Fairfield Schools Taking Precautions Amid Coronavirus Concerns

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield Public Schools is taking precautions in light of the spread of the new coronavirus, according to an email to parents from Superintendent Mike Cummings.

The school district is in daily contact with the Fairfield Health Department and has increased routine cleaning of schools, the email said. District officials were also considering whether to cancel international field trips planned for April and discussing how to provide learning opportunities for students if school is called off due to the virus.

"We will continue to be vigilant and responsive as this issue is rapidly changing," Cummings said in the email, sent Wednesday evening.

More than 80,000 people have been infected and about 2,800 people have died worldwide from the coronavirus, also called COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. It is spreading so quickly overseas that infectious disease experts and scientists warn there may be no way to contain it. So far, 59 cases have been identified in the United States.

There is some evidence COVID-19 could be airborne, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned Tuesday that the spread of the coronavirus across the U.S. is inevitable.

Connecticut has had coronavirus scares, with a Wesleyan student, a student at St. Bernard School in Uncasville and a high school student visiting Yale University from China all showing signs of the virus, but eventually being cleared.

COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that’s a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. The symptoms of the new coronavirus are similar to seasonal influenza, according to Johns Hopkins. Both are infectious respiratory illnesses, but they're caused by different viruses.

Both cause fever, cough, body aches and fatigue, and can result in pneumonia. Both illnesses can sometimes cause vomiting and diarrhea. Both can be spread from person to person by sneezing, coughing or talking.

Common good-health practices such as frequent hand-washing, covering coughs and staying home from work or school during the course of the illness can help control the spread of both illnesses.

Neither responds to antibiotic treatment, but both may be treated by addressing symptoms, such as reducing fever. Both illnesses can be severe enough to require hospitalization.

There is no vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus, as there is against influenza. Scientists around the world are racing to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus, although none currently exists and federal health officials cautioned that a vaccine is not expected in the immediate future.