DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Students at St. Pius X Catholic High School are now learning virtually after a major COVID-19 outbreak. The school says dozens of students got sick during an off-campus Halloween party.

Channel 2′s Lauren Pozen talked to senior Gaby Morales.

“I think it was pretty irresponsible in my opinion,” Morales said.

Morales said last Tuesday, the school had a planned virtual day. When she went to class the next day, she felt something was up.

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Channel 2 Action News reached out to the Archdiocese of Atlanta. In an email, Maureen Smith said that last Monday, a student tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an off-campus Halloween party.

Smith said possibly up to 80 students, mostly from the sophomore class, went to that party. The entire sophomore class was put into quarantine. Over the weekend, Smith said more students tested positive and the school decided for the entire school to go into quarantine.

“I was not surprised, because I felt like it was the right thing to do,” Morales said.

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With Georgia back in the COVID-19 red zone and another holiday approaching, Pozen reached out to infectious disease epidemiologist at Emory, Dr. Robert Bednarczyk.

“Thanksgiving is something we have really been keeping an eye on," Bednarczyk said. “The concern right now is what we might see with case counts just going up in general right now,”

Bednarczyk said that while people might be tired of the pandemic, it is far from over.

“This virus does not care how long we have been wearing masks or how long we have been dealing with it,” Bednarczyk said.

The archdiocese said there are 49 COVID cases at the high school, but he could not say if cases are related to the Halloween party.

Most students will return in person learning on Monday. Contact tracers will reach out to students who may need to quarantine for longer.

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