Flu bug shuts down schools

By Greg Bird
birdman@tmcvoice.com

With the flu bug continuing to cause absences in students and staff alike, the McCreary County School District has cancelled classes for Thursday and Friday of this week.
The cancellation comes after the District shut down for the previous Friday and Monday of this week due to the illnessess.
Superintendent Corey Keith said the District reached the decision to close after several staff members and students had missed in the previous week due to the flu. On Friday he noted attendance had dipped below 90 percent, which prompted administrators to make the decision to close.
Several schools in eastern Kentucky and central Tennessee closed due to illness last week. The Kentucky Department of Public Health has reported flu cases are experiencing a small rise in recent weeks, with 1,739 new cases reported during the week ending January 25. In all, through that date, there have been 12,287 cases reported, with 33 deaths associated with the illness.