Burlington Schools Cancel Trip, Events Due To Coronavirus Concern

BURLINGTON, MA — Burlington Public Schools are cancelling weekend and evening events as well as a planned band trip to Disney World due to concerns about the new coronavirus, Superintendent Eric Conti announced Tuesday night. Earlier Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency after the number of cases in the state more than doubled to 92. Baker encouraged districts to cancel, postpone and restructure events.

"We are supporting the Governor's recommendation," Conti said. "We are postponing the All Town Strings and band concerts, the music department trip to Disney, Back to School Nights at the middle and high schools, and parent conferences at the elementary schools. We are also cancelling other large gatherings like school carnivals. Eliminating these evening or weekend events will allow our custodians more time to thoroughly clean common areas and classrooms. The decisions on school day field trips will be made on a case by case basis."

The decision was not the result of any known spread to the district, according to the announcement to families and staff.

"While the virus does not appear to be an immediate threat to school age children, our decisions are meant to mitigate the spread in the general community," Conti said. "To date, we have no known students or staff who have been presumed positive in a screening for the virus"

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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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Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.