Salem School Community Member Self-Quarantines For Coronavirus

SALEM, MA — A Salem Public Schools "community member" has agreed to stay home as a precaution against coronavirus after returning from a trip abroad.

In a note to the school community, Superintendent Kathleen Smith said the person, who was not identified, has not shown any symptoms but was asked to stay out of schools for 14 days out of "an abundance of caution." Smith did not specify where the person traveled, only saying it was a country identified by the Centers for Disease Control "as being at risk of community spread."

"I want to emphasize that we do not currently have an identified case of COVID-19 in Salem Public Schools and our risk rate remains low," Smith wrote. "Our building crews are following recommended disinfecting guidelines and school nurses continue to work with teachers and students to emphasize good hand hygiene and illness prevention strategies."

As of Thursday 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.

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.