Wilmington Coronavirus: Town Declares State Of Emergency

WILMINGTON, MA — The Wilmington Board of Selectmen declared a state of emergency for the new coronavirus outbreak at a special meeting Friday afternoon. The declaration allows the town to make emergency expenditures, according to Town Manager Jeffrey Hull. The state of emergency begins Friday and will last until the Board declares it over.

"There's a provision of law ... that recognizes that in these states of emergency, there's a greater level of flexibility provided for expenditure of funds," Town Manager Jeffrey Hull summarized.

Hull said he didn't believe the declaration opened up additional funding sources, but it allows the town to access existing reserves to respond to the new virus. Other towns have made the same declaration in recent days, including Tewksbury Friday morning.

Wilmington has yet to report a confirmed case of the new coronavirus.

The full meeting is available here from WCTV.

Hull also updated the Board on the town's actions in response to the outbreak, including closing town offices to the public, cleaning, and preparing town employees for working from home if the state imposes a shelter-in-place order.

>>Under Local State Of Emergency: What That Means In Massachusetts

>>Tewksbury Coronavirus: First Confirmed Case, Pipes Clogged

>>Wilmington Coronavirus: Town Meeting Delayed To May 30

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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 percent 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.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.