District 51 Welcomes Back High School Students

District 51 high school students have been out of school since November 21st due to the suspected outbreak of a suspected norovirus that caused wide-spread illness throughout the Grand Junction area.

This week, students got to head back to school after an extended Thanksgiving break that allowed crews to clean and disinfect area schools and classrooms. A hotline was set up by Mesa County Public Health for area residents to phone in cases of the gastrointestinal bug that has been going around and the good news is they have seen a decline in the number of calls coming in since November 25th. Mesa County Public Health says it will take a couple more days of declining calls in order to determine if the virus is really slowing down.

Executive Director of Mesa County Public Health, Jeff Kurh spoke with kjct8 and said as recently as this past weekend that another case tested positive at a local doctor's office. This case is said to have involved an infant. They are trying to confirm if this case is linked to the illness that is suspected of causing symptoms among thousands of people in Grand Junction.

Who is ready to go wash their hands? Me!