Five thousand students and staff of schools in one Florida district have either tested positive for COVID-19 or potentially exposed to the virus, school officials say.

On Monday, the Hillsborough County Public Schools revealed that 5,599 students and 316 of its staff were either in isolation or quarantine.

“Isolation refers to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 while quarantine refers to those who have had close contact with a positive case,” the statement from the school said.

The outbreak led to a call for an emergency board meeting where measures “up to and including mandatory face coverings for all students and staff” will be discussed. The emergency meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 1:00 p.m.

The affected district includes Tampa and caters to over 200,000 students in more than 200 elementary, middle, and high schools. The district is also the seventh-largest in the United States. Classes in the district started last week Tuesday. 

CNN reported that district officials announced a requirement for face masks for the start of the school year, though parents were given a choice to opt out of the mask requirements.  

Last Thursday, the Hillsborough County Public Schools announced that it had received 27,915 opt-out submissions through the district spokesperson Tanya Arja.