Four students at San Francisco's Lakeshore Alternative Elementary School and "several" of their adult family members have shown signs of respiratory illness, which has led to a 14-day closure for the school — which sits directly beside the high school that was shut down last week.
The SF Department of Public Health is investigating the cases at the Lake Merced-adjacent school and testing the students and their families — none have yet been confirmed to have coronavirus. Per KRON4, the school district has encouraged all students and staff at the school and their families to self-quarantine for the next two weeks.
No cases of coronavirus have been found among San Francisco public school students. However, Lowell High School, which sits directly beside Lakeshore Elementary, was temporarily closed for a deep cleaning last week after the mother of a student there tested positive.
As the graphic below helps to explain, most of the symptoms of the coronavirus could also be the seasonal flu, though the new virus does appear to be exponentially more contagious.
A CDC tree diagram graphic is helping people decide whether they have allergies, a cold, the flu, or the coronavirus — and it starts with "Do you have a fever?" https://t.co/XeGqV8c5R6
— California Science Weekly (@ScienceWeekly) March 12, 2020
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases stands at 14 in San Francisco but is expected to rise in the coming days as more testing takes place.
The number of cases in California now stands at 190, with 108 in the Bay Area. And the number of cases nationwide stands at 1,323, out of which there have been 38 deaths so far — four of those here in California.
The San Francisco Unified School District remains open, with all other elementary and high schools still operating as normal. Lowell High School reopened last Wednesday after its deep cleaning.
Photo via Facebook
