said. “But this year, we’re just happening to see now in February where it’s starting to spike statewide. … It’s falling in line but it’s just really kind of hitting everybody hard. We’ve seen a steady increase over the last three weeks.”
The CDC provides guidance for influenza in school settings. Those guidelines include separating ill students and staff, reinforcing hand hygiene, and routine disinfections and cleanings. Flynn said it’s “incumbent on people to be vigilant at this time.”
“If your child is sick, don’t let them go to school. If you or your child are getting sick, stay home. Don’t go to work. Don’t send your kids to school,” he said.
The director noted that COVID-19 cases remain low.
“You’re seeing less than 1,000 from week-to-week,” Flynn said. “It’s holding steady. But you can see the flu is where it really kind of ebbs and flows.”
County Health Departments Offer Testing, Treatment
Garriga said St. Andrews has stocked each classroom with disinfectant wipes. The school has taken extra measures to ensure desks and supplies are disinfected after each use.
Mississippi is not alone. Schools in Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma and Georgia have closed amid flu and norovirus outbreaks. Garriga said this season has been more active in the school than she has seen before.
“I don’t remember in my time—and I’ve been here 11 years—us ever closing because of the flu outbreak … I have not seen St Andrews have this size of a flu outbreak on campus,” Garriga said.”
MSDH is still operating its test and treat program. State residents aged 13 and older can visit any state health department to be tested for COVID-19 or the flu. Patients who test positive for the flu can also receive treatment. The clinic will bill the medicine to the patient’s insurance or provide it free to those who do not have insurance.
“If you are positive for the flu, then we can issue you Tamiflu to help reduce those symptoms,” Flynn said. “But go early. If you’re not feeling well, go within the first day of feeling sick.”
All four schools reopened on Monday, Feb. 3. Those wanting to track flu or other respiratory illnesses such as RSV can track them on the MSDH website through the respiratory surveillance reports issued each Friday.
