Framingham Schools Details COVID-19 Plans

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham School Department has issued a statement on what local officials are doing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 locally. Health officials say the risk of catching the virus is very low in Massachusetts, but the Centers for Disease Control this week did warn that a larger outbreak could happen at any time.

In Framingham, the Board of Health is working with state and federal officials on home-quarantine plans for people returning to the area from China. COVID-19 originated in Wuhan in the Hubei Province.

"There is no community level transmission of COVID-19 in the United States. The risk for Framingham residents for this disease is very low," Framingham school officials said in a statement. "We are following federal and state guidance on preparing and responding to this disease."

The state Department of Public Health said on Wednesday that 608 people in Massachusetts have home-quarantined. Almost 400 of them have left quarantine after showing no COVID-19 symptoms.

Local health officials are also preparing a plan in case of a larger outbreak. Officials noted that seasonal flu and colds are much more common — and in the case of flu, more deadly. About 16,000 people have died of flu in the U.S. this season with hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, according to the CDC.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in December, there have been about 82,000 confirmed cases worldwide and almost 2,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. And new research suggests the mortality rate is low, except in people who are elderly or whose health is already compromised.

Only one COVID-19 case has been confirmed in Massachusetts in a UMass Boston student who recently visited China. His is one of 15 cases confirmed so far in the U.S.