An in-person bar mitzvah for Chris Christie's nephew led to several positive COVID-19 cases at a New Jersey middle school

• A New Jersey middle school switched to remote learning for a day after several positive COVID-19 cases surfaced, some of which may have been caused by a bar mitzvah.
• The bar mitzvah was held for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's 13-year-old nephew.
• The school is planning to resume in-person learning by Monday, the superintendent said.

Several middle-school students who attended a bar mitzvah for the nephew of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got infected with the coronavirus, according to Mendham Township schools Superintendent Salvatore Constantino.

Students came out to celebrate on behalf of Christie's 13-year-old nephew last weekend. On Thursday, the school decided to shut down in-person learning for the entirety of Friday, Constantino said. That day, the school held virtual classes.

"I know that there were some cases where people that were in attendance did end up positive," Constantino told Insider. "But that was not the only situation that we had. Our school closure really has very little to do with Christie's bar mitzvah."

A "couple of cases" surfaced Thursday night, days after the bar mitzvah, Constantino said, but "I can't give causal relationships between any event and where they got COVID."

Constantino told Insider the school expects to resume in-person learning by Monday. Friday was used as a reset day for the school to determine its next steps and conduct contact tracing.

"We were able to use Friday to evaluate the situation and make sure we had all the information we needed," Constantino told Insider.

A photo taken at the event obtained by the New York Post shows the parents of the nephew and their four other kids posing at a club in Newark, New Jersey, without masks.

It's unclear how many students contracted the coronavirus at the bar mitzvah.

Insider asked Constantino how many people at Mendham Township are currently positive for COVID-19. Constantino declined to say repeatedly, citing privacy concerns. "It's not pertinent" information, Constantino said. "We're dealing with young students here. We don't give out that information."

"I know it didn't cause an outbreak because we don't have enough positive cases to use the word outbreak," he added.

It's also unclear how many people were in attendance at the event.

The students who have tested positive for COVID-19 are going to quarantine and participate in remote learning for the time being, Constantino said.

Christie told the Post his brother, the father of the nephew who had the bar mitzvah, had been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Last year, Christie was hospitalized in an ICU after he contracted COVID-19. Prior to that infection, he had flouted mask guidelines from health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Upon his hospitalization, he urged the public to take the virus seriously and wear a mask.

"Leaders, all across the politics, sports, the media, should be saying to people, put your masks on and be safe until we get a vaccine that could help to protect us," he said.

This story has been updated.