BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - St. Joseph’s Academy says it will not allow a group of its students and teachers who recently returned from Italy to attend school or school-related functions for 14 days.
The school says this is a precaution because there have been multiple cases of coronavirus in Italy. None of the St. Joseph’s students or teachers have exhibited any symptoms.
“The group did not leave the southern portion of the country and did not travel to any region affected by the disease,” the school said in a statement to parents Monday, March 2. “We have been advised that the likeliness of exposure for our students and chaperones is extremely low. We have also been advised that given the timeline of the travel, these individuals do not present a risk to themselves or others.”
St. Joseph’s Academy is a private Catholic school for girls located in Baton Rouge.
Fifteen students from the school and four adult chaperones traveled to Italy during Mardi Gras week, the school said.
The group returned to the United States Thursday, Feb. 27.
“While in Italy, they remained in the southern portion of the country and were not near any area affected by the virus,” St. Joseph’s Academy spokeswoman, Mindy Averitt, said Monday.
“I have not had a call from anybody at St. Joseph’s about that,” said Governor John Bel Edwards, addressing the Baton Rouge Press Club Monday.
The governor was asked about the students’ situation at Press Club Monday. He says the federal government has been communicating with him whenever Louisiana residents return from places where there’s “heightened scrutiny” for the disease.
“We have had somewhere around 40 or so overall people who traveled into the state who came from places that caused the federal government to let us know that they were here, all of whom who have cooperated with us fully,” said Gov. Edwards.
“I trust the academy to do what’s in the best interest of all the girls at this school. They always take care of our girls,” said Danielle Mensman.
Mensman's daughter is a sophomore at St. Joseph's Academy, and while she isn't nervous about the virus, she's glad the school is being proactive.
“I think it’s good that they’re keeping them [15 students] home just to make sure that everybody else is safe too. And I know they’ve [St. Joseph’s officials] done their homework and research about it, and I know that they did not come to the decision lightly,” said Mensman.
Students did not attend class Monday, March 2 because of a pre-scheduled professional development day for faculty. The school was closed all last week for the Mardi Gras holiday.
The affected students will be able to keep up with their classwork and assignments using “various technology tools," the school says.
A Catholic High School student whose sister attended the trip will also remain home, school officials said.
Italy reported a 50% increase in coronavirus cases Sunday, CNN reported. Italy’s Civil Protection Authority reported the country now has 1,694 confirmed coronavirus cases, up from 1,128 confirmed cases on Saturday, Feb. 29. Thirty-four people have died, according to the CNN report.
The full letter sent to parents can be read below:
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