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Arlington Elementary School Student Tests Positive For Coronavirus

ARLINGTON (CBS) – A student at Stratton Elementary School in Arlington has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The school was closed Monday for cleaning after the student's parent was diagnosed with COVID-19 this weekend. The results from the state lab are considered presumptive positive and they are sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.

"We decided to close the school today, on Monday, in order to effectively and comprehensively investigate any potential contacts," said Christine Bongiorno, Arlington's Health and Human Services Director.

About 30 other students and staffers deemed to have had close contact with the child have now been told to stay home for two weeks. Anyone who needs to self-quarantine has been notified by the Arlington Health Department.

The student's parent had attended the Biogen conference at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, which is linked to 32 cases in the state. Both the parent and child are doing well.

Arlington Public Schools will be open on Tuesday and operate normally.

"It may be spreading through the young population, but it's really hitting our seniors and our frail population at a larger rate," Bongiorno said. "That's what we're really trying to do is curb the spread as much as we can locally, in order to prevent it from getting to the more serious population."

With things evolving so fast, Arlington staffed a virus hotline at the town's health department Monday night to field questions from concerned and sometimes even panicky parents.

Another Biogen parent and their child have been asked to quarantine with their family until the test results are returned. The child attends Dallin Elementary, but has shown no symptoms.

A total of 41 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Massachusetts.

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