Boston Marathon ‘proceeding as planned’ as spread of coronavirus is monitored, BAA says
Other races, including the Tokyo Marathon, have altered events due to the outbreak of the new virus.
The Boston Athletic Association says it is “carefully monitoring” updates on the spread of the novel coronavirus, but the 2020 Boston Marathon is “proceeding as planned” for April 20.
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Health officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that it is only a matter of time before the new virus, COVID-19, spreads more widely in the United States as the global outbreak grows. On Wednesday, U.S. officials announced a new confirmed case of the virus in Northern California that has no known connection to travel abroad or to another known case.
“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen — and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the CDC said Tuesday.
Health officials say the risk to residents in Massachusetts for coronavirus remains low.
“The Boston Athletic Association is carefully monitoring developments related to coronavirus and the 2020 Boston Marathon is proceeding as planned,” the BAA said in a statement on Wednesday. “We will continue to closely follow updates from organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Public Health, and World Health Organization, and will adhere to any policies put forth by the federal government. We have no further comment at the moment but will continue to monitor the situation carefully.”
Organizers of the Tokyo Marathon have restricted the March 1 race to elite athletes over concerns about the coronavirus, and, earlier this month, the entire Hong Kong marathon was canceled due to the outbreak.
Countries across the globe are instituting new measures in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus, which has sickened around 82,000 people, including the closure of schools across Japan. For the first time, officials said Thursday, the number of new cases diagnosed outside of China, where the outbreak originated, surpassed the cases confirmed inside China.
Only one case has been confirmed in Massachusetts, in a man who had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. He remains in a self-quarantine and is recovering, officials said Wednesday.
Bay State officials have been monitoring more than 600 people under self-quarantine, looking for symptoms of the illness. Monitoring extends over a 14-day period. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, and a cough, and officials say symptoms could appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus, which is spread through respiratory droplets, similar to the flu.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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