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WINCHENDON - Winchendon public schools have been closed until further notice because a staff member came into contact with someone who may have contracted the COVID-19 virus, Superintendent Joan Landers announced Wednesday.

Landers said she is canceling school and all school events, including parent-teacher conferences, effective immediately.

"No staff should report to school until further notice," she said.

Landers directed people to the school website, www.winchendonk12.org, for further information and updates.

"The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is an evolving situation that we are following closely and will continue to update you as information is shared with us," Landers said.

"Please rest assured that we are monitoring student health concerns. We will be in close communication with the local Board of Health, Massachusetts Department of Public Health/School Health Unit, as well as pediatric health care providers in the community. Our School Facilities Department will vigilantly sanitize our educational spaces as we typically do during the cold and flu season. We are following all recommended guidelines to ensure the safety of our students and staff," she said.

Dawn Casavant, vice president of external affairs at Heywood Hospital, said Wednesday that no cases have been diagnosed there.

When questioned earlier, Casavant said the hospital has not conducted tests on-site but has used the federal and state guidance for systematic triage. She said there are test kits on hand and so far everything is going well.

When questioned about whether the hospital has a good supply of testing kits, Casavant replied that as of Tuesday, "We have not had to use any of our kits."

Casavant said the hospital has adopted many cautionary measures in case anyone comes in with flu-like symptoms or may have been exposed to anyone in the areas of outbreak or concern.

"They are immediately taken care of really to prevent anything from spreading from them to someone else," she said.

Casavant said hand hygiene is being pushed.

A COVID-19 task force that meets daily consists of all the direct service providers, infectious disease specialists, the infection prevention team, communication and administration to review the situation at the hospital every day.

Information has been posted on the hospital website, www.heywood.org, and Heywood infectious disease specialist Dr. Vinod Mohan has posted a video on the hospital's Facebook page with information on COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.