NORTHFIELD — Clustered around a telephone Friday morning, Pioneer Valley Regional School District’s superintendent, principals and nurse joined a conference call with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to discuss COVID-19 scenarios as the region makes efforts to reduce the spread of the virus.

As of Friday, individual districts have been given autonomy to decide whether to close one school or to close all schools in a district. Some of which have decided to do so.

Over the phone, DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley spoke about the currently available information and plans for the future.

“These cases (of COVID-19) seem at this time to be isolated geographically, and in fact, some school districts are experiencing no issues. That, however, does not mean the virus will not accelerate to other areas of the state if it hasn’t already,” Riley said. “At this time the administration is not asking for a statewide closure, but that could change in the future if circumstances change.”

Schools were advised not to require doctor’s notes for students who are sick.

Riley said COVID-19 is not connected to race, ethnicity or nationality, which school staff should be aware of.

“Staff should be aware that bullying, intimidation or harassment of students, staff or families based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin or disability — including the disability of being infected with COVID-19 or the perception of being infected — may result in a violation of state and federal civil rights laws,” Riley said.

Following Riley’s update, Commissioner Monica Bharel of the state Department of Health provided information about what’s being done and some scenarios the schools could find themselves in.

“We are taking deliberate proactive steps to protect the health of our residents and to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Bharel said. “Our goal is to reduce the spread in our communities and reduce the number of people infected. We are at a critical point in this outbreak. We are making recommendations that will have an impact on limiting the spread of disease in our community.”

She said the measures are based on the facts and evidence currently available in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many local public health care groups.

As of Friday, there are 108 COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts. The outbreak is “rapidly traveling globally and expanding in the United States and Massachusetts, though not all cases can be linked back to international travel or an isolated chain of transmission,” Bharel said.

Referencing data gathered from China, Bharel said, “roughly 80 percent of people who get the disease get a mild form of it — they don’t require hospitalization. About 15 percent have more severe symptoms requiring oxygen or some level of hospital care, and about 5 percent are people who become critically ill and have more complicated courses.”

“As community transmission of COVID-19 become more common, the public health approach shifts,” Bharel said.

When the virus first appeared, risk factors were associated with travel in areas where the virus was spreading, and at that time the approach was a “containment phase,” according to Bharel. A person would be tested and their contacts would be traced, with the focus being on containing the disease.

“In Massachusetts we have evidence of localized, regional community spread, so we’ve entered the phase of mitigation, where our goal is to limit community spread and decrease illnesses,” she said. “While we wait for the development of a vaccine … one of the tools we have to decrease this illness is prevention measures.”

Other updates relayed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education include:

■All of DESE’s monitoring and on-site assistance visits, except in a few special circumstances, have been suspended.

“We’re doing this because we want you to focus on what matters most — keeping your students and staff safe,” Riley said. “If you want our assistance, DESE will provide it virtually.”

■The United States Department of Agriculture has approved Massachusetts’ waiver request to allow schools where at least 50 percent of children are eligible for free or reduced lunch to continue providing meals to students, even if the school closes. Schools are allowed to serve them in formats such as grab-and-go for students to take home.

■There will be an update regarding the 10th grade English Language Arts MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) test, a window that runs from March 24 through April 2.

Reach Melina Bourdeau at mbourdeau@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.

Guidance to Elementary and Secondary Schools Regarding Covid 19 (1) by Melina Bourdeau on Scribd