Schools in Washington state are closing

SEATTLE — More than a dozen schools across Washington state shut their doors or canceled plans Monday as they received intelligence or suspicions that students might be at risk for novel coronavirus.

Sixteen K-12 schools and one college in Washington closed Monday, according to a running list from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. A few more, including Kentwood High and Covington Elementary in Kent, also planned to close Tuesday.

In Puyallup School District, news of the cancellation came as students were already on their way to class. On Twitter, the district said it was closing Ferrucci Junior High School and Wildwood Elementary out of “an abundance of caution” because a relative of a district family had exhibited “flu-like symptoms.” The district redirected Ferrucci students already on buses to Puyallup’s Karshner Center.

North Kitsap School District’s Kingston High also canceled classes Monday morning, after learning a student was being tested for the virus. That district redirected students to another school. Kingston was slated to reopen Tuesday.

In Northshore and Mukilteo, officials decided to close schools even when local health officials said closures weren’t necessary.

“Even a low risk is too much,” said Michelle Reid, superintendent of the Northshore School District, home to Bothell High, the first Seattle-area school to close last week in response to a possible case of the virus.

As school officials wait on test results to see whether their schools had been exposed to the illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, many told the public they’re taking some extra precautions, including more cleaning than usual. The public is chiming in, too: Several petitions with thousands of signatures emerged demanding administrators close schools that didn’t have any confirmed cases of the virus, including at the University of Washington, Bellevue School District and Lake Washington School District.

By Monday evening, there were 18 illnesses and six deaths associated with the novel coronavirus in Washington state, which has become the national epicenter for the virus. Unless they have underlying health conditions, preliminary research suggests children are at a lower risk of developing serious complications to COVID-19, whose symptoms resemble those of the flu.