Joined by a panel of health experts, city councilors and members of Boston’s medical community, Mayor Marty Walsh held a news conference Monday to explain the city’s preparedness plan for a deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 100 people in China and spread to 15 countries.
“We are constantly assessing potential threats and we'll be ready in the case of a virus, if it does appear, so it doesn't spread,” Walsh said.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to go on a four-city, eight-concert tour, in East Asia next week with stops in Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong and Shanghai — all cities affected by the virus and that they were monitoring the situation.
In addition, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services confirmed in a statement on their website that there were "two individuals in New Hampshire with recent travel to Wuhan City, China, who have developed respiratory symptoms and are currently undergoing testing for novel coronavirus."
Boston Public Health Commission Medical Director Dr. Jennifer Lo told local media that Massachusetts has zero recorded cases of coronavirus, either confirmed or suspected, and that the risk at the moment is low.
“We proactively train and exercise scenarios like this on a regular basis and we plan together on how to respond to these scenarios in case one does occur,” Lo said. “There's ongoing communication between BPHC, our partners from the [Centers for Disease Control], the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Massport, which runs Logan Airport.”
Lo said an internal “incident command plan” was recently activated to coordinate communication between partners and compile new information for any agency with concerns about the virus.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some of which cause common respiratory infections, while others have evolved to more serious illnesses. The strain of coronavirus spreading now began in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has killed 81 people in China.
Lo said anyone concerned about a possible case should contact the Boston Public Health Commission directly. Lo said while many calls have been made, there are no suspected cases in Massachusetts, because “at this point in time, there have been no inquiries that fit the criteria from the CDC that make us concerned about the Corona virus,” according to Lo.
The recommendations the CDC put forth for handling possible cases of the illness say that if someone has been in Wuhan City in the last 14 days or interacted with someone who is known to have tested positive for coronavirus, and that person has symptoms of fever, coughing, and shortness of breath, that could be a possible case of coronavirus.
“A number of people call and say, 'I have a fever right now, and I was in Wuhan a month ago.' Or, 'I was in China last week, and I have a fever,'” Lo said, referencing examples of calls that don’t fit the screening criteria. “Right now, we are very strictly following those criteria because a lot of people have flu symptoms, and a lot of people travel to and from China, so it would be difficult to not have those criteria that were set up and follow them.”
Jim Hooley, the chief of Boston Emergency Medical Services, said Boston EMS is implementing “heightened awareness monitoring” as they have in the past for SARS, MERS, H1N1 flu and other emerging infectious diseases.
“We have long standing standardized infection control procedures that have served us well,” Hooley said. “From all the research and the guidance, the procedures that we have, the disinfectant solutions that we use are adequate to cover the situation.”
Lo said the coronavirus is similar to influenza, which presents a much more immediate risk. While at the peak of flu season, medical experts say best practice to prevent contracting any virus is to take regular precautions against sickness.
“Wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, stay home if you're sick,” she said. “Just take care of yourselves on a regular basis.”
And while the news of coronavirus sounded alarms across the state, leading to a shortage of face masks at local pharmacies, Walsh said the best preventative measures for sickness are flu shots and doctor’s visits.
“If you're sick, if you have flu like symptoms, contact your primary care physician and let them know because the flu is is is out there right now,” Walsh said. “What we don't want to do is put fear in people across across the city of Boston, but if you have flu-like symptoms and you're not sure... your best bet is to contact your primary care physician because your doctor will know whether you should come in for treatment.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of people who have died from coronavirus, which is now over 100.
WGBH News reporter Mary Blake contributed to this report.
