Bellingham Students Stay Home Over Coronavirus Concerns

BELLINGHAM, MA — A group of Bellingham Public Schools students and staff will stay home from school this week because they recently traveled to areas where the new coronavirus, COVID-19, was active.

The school district described the measure as "precautionary." There's been only one coronavirus case in Massachusetts so far — a Boston man who attends UMass-Boston.

"Recently, some of our students and staff members traveled to areas of the world in which the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was present," Bellingham Public Schools said this weekend in a statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, and under the direction of the Bellingham Board of Health, we have asked these students and staff members to stay home from school next week. There is no need for concern at this time as this is a precautionary measure."

The district will also begin disinfecting classrooms, according to the statement.

There have been 72 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. since the virus was discovered in December, according to Johns Hopkins University. That figure includes over 40 people from the U.S. who were aboard a cruise ship and are now quarantined at a military base. A new case was confirmed in Providence, Rhode Island, on Sunday morning, and the first U.S. death was recorded in the Seattle area on Saturday.

The Centers for Disease Control has warned that the U.S. could see a widespread outbreak of COVID-19. The CDC has created a website detailing COVID-19 symptoms and advice on how to protect yourself.

Coronavirus in Massachusetts, New England and elsewhere

• Rhode Island Coronavirus: First 'Presumptive Positive' Confirmed
• Framingham Schools Details COVID-19 Plans
• Wayland Issues Guidance On New Coronavirus
• Coronavirus Death Was King County Man; More Cases In WA Confirmed