SALEM, Ohio - A school in Salem is closed for the rest of the week after more than one-third of the students reported illnesses.

Salem City Health District Director of Nursing Kristen Toy told 21 News that the decision was made Tuesday after about 40 of the students at St. Paul School were ill, many of them with a gastrointestinal sickness with symptoms of fever and vomiting.

The illness, combined with the number of students and staff already out with COVID-19, convinced school officials to cancel classes for the rest of the week, according to Toy.

During the closure of the K-6 school, the building will be sanitized.

Toy said she has no reason to believe that the gastrointestinal illness is COVID-19.

She said the health department has not received reports of similar illnesses in other schools in the area.