SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A Chinese school in San Diego is taking precautions as county health officials await the results of one possible case of coronavirus.
Officials say there is very little risk to the general public. Staff at a local Chinese school say they are not taking any chances with their students and staff.
Keeping with hygiene is a priority at the Chinese Bilingual Preschool of San Diego. “When they are sneezing, they have to try to cover their mouth under their shirt instead of their hands,” said Nancy Shen, director of the school.
Starting this week, every child coming into class must go through one more step. “Before they enter the classroom, we have to take these kids temperature before they enter the school,” Shen said.
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Since the coronavirus began in Wuhan City, China, staff at the school added this protocol to check for a fever. If a child has a high temperature, they must turn around and go home.
Out of the 58 preschool children, one recently came back from vacation in China. However, school officials say the family did not go anywhere near Wuhan.
Since they started checking temperatures, luckily, they have not had to turn anyone away. School officials say they’ll continue taking the measures because health officials say the new strain of coronavirus isn’t the only thing going around.
“Not only is influenza around, but respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, adenovirus, and human strains of coronavirus that aren’t novel,” said John Bradley, Infectious Disease Physician at Rady Children’s Hospital. "They're all circulating right now."
The school also has hand sanitizes in every room and makes children wash their hands for 20 seconds.
