Thousands Of Students, Staff Quarantined As Salt Lake County Coronavirus Cases Rise

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Thousands of students and staff are quarantined at their homes in Salt Lake County as the number of people infected with coronavirus continues to climb across the state.

The silent and empty school campuses were typical for a Sunday, but that’s what students and parents can expect at Hunter High School and Entheos Academy for the next two weeks.

“I was kind of in shock because, not that I lived in a bubble, but I just kind of didn’t think it would hit this close to home, you know,” said Ashley Boulden who has a first grader at Entheos Academy, a charter school with a campus in Kearns and Magna. “She’s only six and I don’t really know how to explain it to her.”

Officials with the Salt Lake County Health Department said of the 14 coronavirus cases announced in the county Saturday, two infected children attended school with symptoms. One at Hunter High in West Valley City and another at Entheos Academy.

“Not that you want to know names and anything but I’d like to know how close in contact was my child,” Boulden said.

County health officials told students and staff at the schools to quarantine at home, meaning no leaving the house for any reason except for medical care. They also classified these cases as probable exposure, so the families of students or staff do not need to quarantine unless they have symptoms.

Still, Boulden said she and her husband and other child are prepared to stay home with their first grader, if necessary.

“I didn’t go out and buy 300 rolls of toilet paper but we should be totally fine,” she said. “It’s just kind of scary that it hits this close to home but we’re just going to do everything we can to make sure all the other kids are safe.”

The recent school closures go beyond the “soft closure” Governor Gary Herbert announced for all Utah public schools on Friday.

“This is, in fact, now an actual closure,” said Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley, referring to the closure at Hunter High School.

Horsley said the district was frustrated by the development, noting Hunter High’s closure and quarantine could have easily been prevented.

“The fact that these people are going to have to quarantine until March 27 was completely unnecessary,” he said. “All these individuals had to do was stay home when you’re sick.”

He hoped that message sticks for other students and employees for others across the state.