Plymouth South Middle School Musical Rescheduled To This Weekend

PLYMOUTH, MA — The Plymouth South Middle School productions of "Mary Poppins Jr." that were postponed this past weekend as the 12 Plymouth Public Schools were deep cleaned and sanitized amid coronavirus concerns have been rescheduled for this weekend. The shows will be Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Plymouth South High School Performing Arts Center.

Plymouth North will host a production of "The Adams Family" Friday and Saturday.

Plymouth Public Schools, which were canceled Friday while a professional cleaning company was brought in to disinfect all 12 schools in the district and buses, did not host any weekend events after a high school student who recently returned from a school trip to Italy experienced flu-like symptoms Wednesday night. Plymouth Schools reopened on Monday, but all further international school trips canceled through the spring.

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

Plymouth is rescheduling the shows at a time when other area schools are restricting large gatherings. Milton Public Schools on Tuesday announced that all non-essential gatherings, including three school concerts, were postponed through March 20.

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.

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

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Plymouth Schools Cancel Weekend Events Amid Coronavirus Concerns