School will resume Monday.
MARIANNA, Ala. - Jackson County schools closed Thursday for a full day of deep cleaning as officials work to reduce the spread of a suspected norovirus outbreak. The district posted Thursday afternoon that all Jackson County schools would be closed for cleaning.
The district listed symptoms including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, and asked parents to keep kids home until they are symptom-free for at least 24 hours. Marianna High School Principal Kerry Gilmore said the closure is the first of its kind since the pandemic.About a dozen 12-month employees and the full custodial crew came in to tackle the job. They used a chlorinated sanitizer and a citrus-based cleaner designed to target the virus. “We received a message from our superintendent. There’s a lot of sickness going on around the district. And so we’re using this day to just disinfect and to try to prevent any more illnesses from going around,” Gilmore said. The illness is suspected norovirus, a highly contagious stomach bug. In 2025 Florida was ranked second in the nation for outbreaks per the CDC.“The contamination usually is some form of saliva or stool, so not being able to wash your hands well, touching a door handle, light switches, cell phones. You know, kids particularly are very good at kind of sharing things, you know, playing with different toys and just being active,” Molina said.“Most of the summer, spring bugs tend to be more GI-related, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea tends to be very common in this type of time,” Molina said. Gilmore said Marianna High has been largely spared so far, but one school in the district was hit harder. “I understand that Sneads Elementary really had a bad case of it. Schools are one of the worst places to pick up everything,” Gilmore said. Dr. Molina said the hospital has not seen a large surge in emergency room visits, but the community spread is real.“The biggest thing, honestly, is hand washing — soap and water tends to work better, especially with norovirus. Alcohol-based products don’t do as good of a job,” Molina said. The prevention plan continues when students return Monday. Hand sanitizer, wipes and spray are in each room and throughout the building to clean high contact areas daily. “We stress it to our employees that it’s very important to sanitize every day. It’s so much easier to maintain than play catch up.”“Small sips of water, broth, jello, popsicles — that would be a good option for children. Most of the time, if they can keep up some hydration and just let the virus run its course, the kids are okay after 24 hours,” Molina said.Download the WTVY News4 app to get alerts and stories the moment they are published. Available for FREE in theMan who died in Geneva County horse accident identified
Jackson County Schools Norovirus Outbreak Florida School Closure Deep Cleaning Marianna Schools Illness Norovirus Symptoms Children Marianna Norovirus Outbreak Jackson County Norovirus Outbreak Marianna Marianna High School Marianna Norovirus Marianna High School Norovirus Jackson County Jackson County Norovirus WTVY WTVY News4 WTVY News 4
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