A middle school in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD is closed Friday after an outbreak of norovirus. According to the school district, they closed Creekview Middle School in Fort Worth on Friday to sanitize and clean the building. The district said they plan on reopening the school on Monday. The district said children started to get sick on Tuesday with what appeared to be a stomach virus and that on Wednesday it spread to a larger group. EMSISD said they reached out to the Tarrant County Public Health Department and that they recommended disinfecting and cleaning the school on Wednesday night and reopening the next day. More cases continued to be reported on Thursday, so the public health department then recommended that they clean again and close the campus on Friday. Parents were notified of the district’s decision on Thursday afternoon. The district has not said how many students and staff were sickened in the outbreak. Officials with Children’s Medical Center said that because norovirus is highly contagious and resistant to many common hand sanitizers, it presents a unique challenge for families. The hospital says hand sanitizer isn’t enough and recommends thorough hand washing with soap and water. They also recommend parents keep their children home for a full 48 hours after symptoms stop to prevent further outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are approximately 2,500 norovirus outbreaks in the United States each year and that they are most common from November through April. For further tips on preventing the spread of norovirus, visit the CDC. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less