Coronavirus: Norton Schools Cancel Field Trips, Ban Volunteers

NORTON, MA — Norton Public Schools has instituted several measures aimed at limiting exposure of students and school personnel to a potential coronavirus transmission, including canceling field trips and telling volunteers to stay away from the schools. Norton will also postpone any events that involve parents or other adults who are not school personnel into the school.

Norton Superintendent Dr. Joseph F. Baeta said in a statement to the school community that while after-school activities involving student and staff will go on as scheduled, only members of the school community will be allowed in the buildings through at least March 25.

Dr. Baeta also expressed frustration on Wednesday about "misinformation" being spread about those who have self-quarantined due to coronavirus concerns. He said the State Department of Public Health has said family members of those who have self-quarantined should be allowed to attend school.

"I know that positive results may happen and that may cause self-quarantine situations," Dr. Baeta said. "However, we do not have such information from any student or employee. I expect to have multiple employees and students who come to work or school and someone in their family is self-quarantined."

The Norton SEPAC Basic Rights: Evaluation and Eligibility workshop for parents and professionals on Monday at the Hay Library is one of the events that has been canceled in town.

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

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 syndromes (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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