NEW LONDON, N.H. (WHDH) - Over two dozen New Hampshire students returning from a trip to Europe have been advised to stay home for a week amid coronavirus fears, school officials announced Sunday.
Kearsarge Regional High School students who recently visited Italy, France and the U.K. are told to miss school this coming week and return on Monday, March 9 out of abundance of caution, according to a statement from District Superintendent Winfried Feneberg.
35 students took part in the educational trip in February, but were not directly in regions where coronavirus is present, according to Feneberg.
The decision to keep these students out of school for a week was at the advice of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Feneberg said.
“Although COVID-19 is present in Italy, students were in the Lombardy and Veneto region of the country for a very brief period of time and there is no indication that the students were exposed to the virus,” Feneberg said in a statement.
School was not in session last week due to February recess.
Feneberg said a March 9 return “will ensure that a 14-day time period has elapsed from the time the students left the affected region.”
“We will continue to monitor all students and follow the recommendations of CDC, concerning the presence of flu-like symptoms. We are also mindful that this is still flu season and influenza is considered a much more widespread risk than the coronavirus,” Feneberg said.
Students missing school will be allow to participate through Google Classrooms, Skype, Facetime and will not be marked absent, Fenberg said.
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