Health & Fitness
MA Coronavirus Cases Spike; Many Linked To Boston Conference
Five Massachusetts residents who tested positive are cases stemming from a recent Biogen conference that other patients also attended.
Three Boston residents and two people from Norfolk County have tested positive for the new coronavirus as the number of presumptive positive cases spiked to seven in Massachusetts, officials said Friday afternoon.
The new cases stemmed from a recent Biogen conference in the city. The Boston patients are two females and one male in their 40s.
Three additional people who traveled to Boston for the conference, including one person from Tennessee and one from Indiana, have been diagnosed with the virus, known as COVID-19.
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"This is a rapidly evolving situation," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said at a news conference.
The number of presumptive positive cases in Massachusetts is at seven, the state's Department of Public Health said. A presumptive case means the state has identified COVID-19 but is waiting on confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The number of confirmed positive cases remains at one. That person is a UMass-Boston student in his 20s who is "doing well" and continues to be self-quarantined, Walsh said.
Including the confirmed UMass-Boston case, there are four positive cases in Boston, three in Norfolk County and one in Middlesex County.
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The news came as schools started canceling school amid concerns about the fast-spreading virus.
Two Wellesley schools were dismissed early Friday after a parent tested positive for COVID-19, officials said. The parent has students at both Upham Elementary School and Wellesley Middle School.
All 12 public schools in Plymouth are also closed Friday after a high school student who recently returned from Italy experienced flu-like symptoms. A full cleaning and disinfection is taking place throughout the district, officials said.
Mystic Valley Charter School in Malden will close for three days next week amid concerns.
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