School Without Walls High School closed Monday following conronavirus concerns.

WASHINGTON – D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser says a city high school linked to a second case of the coronavirus is staying closed Monday. Bowser identified the facility as School Without Walls High School. D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser says a city high school linked to a second case of the coronavirus is staying closed Monday. Bowser identified the facility as School Without Walls High School.

Three people who stayed at the same house as a Nigerian man who tested positive for coronavirus in Maryland were tested Sunday and all were negative. But one of them works at School Without Walls High School. The closure, Bowser said, will give staff time to communicate with staff and parents and to clean the school.

FULL STATEMENT | MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER | Sunday, March 8, 2020

“On Saturday, March 8, the DC Department of Health (DC Health) was notified by the State of Maryland of an individual who stayed in Washington, DC before presenting himself to a Maryland hospital and then tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) by the State of Maryland. DC Health is conducting contact tracing of the individual, known as Patient 2 because he is the second confirmed DC case, and individuals of close contact. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are classifying this as a DC case because the individual stayed in DC for one night when he arrived in the country from Nigeria.Based on DC Health’s investigation, three individuals who stayed in the same residence as Patient 2 were tested for COVID-19 today, and all three tests yielded negative results. One of these close contacts who tested negative is a staff member at School Without Walls High School. She is and continues to be asymptomatic. To give the school’s administration adequate time to communicate with staff and families, School Without Walls will be closed on Monday, March 9. Out of an abundance of caution, the school will also receive a deep cleaning before students and staff return.”

Over the weekend a senior leader of a prominent Episcopal church in Washington, D.C., was identified as the first person in the city to test positive for the coronavirus.

The Rev. Timothy Cole, the rector of Christ Church Georgetown, was in stable condition after being hospitalized Saturday night, according to a statement Sunday from the Rev. Crystal Hardin, the assistant rector. The church has suspended all activities.

According to Christ Church Georgetown website, Cole has been the rector since September 2016, is married and has two children. “Out of an abundance of caution, Christ Church has canceled all activities including church services until further notice. We recommend that concerned community members contact their health care providers,” the statement said.