BRIDPORT, Vt. -
A stomach bug has taken over a Vermont Elementary School.
The superintendent says as of yesterday afternoon 90 percent of the students were sick, and so was the majority of the staff.
The good news is, school was canceled today, and will be again tomorrow.
In an effort to kill this virus, school custodians spent all day sanitizing the classrooms.
The parking lot and classrooms, empty. The Bridport Central School shut down until Monday because almost everyone is sick.
"On Facebook this morning, it was called the Bridport bug, haha!" Melissa Bates joked.
Bates is stuck at home with a sick kid. In fact, almost every parent in Bridport can relate.
"It started off with a headache and then just being really sleepy, and then vomiting, a lot of vomiting," Bates said.
Because 90 percent of the students were sick Wednesday, the school closed its doors to sanitize and disinfect everything. I stopped by to see the process, but no one would let me in, even when I said I was willing to risk getting sick for the sake of my story! But, through the window, I could see the custodian's cleaning cart.
"Why keep it open, when there are a lot of other kids that don't have it, that could get it," Bates said.
I stopped by Boise CITGO to talk with more people from town, there I found one of the school's bus drivers who say even the busses got sanitized.
"You get an outbreak, you get an outbreak, it can happen in any community," Randy Orvis said.
I also checked in with a school nearby where they're hoping the sickness doesn't spread. The Department of Health thinks this could be the norovirus, and one teacher says he's had it.
"It's a whopper and it can take you down for a lengthy period of time," Matt Bouvier said.
The Health Department is planning to test stool and vomit samples at Bridport to be sure.
"Looking forward to back to normal next week," Orvis said.
The school does plan to open back up Monday. One of the best ways to avoid getting sick... wash your hands!
