Online Petition To Close Alhambra Schools Over Coronavirus Garners Thousands Of Signatures

ALHAMBRA (CBSLA) – An online petition to close all campuses in the Alhambra Unified School District until the novel coronavirus outbreak ends has received more than 13,000 signatures.

The Change.org petition to "prevent spread of Wuhan coronavirus in AUSD by cancelling schools until outbreak ceases" had garnered more than 13,800 signatures as of Tuesday morning.

This comes after the city of Alhambra -- which has a large Chinese-American population -- postponed its long-running annual Lunar New Year celebration this past Saturday over coronavirus concerns. Downtown L.A.'s annual Golden Dragon Parade went forward Saturday, but seemed to get a smaller turnout than usual.

"We are in constant contact with public health, and the department of public health is telling us our schools are safe, are kids are safe," a district spokeswoman told CBS2 Tuesday.

AUSD last week posted a coronavirus advisory on its website.

At last report Sunday, there were six confirmed cases of coronavirus in California. Of those, four are in Northern California and two in Southern California. They include one person in Los Angeles County, one in Orange County, two in Santa Clara County and two in San Benito County, according to the state Department of Public Health.

All three major U.S. airlines -- Delta, American and United – have suspended flights to mainland China.

All other flights arriving from China are restricted — only allowed to land at seven airports, including L.A. International Airport. All passengers arriving from the Hubei Province of China are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine after arrival.

On Jan. 29, a U.S. State Department-chartered airplane carrying 195 Americans arrived at the March Air Reserve Base from Wuhan, China, the region where this new strain of coronavirus is believed to have started. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a mandatory 14-day quarantine order for all 195 passengers starting from Jan. 29, when their plane left Wuhan. One of those passengers had attempted to leave the base Thursday while under a voluntary quarantine.