Precautions taken after confirmed Norovirus case at Vernon school

VERNON – The Vernon School District is taking precautions after a child was diagnosed with Norovirus earleir this week. 

Superintendent of School District 22 Joe Rogers says a single case of the virus was confirmed Wednesday, May 13, at Ellison Elementary School, prompting a precautionary response. 

“When we have a potential outbreak, once we have confirmation, we send an extra three custodians in there to wash everything down and bleach stuff,” Rogers says. “We always err on the side of caution.”

He says about 12 per cent of students are absent, which would be a normal amount during the winter flu season, but expects most will be back to class after the long weekend.

Rogers says the outbreak is minor and nothing to be overly concerned about. He’s recommending good hygiene practices, such as proper hand washing, as the best precaution.

“It’s not something that’s an alarm,” he says. “We are doing our due diligence.”

Symptoms of Norovirus infection, also known as Norwalk, include nausea, forceful vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Most people make a full recovery in a matter of days, and severe cases are relatively rare.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.