KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — A lot of classrooms will be empty inKalamazoo County Fridayafter multiple school districts canceled classes due to so many kids calling in sick.
Kalamazoo Public Schools, Gull Lake Community Schools, and Climax-Scotts Community Schools are closing their doors due to a high volume of sick students. In KPS alone, at least 1,900 cases were reported among student and staff members.
“We’ve had a significant amount of illnesses with the schools, so most of the conversations we’ve had the last couple of days the schools decided to close voluntarily,” said Jim Rutherford of the Kalamazoo County Health Department.
It’s not just classrooms, but hospitals are echoing an uptick in the flu and respiratory sicknesses going around. People are coming down with the flu, norovirus, and respiratory sickness all over the region. According to Borgess Medical Center, the normal incidence of flu this time of year is 600-700 cases a week. Right now, they say they’re seeing 1-2,000 cases per week in all of Southwestern Michigan.
“We came to the decision [to close the district] late this afternoon, based on 1,900 children being absent at home sick, or complaining of ill health and stomach related flu-like symptoms,” said Alex Lee, Executive Director of Communications for KPS.
Kristine Thomas, a mom of two children in Gull Lake schools, said she can barely breathe or talk after her two children passed on their sickness to her. She carries cough drops, a box of tissues, and a cup of tea wherever she goes. As a working mom she said she barely has any energy to complete her chores. Thomas supports ideas like this to shut the school doors for a day.
“They are going to miss time from school and miss after school activities, but they need to really nip this in the bud. There’s so much out there, and it’s really putting a lot of the students out,” Thomas said.
“When we reach levels of 20% of the kids and staff being ill, then we start to have conversations with them relative to whether or not they should cancel school. This is an opportunity for them to really get in there and do a significant amount of not only cleaning but sanitizing as well,” said Rutherford.
To prevent illnesses from spreading the health department said to wash hands, get the flu shot, and don’t send kids to school if they are sick. The health department said they couldn’t say whether everything would be better by Monday.
“I can’t guarantee that. Monday is going to be what Monday is, and I don’t know what that’s going to look like,” Rutherford said.
The point is to take charge at the peak of the sickness, so families like the Thomas’s can put down the tissues.
The Health Department said the culprit for all the sickness is the warm weather. because the microbes and biological components aren’t breaking down.
For parents wondering when they can send their kids back to school, officials advise waiting 36 to 48 hours after you see their last symptom.
