Students at SF high school return to in-person classes amid tuberculosis outbreak

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Students returned to in-person classes Monday at Archbishop Riordan High School after a tuberculosis outbreak forced the return of some pandemic protocols.

They spent weeks on remote and hybrid learning as the entire school was tested for TB.

San Francisco health officials announced the first case in November and by January, the total was up to three active cases and more than 50 latent cases, where the person is infected but not sick or contagious.

Now there are three more possible active cases and more than 200 latent cases.

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ABC7 Eyewitness News talked to students and parents about the cases and getting back to school.

Students packed into the gym at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco on Monday night for a boy's varsity basketball game, the same day classes returned to normal at the school.

Faculty, staff and students were tested and cleared following a tuberculosis outbreak.

"It's probably as safe as an environment as it could be," said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. "TB is spread by aerosol. The symptoms of active disease are fever, weight loss, night sweats, and fatigue and a cough that goes on for more than three weeks."

While testing was underway, students did remote and hybrid learning for the past two weeks.

The parent of one freshman told ABC7 Eyewitness News it has been a stressful situation for him. It reminded him of COVID times -- pulling kids back out and them putting them back in. But he said the school handled the situation well.

Other families were also reminded of the pandemic.

"I was honestly concerned because I didn't want a repeat of 8th grade, especially because I'm a senior," one student said. "I believe our school has the resources to respond to these situations accordingly. I knew it would be OK in the end."

"I was not that concerned," the student's parent, Cary Soriano, said. "I know the school is very organized and they react really quickly to these kinds of events. I know they handled the COVID situation very well."

The Archdiocese of San Francisco previously released a statement saying that every decision made has been under the guidance of the city's public health department.

On Monday, hundreds of students and parents were expected to pack Riordan's gym for various basketball games.

Ernie Rivera, a parent visiting from Salinas, said he didn't know about the TB outbreak.

"We would like to have at least been advised, at least a memo sent out to us," Rivera said.

He coaches flag football and basketball at his school and says they've had their share of TB cases in the past.

"We're happy they are in the clear. Some courtesy notice would have been great," he said.