Susan Haslebacher is washing her hands of the whole matter, and she wants you to do the same.
Hand-washing, the health supervisor for Monongalia County Schools said, is one way to help cut down on the chance of getting the influenza virus.
The flu is currently having its way with several of the Mountain State’s public school districts.
Schools in neighboring Marion and Preston counties are closed today, in fact, with the flu being the main culprit in Marion.
Preston County is dealing with both flu absences and possible bad weather as a storm system moves in.
Doddridge County Schools are also closed today because of the flu.
As of 7 p.m., Thursday, schools in 20 of West Virginia’s 55 public districts had already announced they were closing today or delaying the start of classes because of concerns about the above.
The threat of snow prompted Mon County school officials to operate on a two-hour delay today.
That doesn’t mean, though, Assistant Schools Superintendent Donna Talerico said, that Mon isn’t immune to the flu.
Mountaineer Middle has roughly 90 students — some 15% of the school’s total 600 students — currently out because of the flu, she said.
“We’re going to keep watching all our schools,” she said.
“We do have cases of the flu, but so far, it’s nothing to warrant closing our schools.”
In contrast, Trinity Christian, a private school not affiliated with Mon’s school system, has more than 80 of its 318 students out, said Jeannine Kelly, the school’s director of advancement.
And that’s not counting the teachers and other staffers who are also down with the flu, she said in an email.
Trinity cancelled classes Thursday and will also stay out today, Kelly said.
“It’s a precaution,” she said.
“Our administration decided that it would be best to close the school and cancel all extracurricular activities,” she added, saying she expected a smooth re-opening for Monday.
In the meantime, the flu nationally came out of the blocks at a full stride this past October, according to numbers culled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between 10,000 and 25,000 people across the U.S. have died from the flu and its complications since Sept. 1, the CDC reports.
That’s while the brewing coronavirus in China is continuing to claim lives.
About 563 have died in China from coronavirus complications. The virus also proved fatal to a man in the Philippines.
Here at home, custodians in Mon’s schools are the front lines now, Talerico said.
The district’s extensive, ongoing “disinfection campaign” includes scrubbing down keyboards, tables and anything else known to harbor a germ, she said.
Hand-washing, as Haslebacher noted earlier, is important. So is covering coughs and sneezes and getting plenty of sleep.
If you think it’s too late this season to get a flu shot, you’re wrong, said Dr. Lee B. Smith, the Monongalia County Health Department’s executive director and county health officer.
Call the health department’s Clinical Services division at 304-598-5119 to make your appointment for your flu vaccine.
The vaccine, Smith said, is recommended for anyone 6 months or older.
You can still get the vaccine if you’re pregnant, he said.
Haslebacher, meanwhile, wants all parents to prescribe common sense during this
outbreak.
“Please, please,” she said. “Don’t send your kid to school if he has a fever.”
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