“Over the course of the late evening, the school received calls from around six parents of different classes intimating us that their children had developed slight fever and vomiting. In the eventuality, if your child developing similar symptoms you are advised to seek medical attention and do not send your child to school if he or she does not feel well. In all possibility, it is a viral infection as was told to the parents who had called us,” an email from the school sent to parents said.

A few hours after this initial email, the school sent out another notification, saying that they had decided to close down the school for the next two days as a precautionary measure.

“The school is following all prescribed procedures and working together with GEMS Education’s dedicated health and safety team to closely monitor and investigate developments, taking all necessary actions to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

Cleaning and sanitation have been ongoing since yesterday and the school has engaged an external service provider to carry out a deep clean of the entire school,” the email said.

“Further information will be communicated to you as it becomes available, and I would like to reiterate that if your child complains of nausea, fever or stomach-ache, you are advised to consult your doctor. As advised by KHDA we will make up the loss of the two working days in the course of the year.”

GEMS Education, the operator of the school, said in a statement sent to Khaleej Times: “We are aware of a group of students at one of our schools who have unfortunately fallen ill since yesterday with what is suspected to be a viral infection. GEMS Education’s dedicated Health and Safety team is on the ground together with school representatives who are closely monitoring and investigating the matter.”