Coronavirus: School forced to close after father of patient ignores quarantine to attend dance

Family quarantined after woman returned from Italy with coronavirus symptoms

The father of the first coronavirus patient in Missouri disregarded his quarantine to attend a school dance, forcing the whole school to shut down.

Administrators made the decision to close the school after learning that the father of a woman in her 20s, who had just returned from Italy and had reported symptoms of the virus, attended the dance, Fox News reported.

The woman’s parents were showing no symptoms but had been ordered to quarantine for 14 days as per the state’s health department instructions.

However, her father did not comply with the order, county executive Sam Page detailed in a press conference at St. Louis County Emergency Operations Centre last night.

“The patient’s father did not act consistently with the health department’s instructions instead last night he decided to take his other daughter to a school function,” he said.

Mr Page also announced that the female patient in her 20s has received a presumptive positive result for Covid-19.

It is understood that the whole family were instructed to self-quarantine.

Fox News reported that a letter sent from The Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School (VDOH) to parents detailed that they didn’t learn of the diagnosis until after they were at the dance and left immediately, according to KMOV.

VDOH subsequently announced the closure today in a post on its Facebook page and in a second post announced the school would remain closed for the rest of the week.

”We want to take the most cautious approach, and we have decided to close school for the rest of this week to monitor the situation. Our campus will be given a hospital-grade cleaning,” VDOH wrote.

“School buildings will be sanitised and ready for students to return on 23 March after our spring break. We have received guidance from the St. Louis County Department of Public Health and we have provided that information to our school families.”

Mr Page said he was disappointed by the actions of the woman’s father, stating: “we relied on common sense and goodwill towards the community to self-quarantine”.

“The patient had conducted herself responsibly and maturely and she is to be commended for complying with the health department instructions.”

After attending the dance, Mr Page said officials told the man on Sunday that “he must remain in his home or they will issue a formal quarantine that will require him and the rest of his family to stay in their home by the force of law”.

The VDOH website states its total student body amounts to 431 pupils.

Senior Health Officials have said The US is “past the point of containment”, with more than 550 confirmed cases of the virus in the country and at least 22 deaths linked to the outbreak.

Across the country, the numbers of cases continues to rise, with 142 confirmed in New York state, up from 105 a day earlier, the governor, Andrew Cuomo, said on Monday.

The woman who was quarantined is understood to be the only recorded case of the virus is Missouri at this time.