Medford Cancels City, School Events Amid Coronavirus Fears

MEDFORD, MA — All large events sponsored by the city of Medford or the Medford Public Schools will be canceled starting at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 12, city officials said late Wednesday. Schools will be closed for at least two weeks starting Friday, March 13.

"I am acutely aware of the pride that the people of Medford take in gathering together as a community," Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said in a statement. "However, as the COVID-19 situation develops, I feel it is in the best interest of community safety to follow the guidance from the state and cancel large gatherings for the immediate future. My team and I are constantly monitoring the situation and will adjust as need be to ensure public safety."

Cancellations will last until April 15. This applies to the following events:

• Effective at 5 p.m. March 12, 2020, all events, gatherings, and programming sponsored by the city of Medford or the Medford Public Schools scheduled through at least April 15, 2020, where attendance is anticipated to be 25 people or more, are canceled or postponed until a later date. The Wizards basketball games are postponed. This does not impact the Extended Day Program.
• There will be no school trips outside of Massachusetts until further notice. Specific information concerning previously scheduled travel will be provided as soon as possible.

• Official public meetings and hearings of the city of Medford will continue to take place. Steps are being taken to ensure all meetings are broadcast through community access television and on the web so residents can still view the meetings as they happen. Additional steps are being taken to allow residents to participate remotely through the submission of written comment via email for each meeting scheduled.

Don't miss updates about coronavirus precautions and information in Medford as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

This guidance does not apply to other events, gatherings, and programming where attendance is not anticipated to exceed 25 people; however, "social distancing" guidelines must be followed, officials said. This includes maintaining a distance of at least six feet from all other individuals in a group setting and avoiding physical contact such as handshakes or other physical greetings.

Student bathrooms are being sanitized and disinfected every four hours, and buildings are being sanitized every day, officials said. The city has ordered $10,000 in additional cleaning and sanitizing supplies.

A Medford resident has tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus, the mayor's office announced Tuesday. Three residents of Somerville and two residents of Arlington have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness associated with the virus, according to officials in those communities.

Two people who attended an expo for wedding and party vendors at Assembly Row last week are also among the state's presumptive positive cases.