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LEHI -- Three schools in Utah County are on alert after a student in each school tested positive for the swine flu, but district leaders are not closing the schools.
By the time the test results came back positive for the H1N1 virus, the students who had been sick were no longer contagious and health officials did not believe closures were necessary.
The schools involved include Lehi High School, Lehi Elementary School and Fox Hollow Elementary School.
School officials at those schools sent letters home to parents explaining that there had been a positive case at the school, but sick student was no longer contagious.
"It was decided that we should communicate with the parents and let them know that, yes, there was a confirmed case at their school and what steps we're taking to ensure the safety of their students," said Rhonda Bromley, spokeswoman for the Alpine School District.
District leaders say, as a precaution, they sent out maintenance workers to the three schools and had them clean and sanitize the schools.
The district is following advice from the Utah County Health Department, which is listening to the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in how schools should react to positive cases of H1N1 virus.
School officials would not identify which grade the ill students are in or if the students had any connection, such as being family or friends, in contracting the virus.
The schools are encouraging parents to keep their children home if they have any symptoms of the flu. They are calling all of the cases mild and believe no other students are in danger.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
