Person Exposed To Coronavirus Told To Self Quarantine: Waltham

WALTHAM, MA — Someone who spends time at Northeast Elementary School was exposed to a person diagnosed with the new coronavirus, the School district announced Tuesday in an email.

"We have asked the Northeast community member to self-isolate per state recommendation," said Interim Superintendent George Frost in the message, who stressed that the person was only exposed to someone diagnosed with the coronavirus, but was not diagnosed with it themselves.

"At this point, there are no diagnosed cases of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) among Waltham staff, students, or families," he said.

It's not clear if the community member was staff, student, family or some other type of community member at the elementary.

Monday night, all classrooms and spaces that person had accessed were decontaminated, according to Frost.

Frost and officials stressed it is important that all community members monitor themselves as well as family members for illness, and stressed frequent hand-washing.

"We are taking every precaution that we can to keep our students and staff safe in a difficult environment," Frost said to the Patch.

No Waltham Public Schools have been closed.

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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.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).