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WINTON – Officials with Hertford County Public Schools are saying there are no confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the local school district.

This comes after the district received information on Friday (March 6) there may possibly be a student from a HCPS campus in the hospital with Coronavirus.

“Upon receiving this information that was being listed on social media (Facebook) and from parents, Dr. William Wright, our Superintendent, responded swiftly and conducted an investigation on the rumors,” stated Brunet V. Parker, Public Information Officer for the county’s school district.

Dr. Wright’s investigation discovered no confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Hertford County Public Schools. It is believed that rumors of a Coronavirus outbreak started with a student or students suffering from the regular strain of the seasonal flu virus. For 2019-20, those strains are A, B, C, and D.

“We do have students who have the seasonal flu and the common cold,” Parker said. “Making healthy choices at school and at home can help prevent the flu and spreading the flu to others.”

Parker stressed that Hertford County Public Schools is committed to providing a safe environment for all students and staff.

“In an effort to maintain trust and transparency, we will always inform students, parents, and our community of alleged threats against our schools once we have received the facts,” Parker stated.

HCPS did send out an alert by telephone early Friday afternoon regarding allegations of a student infected by Coronavirus. Those allegations proved untrue.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), seasonal flu viruses and COVID-19 (Coronavirus) are contagious viruses that cause respiratory illness.

The CDC says the flu typically manifests itself in symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, headaches, runny or stuffy nose, fatigue and, occasionally, vomiting and diarrhea—typically, the latter two are more common in children. Those flu symptoms often come on suddenly after an incubation period of two to five days.

While the majority of people infected with the flu will be fully recovered in about two weeks, for some people (most often those with compromised immune systems), the flu can lead to complications like pneumonia. According to recent data from the CDC, this year just 1% of people suffering from the flu have been hospitalized.

As for COVID-19, researchers are still scrambling to compile thorough and accurate data to understand how the disease works. One study, involving just 100 people with the virus, published Jan. 30 in the journal The Lancet, noted that the most common symptoms were fever, cough and shortness of breath, with approximately 5% reporting sore throat and runny nose, and just 1-2% reporting diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Those symptoms, however, usually come on a bit more gradually after an incubation period of two to 14 days.