by KYW's Paul Kurtz
Newtown Elementary School in Bucks County will be closed all weekend, as students and teachers attempt to rebound from an illness that affected more than 200 people this week.
Health officials believe a highly contagiouis gastrointestinal virus overwhelmed students and teachers at Newtown Elementary School. It's the same type of illness that sweeps through cruise ships. Symptoms include vomiting and nausea, and last 24-48 hours.
Bill Roth, a specialist with the Bucks County Health Department, says the school was closed on Friday -- and will remain closed until Monday -- to give kids an extra day to recuperate and workers a chance to scrub down the building:
"If in fact they sanitized the entire school the way they should have done, which I'm sure they did, and we stopped kids infecting other kids and nobody sends their child to school sick on Monday, hopefully this is done."
Council Rock School District decided to close the school for classes on Friday after 190 students were listed absent from school on Thursday. Thirty-two additional students were sent home later that day.
After-school activities for Newtown Elementary were canceled for Friday and for any other activities (like basketball games) which typically are held at the school on weekends.
The virus outbreak started on Wednesday, when 45 students went home from school suffering from illness.
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