By: Edan Schultz | WCTV Eyewitness News

March 16, 2020

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The Leon County School district is releasing information about recent student field trips to New York and Washington, D.C. in hopes of dispelling rumors of coronavirus.

Several parents and family of Leon County students have contacted WCTV, expressing concern about the trips after hearing that several students were sick and running high fevers.

The sightseeing trips to New York and the nation’s capital were taken by about 380 students from Montford Middle School, Cobb Middle School, and Deer Lake Middle School.

District spokesman Chris Petley says three of the students are sick and have tested positive for the flu. They have not been tested for the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The children have not been hospitalized, Petley said.

Petley says when the field trips began, there were no domestic travel advisories and nothing had been canceled. The district decided that the trips would go on as planned.

As the week progressed and fears of COVID-19 mounted, trip leaders changed itineraries to isolate the children more, according to Petley. That included canceling dinners out and avoiding trips on the subway.