San Antonio school district cancels student trips over coronavirus concerns

North East Independent School District has cancelled two international trips and suspended all such travel for its students out of concern for coronavirus outbreaks overseas.

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A student shows how to dispense a hand sanitizer at Oak Crest Elementary in East Central ISD. School districts in San Antonio ramped up cleaning and emphasized hand washing after the nation was warned to prepare for the spread of coronavirus.

“This decision was not made lightly, but we will not risk students and staff becoming ill or being quarantined or stranded in a country due to circumstances out of our control,” assistant superintendents Donna Newman and Rudy Jimenez said in a letter to parents last week.

© Provided by mySA 2:53 p.m: The patient was dropped off by a third-party driver at the Holiday Inn Expressm at 91 N.E. Loop 410. The patient went into her room at 3:11 p.m.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio area schools prep for coronavirus with hand sanitizer, more frequent cleaning and notes to parents

A group of 36 students and seven adults from MacArthur High School were scheduled to leave Thursday to attend the American Celebration of Music in Austria. Students and their families will be able to go on their own if they want, district spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor said.

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Customers walk around North Star Mall on Monday morning, March 2, 2020. The mall is one of the locations visited by an evacuee who had been treated for the coronavirus and was cleared to leave a hospital, only to learn later that a third test showed she was positive. She visited the mall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday. She was taken back to the hospital Sunday.

Six students from Churchill High School and two students from MacArthur also had planed a trip to Costa Rica during spring break next week as part of the district’s environmental systems program.

North East ISD is attempting to obtain refunds from a travel company for the students and parents that choose not to go.

The disease caused by the coronavirus, COVID-19, which has killed 11 people in the U.S. and thousands abroad, has caused several area colleges and universities to bring back students studying in China, Italy, South Korea and Iran.

© Provided by mySA SAFD shared a photo of what one of these dedicated ambulances look like. The photo shows the walls in the special unit completely covered with plastic sheets. Hood said the vehicle is dedicated to this event "throughout" and will not be used on the streets of San Antonio.

© Provided by mySA 7:30 p.m.: Patient arrives back at hotel via shuttle, reenters room at 7:35 p.m.