SCARBOROUGH — Town Manager Tom Hall said on April 1 that two members of the town’s staff had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
He said that public employees are doing everything they can to figure out the source of exposure and are taking necessary precautions.
“Let that be a lesson to all of us that (Covid-19) is alive and well in our community,” he said.
The pair of employees join the one other known person who has contracted COVID-19 in Scarborough, in a case confirmed last month at the local Hannaford supermarket.
Hall did not identify the infected staff members, or describe their positions in-depth, but when asked later by The Forecaster if they normally worked in offices, he said both employees’ positions usually involve interactions with the public.
However, new protocols put in place by the town at least two weeks ago Hall said, meant that one employee works in what he called a “very isolated” environment. The other, he said, “is out in the field,” but was following the town’s rules forbidding direct contact with others in performing their duties, and did not need to interact with anyone.
Hall said the staff members were tested through their medical providers, as the town does not administer testing. He said the town has not considered establishing a system for staff testing, largely due to the nationwide lack of available test kits.
To his knowledge, no other town employee has been tested for the COVID-19 coronavirus, Hall said. Two other staff members suspected they had symptoms, but to his knowledge they have not been tested or confirmed and were self-isolating.
Hall said on Thursday, April 1 that he does not have data on how many Scarborough residents have tested positive, if any. Public safety officials have likely been informed, but he said that data is not being made available to the public.
Hall said that full-time staff have switched to working from home, and part-time staff have been furloughed, meaning they’ve been given a temporary leave of absence.
“As I look out over the next few weeks, I plan to keep the full-time staff with benefits,” he said.
He acknowledged that public safety employees are forced to be on the “front lines” during this pandemic, as they don’t have the option to self-quarantine.
In late March, Scarborough had decided to close the municipal lots to Ferry Beach and Higgins Beach, keeping only half of the Pine Point Beach parking lot open, in hopes of limiting groups visiting the beach to fewer than 10 people. That effort has been successful so far, Hall said.
“This is something we’ll have to monitor fairly closely,” he said.
Councilor Peter Hayes asked Hall about the decision process for closing public spaces, to which Hall responded that Gov. Janet Mills has been swift in taking action each time he felt a decision needed to be made, but he also said that he would include the Town Council in conversations regarding social distance regulations.
As of April 1, Hall said that he does not see the need to declare a state of emergency, but if the time comes, he can do so in a swift manner.
“We’re really trying to walk the fine line of following public experts and doing the right thing for the community in all respects and that’s certainly not an easy tight rope to walk,” he said.
As of March 26, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry approved the closing of select coastal state parks, including the Scarborough Beach State Park.
Hall also reminded the public that on April 8, there will be a special meeting about the joint municipal and school budgets for FY2021. While the information available to the public might not be as extensive as possible at that meeting, Hall said that the town will work to get more information out in the coming weeks.
Besides town updates, Councilor Betsy Gleysteen gave a shout-out to local nonprofit ProjectGRACE, and said that the organization’s website, scarboroughhelps.weebly.com has opportunities to both offer help and receive help.
Sean Murphy with The Forecaster contributed to this story.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
