Coronavirus: Stoughton Schools Cancel Some Trips

STOUGHTON, MA — School officials are continuing to monitor the new coronavirus, and have cancelled three scheduled trips and are considering postponing two others. One parent was also ordered to self-quarantine by their work, but has not shown any symptoms of COVID-19, according to school officials.

Superintendent John Marcus said the risk of residents contracting the virus in Stoughton remains "very low," but the district has taken new precautions including canceling student trips, creating a new website dedicated to COVID-19 information and preparing in the event school closings are necessary.

The grade-five trip to the Boston Symphony Orchestra scheduled for Thursday was called off, and school officials are looking to postpone it. The middle school trip to Quebec, and the DECA team's invite to the international competition in Nashville, Tennessee, have been cancelled.

Marcus said the district also may need to postpone the high school music trip to New York City in April, as well as the SEMBSA Festival scheduled for next Friday.

"We have gone through as many trips and events as possible and have determined that, as of today, most are still good to go," Marcus said in a statement. "As a general rule, and again, as of today, if an event is happening in Stoughton for Stoughton students and families, we are not canceling it. This is true for upcoming plays, science fairs, and meetings. If an event is out-of-district and would have our students traveling a distance or in a large group offsite, we are cancelling those for now."

School officials have also begun preparing for the possibility of short or long-term closings. A short-term closing would occur if there was a need to do a thorough cleaning and establish small/individual quarantines.

"For extended closings, we are working on providing reasonable assignments for students based on grade and particular courses to maintain as much continuity as possible," Marcus said. "If we did have a long-term closure, we are preparing for device/internet access and food service for students who would need that support."

Don't miss updates about precautions in your area as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters

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.