Harvard Confirms 'Presumptive Positive' Case Of Coronavirus

CAMBRIDGE, MA — A member of the Harvard community has tested "presumptive positive" for coronavirus and is receiving medical care off campus, Harvard President Lawrence Bacow announced Friday.

Bacow said he's waiting to hear back about two other members who were tested for COVID-19.

The university's Health and Human Services alerted students and staff in a message Wednesday that two people had gotten tests, but the update on Friday added the third person, who had close contact with one of the others.

"Additional close contacts will be tested as needed," said Bacow Friday, while stressing that community members not disclose who the people are who have been tested.

"If you are aware of their identities, please respect their privacy so that they can focus completely on their health," Bacow said. "The last thing they need—or any of us would want for them—is public attention and scrutiny. We will do everything we can to support these individuals through what is undoubtedly a disconcerting and difficult time."

Harvard's president said the university was following protocols for evaluating individuals who exhibit symptoms.

On March 10, the university became the highest-profile university to make the bold move of shutting down campus to students and moving all courses online for the duration of the spring semester, in an effort to mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus.

Read more >> Harvard, Others Ask Students Not To Return From Spring Break.

On March 10, the same day Boston cancelled the St. Patrick's Day parade, Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency. Then, on March 11, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. The pandemic declaration refers to the scope of the new coronavirus — but not its severity — and means it has become a "worldwide spread of a new disease."

As of Friday there were 123 cases of coronavirus in Massachusetts.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. 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.

On March 13 President Donald Trump declared a national emergency.

"No one knows what we will face in the weeks ahead, but everyone knows enough to understand that COVID-19 will test our capacities to be kind and generous, and to see beyond ourselves and our own interests," Bacow wrote Friday. "Our task now is to bring the best of who we are and what we do to a world that is more complex and more confused than any of us would like it to be. May we all proceed with wisdom and grace."