LYNN — The coronavirus will likely come to Lynn, according to health officials at the Lynn Community Health Center.
“We don’t want to be alarmist, we want to be realistic,” said Dr. Geoff Pechinsky, chief medical officer.
The Lynn Community Health Center and city officials are collaborating to prepare in the event a Lynn resident contracts COVID-19, a strain of coronavirus that is thought to have originated in Wuhan, China, late last year and has since spread to 87 countries, with more than 95,000 confirmed cases and 3,280 deaths as of Thursday.
There is no confirmed case of the coronavirus right now in Lynn, and the risk to any individual remains low, but at least two people are quarantining themselves at home. These people are not symptomatic, but are taking the precaution after having traveled to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-designated “high-risk country,” according to Lynn Office of Emergency Management Director Lt. Paul Ricchi.
The coronavirus presents symptoms similar to influenza, including fever and respiratory illness. There is no known vaccine or cure.
The virus is contagious, and there is one confirmed case in Massachusetts, and two presumptive positive cases, according to the state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders and the State Department of Public Health.
Those with the highest risk of having the coronavirus are people who have recently traveled to the four currently designated “high-risk” countries with larger outbreaks — China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea.
All travelers from these countries should quarantine themselves at home for 14 days from the time of return, regardless of being sick or not, Pechinsky said. This means staying away from work and school, not riding public transportation, taking taxis, or leaving the house at all.
The CDC also recommends people who have traveled from high-risk countries practice “social distancing” by avoiding others as much as possible and keeping a minimum distance of six feet from other people, in addition to being quarantined.
People are also advised to frequently wash their hands, cover their faces when sneezing or coughing, dispose of used napkins or tissues, avoid touching their face, and stay home if sick.
Pechinsky said the risk to any individual remains low, but the health center and departments are preparing by taking inventory of items such as masks and protective clothing, and conserving the use of these items. According to Ricchi, heads of city departments are also in regular contact, and a “policy group” including himself, the mayor, the police and fire chiefs, the public health director, and others has been formed.
Both Pechinsky and Ricchi described the situation as “fluid” and “evolving.” The city is in regular contact with the state’s Department of Public Health and monitoring CDC recommendations and updates.
However, there is no set-in-stone city protocol if someone gets sick, Pechinsky said. Decisions about whether schools or public transportation would close have not been made.
“With self-quarantining, you have to take ownership, so it would be the person’s responsibility to take their temperature twice a day, to stay out of work and school, and to also not take public transportation, not go to the mall and to practice social distancing,” said city Public Health Director Michele Desmarais.
“At the moment there is not a medication or vaccine that will cure a coronavirus or prevent it,” Desmarais said. “The virus is very, very, very similar to the flu and I wish people would pay as much attention to the flu as they did to this. The most important thing is to wash their hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.”
According to Pechinsky, people who feel sick with flu-like symptoms should seek treatment, and call ahead before visiting, if possible. If they have traveled or have possibly come into contact with a person with coronavirus, the health center will push them through to “urgent care.” The health center has a negative pressure room to isolate patients and prevent cross contamination.
Those deemed to be low risk, presenting as relatively healthy and with normal oxygen saturation levels, will be quarantined at home. A coronavirus test can be done at the Lynn Community Health Center, and it takes 24 hours to receive results. Seriously ill patients will be sent to an emergency room.
There are many unanswered questions about the coronavirus, Pechinsky said. It may or may not be transmitted “more readily” than the flu, and it seems to be more contagious while a person is infectious, which happens between 2 and 14 days after contracting the virus.
According to Ricchi, there is also the possibility of “community-spread” cases — cases that arise in people who have not recently traveled or come in contact with someone known to have the virus.
According to a statement from Mayor Thomas M. McGee’s office, emergency dispatcher procedures are being updated to include questions about recent international travel before relaying that information to first responders, and first responders are preparing for additional precautions to limit potential exposure.
“The city is taking the necessary precautionary measures to limit any potential spread of the
coronavirus,” McGee said.
According to the CDC, which gives updates on coronavirus in the U.S. each day at noon, there were 100 confirmed cases in the U.S. with 10 deaths as of March 5.
The confirmed Massachusetts case is a Boston man in his 20s who recently traveled to Wuhan, and the presumptive case is a Norfolk County woman in her 20s who recently traveled from Italy.
At a news conference Wednesday, Gov. Baker said there are 719 people on self-quarantine, 470 people who have completed the 14-day self-quarantine, and 20 people who have been tested for the coronavirus in Massachusetts. Baker also announced all Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority stations will have public “contact” surfaces cleaned every four hours, and an additional $95,000 has been budgeted for staffing costs at the state’s public health lab in Boston.
The coronavirus has been declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization.
Residents can visit the city website for updates on the coronavirus at www.ci.lynn.ma.us. They may also sign up for the Smart 911 service at www.smart911.com or check social media for updates from the city.
