Coronavirus in California sparks viral petition for school district to cancel classes until outbreak ends. More than 14,000 people are calling for one California school district to temporarily close its doors amid the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus that has killed nearly 500 people as of Wednesday February 5.

The Change.org petition calls on the Alhambra Unified School District, which is located east of Los Angeles and is comprised of 21 schools and some 16,500 students, to cancel classes as the virus continues to spread. To date, there are no cases of coronavirus in Alhambra. It’s not clear who created the call to action, though it may have been penned by a student.

The virus has already made a name for itself by killing many individuals in China as well as spreading to other countries at a rapid pace” the petition reads in part. It also called for students to wear “protective face masks” to “protect students and others from receiving or transmitting the sickness”. However, there’s little evidence that such masks work. What’s more, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn’t currently recommend the general public to wear surgical masks.

Despite the petition, which had more than 14,200 signatures as of Wednesday, school district officials have no plans to cancel classes.

The district has sent letters and emails to parents in an attempt to squelch rumors and assuage fears. “When there is a disease outbreak, there is fear outbreak. Fear outbreaks are not based on facts, they are based on false rumors that are spread as facts,” Gilbert, the district spokes person,added.

At least six cases of coronavirus reached 490 on Wednesday. More than 24,000 people have been affected worldwide. Overall, at least 25 countries have been reported cases of coronavirus. Currently, the U.S. has confirmed 11 cases. Aside from six in California, there has been one in Arizona, one in Massachusetts and two in Illinois. No deaths have been reported in the U.S., and the large majority of cases still remain in China.