Dozens of students, staff sick after norovirus outbreak at a Gig Harbor elementary school

Nearly three dozen students and staff are sick after an outbreak of norovirus that hit Discovery Elementary School in Gig Harbor.

The outbreak happened last week and impacted 50 people, with 35 still recovering.

“It’s a pretty typical setting for it to be brought into a school and so infectious, it would be very difficult for the authorities in the school to control it,” University of Washington (UW) professor Ferric Fang, M.D., said. “And you can imagine being there as a student or as a staff member, it would be a nightmare handling it.”

Fang added it’s not uncommon for people to get the virus more than once.

Last Thursday, 44 people were absent due to illness (55 overall). The following day, 54 people were absent due to illness (72 overall). That following Monday, 22 were absent due to illness (35 overall). Yesterday, 15 people were still absent due to illness.

“It’s a really aggravating problem,” Fang said. “Even though most people don’t die from norovirus, most people get over it on their own. There’s no specific treatment for it.”

Unknown origin for norovirus outbreak

An investigation confirmed the outbreak did not start in the school’s kitchen. The kitchen reopened Tuesday. The health department said they’re working with the school to ensure everything is properly cleaned and the outbreak is contained.

Families of Discovery Elementary have been notified about the situation. The school instructed them to keep their children home until they have been symptom-free for at least 48 hours.

“We are working with Discovery Elementary in Gig Harbor following a suspected Norovirus outbreak,” the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said in a prepared statement. “After we learned of a possible outbreak Friday afternoon, we sent staff members to the school to direct them on infection prevention and cleaning. We worked with Peninsula School District to prepare lunch at another school and served bag lunches at Discovery Monday. School staff cleaned and sanitized the school. In-house food preparation resumed Tuesday. We’ll continue to work with the school to clean and monitor for any illnesses.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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