Second Presumptive Positive COVID-19 Case in Massachusetts, Say Health Officials
On Monday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced its second presumptive positive case of COVID-19.
The woman is in her 20s and is a native of Norfolk Country. According to health officials, she recently travelled to Italy and was found symptomatic. Currently, she is recovering at home. She was tested positive for the virus at a state laboratory on Monday.
According to sources, the patient is a 27 years old woman who accompanied a school trip that was linked to two other cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island. The test results will be sent to the federal centres for Disease Control and Prevention. If confirmed, this would mark the second confirmed positive case of Coronavirus in Massachusetts.
The first case was registered last month when a UMass Boston student was found to be infected with the virus. The man is in his 20s and lives in Boston.
While the concerns keep rising, health officials and state leaders on Monday pointed out that the Coronavirus risk to the public remains low in Massachusetts.
“We are grateful this individual is recovering,” Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said in a statement. “We understand the concern this new virus is causing, and our state’s ability to quickly test for the virus is a positive development. The risk to the public from COVID-19 remains low in Massachusetts.”
So far, six people have succumbed to the Coronavirus, all of them in Washington State. There have been more than 60 cases of COVID-19 in the United States. 12 of those 60 people have been tested since Friday. Since last week, 608 people have been self-quarantined in Massachusetts. 377 out of those 608 people have completed monitoring and are no longer quarantined while 231 are still under observation.
Coronavirus spreads through respiratory secretions of an infected person to another. Symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and, in severe cases, pneumonia.
In order to avoid Coronavirus spread, health officials are urging people to use the same precautionary measures that are used to prevent common cold and flu. The steps include washing your hands, avoid touching your eyes and face, disinfecting objects that are frequently touched, covering cough and sneezes, and staying at home when you feel sick.