Massachusetts Fourth Grader Sent Home for Sneezing, Prohibited from Returning Until Testing Negative for COVID

Lancinet Keita is a nine year old fourth grader attending John Bishop Elementary School in Arlington Massachusetts. He was sent home from school on Tuesday after he sneezed twice in class. His teacher became concerned and sent him to the school nurse and then called his dad to pick him up.

The boy said that he felt fine but he “sneezed two times then the teacher told me to go to the nurse,.”

The boy’s father said that he is very upset about this whole thing and that his son had no symptoms that morning before school and when he picked him up he still didn’t have any symptoms and even took his temperature. The father also believes that the teacher overreacted and because of it his son will now miss class time and he will have to miss work. He plans on testing him as soon as possible so that Lancient can return to school.

Lancinet said, “I was thinking I didn’t have anything, just a couple sneezes.”

The elementary school released the following statement:

“This decision was made both out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with district protocols related to COVID-19. This isolated incident is not indicative of any need for wider concern of COVID-19 exposure. Per district protocols, the student will either have to produce a negative COVID-19 test, written documentation from a health care provider stating it is an alternative illness, or be symptom-free for 10 days following the start of the symptoms.”

Sources: CBS Boston, The Daily Mail; Photo-CBS Boston