Published in the July 14, 2020 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – As of yesterday, there have been 322 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wakefield and 31 deaths, according to Health Director Ruth Clay. Clay was one of several town officials who appeared at the Town Council meeting last night to provide COVID-related updates.
Clay also noted that three new cases surfaced yesterday, which she called “unusual,” bringing the number of currently active cases in town to six.
She said that all contact tracing in now being handled by Public Health Nurse Karen Cronin. Previously, school nurses had been assisting with the task.
Clay said that about $8,000 to $9,000 remains of funding that was given to the health district to help with COVID-19. She said that she is working with Emergency Management Director Tom Walsh to determine the best ways to use the remaining cash, which must be spent by the end of August.
She said that the Health Department has been responding to complaints of people not wearing masks and restaurants with seating that’s less than six feet apart. She also said that the department has gone back to doing routine restaurant inspections.
Walsh provided an update on how town buildings and departments are handling re-entry.
Town Hall is open 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. He said that all protective measures are now in place, including a “greeter” at the Town Hall entrance, recording who enters for contact tracing purposes. He said that Town hall has been seeing between 30 and 100 visitors a day.
The Americal Civic Center is also open, Walsh said, and the Recreation Department has re-started some of its programs within state guidelines. All renters in the building have also been abiding by state guidelines, Walsh said.
The Public Safety Building and the Police and Fire departments are fully functioning, Walsh said. He noted that the police have been catching up with a backlog of requests for firearms permits.
Beebe Library has been doing curbside pickup and will soon begin home delivery of materials in cooperation with the Council on Aging. Walsh said that due to the nature of the business and the amount of touching of materials and equipment, he expects the library to be one of the last buildings to open for normal operations.
Library Director Catherine McDonald said that Board of Library Trustees has come up with a phased plan for bringing services back. Children’s librarians at Beebe Library have been in contact with school librarians to try to coordinate service to local students.
Senior Center staff has been taking people to appointments and the building on Converse Street has opened its computer room and gym for use by one person at a time, Walsh said, after which cleaning and sanitization is done before the next user.
Walsh said that he does not see a return to normalcy “for some time,” and doesn’t see any public gatherings happening in the near future.
Asked about schools reopening in the fall, Walsh noted that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is requiring every district to create three education plans for September, including in-person instruction with physical distancing, a hybrid of some students learning in person and some learning remotely, and only distance (virtual) learning.
Maio said that he would be on a Zoom meeting this morning with state Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley where he hoped to gain more insight into the reopening of schools in the fall.
Councilor Julie Smith-Galvin asked about the portable toilets that were located near Hall Park and the Spaulding Street Playground prior to COVID-19. She said there was a real need for them and asked Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio to look into the possibility of bringing them back.
