Flu outbreak continues at Stafford High School, nearly 700 out sick

Updated 4 p.m. — Nearly 700 students were absent today from classes at Stafford High School.

School officials say may students tested positive for influenza, and reported gastrointestinal issues. The latter may be due to a separate illness, said school division spokeswoman Sandra Osborn.

After-school activities like clubs, test makeups, and practices at the school could resume tomorrow, Thursday, October 25, 2022. All sports matches won’t resume until Thursday, October 27, 2022 to help contain the spread, added Osborn.

Both the school division and the Virginia Department of Health are working on the case. Last week, 1,000 students stayed home sick from school, prompting custodial staff to perform a deep clean of the campus.

Here’s the full statement from the school division:

A deep cleaning and disinfecting was performed last week and we will continue to clean vigorously each day until attendance returns to normal. We have investigated the water fountains and meals service, and do not believe there is a connection between either of those services and these illnesses.

Working with the Virginia Department of Health and the Rappahannock Area Health Department, we have identified that a number of students have tested positive for influenza. We are also seeing a pattern of gastrointestinal symptoms, which may be due to the flu or may be a separate illness. We will continue to investigate and follow the guidance of our health departments. At this time, the VDH recommends keeping our schools open and continuing our mitigation measures.

This morning, there were approximately 670 students absent. At this time, the VDH recommends keeping our schools open and continuing our mitigation measures. At the advice of the health department, we are canceling all after school sports and activities through Tuesday at Stafford High School only. This will help contain the spread of the illness to visiting schools. Our travel students are encouraged to follow strict mitigation strategies when coming to or from Stafford High School. We will re-evaluate activities later this week.