Newton Coronavirus Update: Mayor Sets Up Special Management Team

NEWTON, MA — Newton's city hall now has a Covid-19 Emergency Management Committee to coordinate as concern about coronavirus spreads. The subset of the city’s Emergency Management working group, the committee includes representatives from the mayor's office, public health, public safety, emergency management and Newton Public School officials.

Newton officials have said because risk to the public in the state and in Newton is low and cancelling public events is not currently recommended, no public events in the city have been cancelled.

"Our HHS public health staff have been preparing for emerging infectious diseases for many years," said Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller in a statement. "While Covid-19 is new, the communication and infrastructure around public health preparedness and response is not."

The mayor also warned that this is a time not to discriminate. She pointed to what happened in past outbreaks around the world - from HIV to Ebola - fear led to stigma and discrimination. And that led, in many instances, to worse problems, because those who felt stigmatized avoided seeking access to the health care, Fuller said.

Sunday, the Newton Chinese Language School hosted the "Be Strong Wuhan" Walk for Wuhan at City Hall. Hundreds participated in the event and raised about $7,000 for Wuhan University Hospital for medical supplies.

"In Newton, we stand together in this time of concern," she 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.

Check out the mayor's press conference Monday, courtesy NewTV's Newton News:

More Resources:

• The CDC updates its website frequently with extensive guidance and Covid-19 details: www.cdc.gov/nCoV.
• Updates from MDPH are available at: mass.gov/2019coronavirus.
• Newton updates are posted in the “City News” section of the website, and additional information is available at: newtonma.gov/covid19.

• Face masks are not recommended for the public at this time. Masks can be useful in some settings, such as a clinic waiting room, to prevent someone who has a respiratory illness from spreading it to others.
• Newton Health and Human Services Department: (617) 796-1420.