This isn’t the first time schools needed to be closed for a day to scrub everything down in hopes to stop the spread of illness.

It probably won’t be the last either.

Polk School District shut their doors to students and staff on Friday and kept everyone to a Learn-From-Home day after hundreds of students and more than 60 members of the PSD staff have come down with some form of illness and have been absent.

According to the announcement put out by the district, that means more than 10% of the school population is ill at any given time, and left the district as well in the unfortunate position of not having enough staff on hand to “operate effectively.”

“This decision is not made lightly and as always we will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our students, staff, and community,” the Thursday night posting noted. “Extra-curricular activities and after-school events will not be affected.”

Officials noted that a deep clean was scheduled Friday when announcing the Learn-From-Home Day on Thursday. They also asked for families to keep youth home who may have symptoms of an illness, ensure that everyone is washing their hands and practicing good hygiene at home, and keep an eye out for symptoms of the flu or norovirus going around.

Health Department officials noted that an uptick in illness have been seen in schools and assisted living facilities within the Northwest Georgia Public Health District in recent days.

Area spokesman for the Department of Public Health Logan Boss said that recent increases in cases are also a problem since norovirus has no vaccine and can spread rapidly through contaminated surfaces, food, or water.

“Norovirus is very common, very contagious, and always with us unfortunately, but the current surge is problematic because it’s attributed to a new strain for which there is less immunity,” he said. “The best way to prevent norovirus infection is to practice good hand hygiene, stay home when sick, and avoid contact with infected people. Also, don’t prepare or handle food or care for others when you are sick with norovirus.”

There’s also still plenty of time to get a flu shot, Boss noted. Those older than six months of age and up should be vaccinated against seasonal flu unless there are health reasons not to do so to help prevent widespread flu outbreaks in the community.

“There is still time to benefit from getting a flu vaccine to reduce your risk of illness, especially severe illness and hospitalization,” Boss added.

Polk School District’s closure at the end of the week was just the latest round of battling outbreaks of illnesses in the classroom. They required several closures through 2020 to conduct deep cleaning of the campuses during the COVID-19 pandemic as cases rose and fell during the months after global shutdowns.

Students have been out of class for the third time this month unexpectedly after a snowstorm, and then threat of additional snow earlier in the month caused two different days off for the district.