As fear about novel coronavirus spreads -- much faster than the disease itself -- nearly 14,000 people have signed an online petition, urging Alhambra Unified to cancel all classes until the outbreak ends, it was reported Tuesday.
What to Know About the Coronavirus
- 11 U.S. cases, none fatal
- 427 deaths
- Nearly 21,000 sickened
"The virus has already made a name for itself by killing many individuals in China as well as spreading to other countries at a rapid pace,'' the change.org petition reads. "There have been cases in Orange County and there is a suspicion of a case of this virus in Alhambra."
Without a declaration of an emergency, Superintendent Denise Jaramillo
does not have the authority to close the schools because students must
attend 180 days of instruction each academic year, Gilbert added. Neither the state, the Los Angeles County Office of Education or the county Department of Health have declared an emergency.
Only two cases of novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Southern
California, one in Los Angeles County and the other in Orange County.
Those came on Jan. 26, and while there since have been three new confirmed cases in Northern California, there are no new confirmed cases in the Southland.
The county Department of Health recently said: "In L.A. County, as in counties across the U.S., the threat to the general public for contracting
novel coronavirus remains low.''
