Elementary school in Aptos closed as norovirus spreads in Santa Cruz County

APTOS, Calif. — A norovirus outbreak in Santa Cruz County prompted Valencia Elementary School in Aptos to close Friday to prevent the spread of the virus.

Jayme Bartz has two children who attend the school. Her son, who is in kindergarten, caught the virus. Initially, she thought it was just a minor stomach ache.

"He came home Wednesday morning. I got a call that he had a stomach ache and I had to pick him up. I went and picked him up and he seemed OK. His stomach was hurting, but he seemed OK and he ate a little bit," Bartz said. "And then a couple hours later, he started throwing up, and threw up a few times and then got better that evening and then he's been OK since then."

She's glad school is out until Tuesday.

"I think a lot of people were really concerned and with people already keeping their kids home and the class numbers so small, I don't know what you would do with a class of like five kids, you know?" Bartz said. "And also, you don't want to get sick, so I think it was a good choice for sure."

Santa Cruz County health officials have reported 93 cases of the virus at the school since Nov. 5. In October, 33 cases of norovirus were reported in a workplace setting. Health officials say the two outbreaks aren't connected. Norovirus can be transmitted through contaminated foods and liquids, touching surfaces, or being in direct contact with someone who has it.

Health officials say the symptoms they're mostly seeing are vomiting and diarrhea. Because there isn't medicine to treat people who have norovirus, they are stressing the importance of washing your hands with soap and water.

"So what I would say is, it's possible that there is a larger spread of this within the community," Dr. Karissa LeClair Cortez, a physician with the Santa Cruz County Public Health, said," And I think that knowing that...