Chelmsford Coronavirus Response Includes Cleaning At Schools

CHELMSFORD, MA — Chelmsford Public Schools will respond to coronavirus concerns by sanitizing areas in school buildings, Superintendent Jay Lang said in a letter to parents recently.

"Our School Facilities Department is vigilantly sanitizing our educational spaces as we typically do during cold and flu season. We are following all [CDC] recommended guidelines to ensure the safety of our students and staff," Lang wrote.

Lang's note also stressed that the immediate risk to the community was low.

As of Tuesday morning, there had only been one confirmed case of coronavirus in Massachusetts since the strain, known as COVID-19, was first identified in Wuhan, China in December. Late Monday night state health officials announced a possible second.

"While this is a public health concern, the CDC continues to report that the immediate risk to the
general public remains low at this time. Yet, in today’s connected world, with a large number of
district families traveling during school vacation weeks, the potential for infectious disease is always of concern," Lang said. "As with seasonal flu and strep infections, there are general precautions we can all take to remain as healthy as possible," he wrote.

Lang said many of the precautions that help prevent colds and the flu can help protect against coronavirus before outlining CDC recommendations.

"It is important to keep children home from school when they are ill," he said.

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.