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A Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District official is setting the record straight after a prank news website led students to believe a COVID-19 case was confirmed on campus.
Channel 45 News, a website where users can create their own fake news post, falsely reported a novel coronavirus case at the college and that there “are many more infected.” The hoax report also claimed there would be no school for “the next couple of days.”
“This is inaccurate,” said Anne Krueger, the district’s Communications and Public Information Director. “The District is monitoring the situation closely.”
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In a letter sent to students on Tuesday, the college said it would inform students, faculty and staff via email, text, voicemail, social media posts and Canvas messages if the campus ever needed to shut down as a result of the illness. It also stated in case the campus shuts down, online courses would be offered as a substitute.
A similar incident happened in January when hoax news articles stated there were coronavirus cases in the Grossmont Union High School District before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed there were none. Officials, then, stated the prank articles were untrue.
As of Monday, there was one presumptive positive COVID-19 patient in San Diego County, according to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). The patient was only identified as a woman in her 50s who was taken to an area hospital. Her test results were sent to the CDC for confirmation.
Two patients who were evacuated from Wuhan, China to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar were successfully treated for the novel coronavirus and later discharged.
