Coronavirus Disruptions For Students In Massachusetts

MASSACHUSETTS — The disruption of daily life some health officials have warned due to coronavirus is becoming more apparent in Massachusetts.

More cases pop up in New England — a second presumptive Rhode Island victim was revealed Sunday night to be a teenage girl and New Hampshire has its first confirmed case — school districts in particular have been scrambling to control the virus from possibly spreading.

Over the weekend, Newton Public Schools told Newton North students and staff who recently returned from a trip to Italy to stay home from school "until further notice." Bellingham Public Schools also told students and staff to stay home all week after they returned from an overseas trip.

"To prevent any potential exposure to our staff and students, we are implementing federal guidance around returning travelers, which is evolving daily," Newton Superintendent David Fleishman said Sunday in a letter. "To that end, today we made a decision to require students and staff from Newton North who returned from Italy on Saturday, Feb. 29th, to stay home from school beginning tomorrow, March 2nd, until further notice."

The two presumptive Rhode Island victims were also both on a school trip to Europe.

The U.S. government advised people avoid all nonessential travel to Italy, which has seen one of the largest outbreaks of coronavirus outside of Asia.

In Massachusetts, just one person has been confirmed to have the virus. The UMass-Boston student is recovering, officials said last week. Regional health officials have said the risk of a serious outbreak is low.

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