Plymouth Schools Canceled Friday For Classroom, Bus Disinfecting

PLYMOUTH, MA — The Plymouth Superintendent of Schools has canceled school for all 12 of the town's schools on Friday for a full disinfection of classrooms and buses after a high school student who recently returned from a school trip to Italy experienced flu-like symptoms Wednesday night. Plymouth Superintendent of Schools Gary Maestas in a letter to parents said the closing is being done "out of an abundance of caution" amid calls from parents with concerns about the coronavirus.

"We all understand that we have a social responsibility in situations like this," Maestas wrote. "We take this responsibility seriously. We want to stress that as of (Thursday) evening we have no confirmed cases in our school community."

Maestas said a specialist cleaning company has been contracted to do the cleaning on Friday.

"In these unusual cases, as the national picture continues to evolves, and with the strong presence of social media, we know it is easy to begin speculating and questioning," Maestas wrote. "We ask for your patience and understanding as we continue to work at the district level to ensure that we are taking the necessary precautionary steps."

Maestas has asked parents of students who recently went on a school trip to Milan, Italy to keep their students home from school after one of those students was briefly hospitalized with flu-like symptoms Wednesday night. Maestas informed parents and staff of the situation in a letter to the school community Thursday morning.

The letter said the Plymouth Fire Department notified Plymouth Schools that a student was evaluated at Beth Israel Deaconess Lahey Plymouth on Wednesday night and released to go home. The student's condition will continue to be monitored.

The letter said the school has been in contact with the Milan school the students visited on the trip and that as of Thursday no students at that school had been diagnosed with coronavirus. However, as a precaution all students who went on the trip were asked to stay home from school.

(More on the coronavirus can be found in this fact sheet from the CDC.)

The superintendent said sanitizing efforts have been increased at all Plymouth schools and that Plymouth Schools will stay in touch with the Plymouth Board of Health, local and state agencies for any updates. He said parents and staff will be updated on the student's condition as warranted.

Plymouth Schools also urged restraint when discussing coronavirus and potential cases on social media: "Please keep in mind that a lot of information that has been shared on social media has been inaccurate. We ask that you please respect the privacy of all families in our community."

Although new coronavirus numbers in Massachusetts do not indicate a major shift from the numbers available over the past few days, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday urged colleges, universities and high schools to cancel upcoming organized international trips.

A Norfolk County woman in her 20s is the first likely case of the new coronavirus in Massachusetts since the state started testing late in February. The woman recently returned from a trip to Italy with a school group, state health officials said Monday night. She has a "presumptive" positive case of the virus, officials said. The woman is being quarantined in her home and she is "recovering," according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The Rhode Island Department of Public Health confirmed on Tuesday that woman was part of a school trip out of St. Raphael's in Pawtucket where two other people on the trip tested "presumptive positive" for coronavirus.

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% 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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Coronavirus in Massachusetts and elsewhere

Baker Urges Schools To Cancel Trips Amid Coronavirus Fears

RI Coronavirus: 2nd 'Presumptive' Positive, 3rd Person Tested
New Hampshire's First Coronavirus Case Reported In Grafton County
Coronavirus Disruptions For Students In Massachusetts
Coronavirus In Rhode Island: What To Know