Brookline Coronavirus Update: Avoid Travel To High Risk Countries

BROOKLINE, MA – The Brookline Department of Public Health has put together a task force to monitor and respond to rapidly changing information about the COVID-19 virus. While officials said the risk is still low in Brookline, health officials recommend residents who have traveled to high risk countries self quarantine.

Recently, CDC increased its travel warning for not just China, where the outbreak began, but also to Iran, South Korea, and Italy, where cases have grown in recent weeks.

"We strongly encourage anyone that has traveled to these countries to stay home and self-monitor for 14 days upon entry into the United States" said Brookline Public Health Commissioner Swannie Jett. “I would avoid any unnecessary travel to these countries as well.”

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.

A presumptive case means the state has identified COVID-19 but is waiting on confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which generally takes at least 48 hours.

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, according to heatlh officials.

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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Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Brookline Health officials recommended having these at home in case of an emergency.

• 20-30 days’ worth of your medications
• Flu vaccine is highly recommended, and vaccine against pneumococcal pneumonia for older people
• Have enough food for seven to 10 days in case you need to self-isolate
• Make sure you have essentials on hand (laundry detergent, tissues, toilet paper…)
• Make sure you have a communication plan. Plan a support system in case you or a loved one gets sick
• Make plans in case an outbreak disrupts daily routines. (Think: What if public transportation is closed? No school? Can’t get to work? )
• Unless necessary, avoid traveling to countries with high outbreaks of the virus. Check travel information via the CDC website. Be prepared to be quarantined upon return

What does it mean to Self-Monitor?

Upon returning from a trip to one of the high risk countries, health officials recommend you stay at home and self-monitor. That means taking your temperatures twice a day and remaining alert for cough or difficulty breathing, according to health officials. If you begin to feel feverish or develop cough or difficulty breathing during the self-monitoring period, you should take your temperature, limit contact with others, and seek health advice by telephone from a healthcare provider or their local health department to determine whether medical evaluation is needed.

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