Coronavirus In MA: Tewksbury Cancels Nonessential Events

TEWKSBURY, MA — The town of Tewksbury announced program cancellations Friday in response to the new coronavirus outbreak. Town offices will remain open, but all nonessential programs at the Tewksbury Public Library and the Senior Center have been cancelled. Residents are encouraged to help reduce the spread of the new virus by calling town offices ahead to see if the services they need can be provided by phone or online.

In a separate announcement, the Board of Health asked for the public's help in slowing the spread of the new virus via social distancing.

"We are not going to be able to stop this pandemic, but we need to slow it down as to not overburden our healthcare systems," the Board said. "To achieve this goal, we all must practice social distancing. According to the CDC, the term social distancing means remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining a six feet distance from others, when possible."

According to the town announcement, the following services will be exempt from Senior Center cancellations: SHINE appointments, AARP tax preparation appointments, Meals on Wheels deliveries, transportation to medical appointments, transportation to grocery shopping and loaning medical equipment.

The library will be closed Sundays and meeting rooms will not be available.

The town is not currently planning to cancel board and committee meetings, but they ask that non-essential meetings be postponed. Gov. Charlie Baker signed an order Thursday suspending parts of open meeting law to let local municipalities make quicker decisions during the COVID-19 state of emergency.

The town announcement is available here, and the Board of Health announcement is here.

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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.

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