VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Students that go to St. Matthew's Catholic School in Virginia Beach will not have school Friday.
According to the school's principal Lou Goldberg, classes are cancelled because of a stomach bug that has made its way around the school.
Goldberg said 30 students were sent home on Wednesday after they were throwing up in school. Thursday 100 students stayed home from school, but he stressed that many of them were taking precautionary measures and not actually sick.
He said he considers the 560 students at the school like his own and their safety is their top priority.
"We have and are taking proactive measures and precautions at the school to ensure the health and safety of our students and faculty. We have conducted a thorough cleaning of the school as well as educating our families on helping with the containment of any potential spread. As a preventative measure we have made the decision to close on Friday to allow our students time to get well and help prevent any further spread," said Goldberg in a statement to News 3.
It's unclear exactly what the type of bug the students have.
We reached out to the health department about norovirus. They issued the following statement:
"We have seen norovirus in our area this winter. It pretty much runs the same time of the year as the flu. However, we can’t disclose where we see it. The key to norovirus is wash your hands, wash your hands. Also, disinfect areas of an episode."
