Murrieta school officials said 71 students have been placed in self-quarantine after a school employee was tested for the coronavirus.

The employee had recently been to a country where the coronavirus was spreading, according to the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, which said Murrieta Valley High School would be closed Monday and cleaned.

School officials said the Riverside County Public Health Department made the decision to isolate the students because they came in contact with the employee.

Officials emphasized that no coronavirus cases have been confirmed.


The school is one of several in California that have been affected by the coronavirus.

Stanford University said Friday night that it will move classes online for the final two weeks of the winter quarter. Stanford also said large events would be “canceled or adjusted.”

USC said Friday that it would conduct lectures and seminars online rather than in classrooms for three days next week as a test should it be forced to suspend in-person contact.

San Francisco’s Lowell High School announced it would close and cancel events and gatherings for at least the rest of the week after it was learned that a relative of one of its students is being treated for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.


Clifton Middle School in Monrovia was deep-cleaned Thursday after officials became aware that a person who might have the virus had been on campus. Monrovia Unified School District President Robb Hammond said officials hired a company to disinfect the school.