Published July 9, 2020

By ALLIE HASTINGS

LAUREN GULBICKI (Courtesy Photo)

NORTH READING — The Board of Health (BOH) and the Health Department in North Reading has had to face an array of difficult tasks, administrative changes, and public health issues within the last nine months, specifically in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Comprised of three volunteer members appointed by the Select Board – Chairman Gary Hunt, Pamela Vath and Karen Martin – the BOH is given the authority under state law to oversee the town’s Health Department and Director of Public Health, and to make “reasonable rules and regulations to educate, promote and protect the public health and well-being” of North Reading’s citizens. In practice, the board works in conjunction with the town’s Health Director, Bob Bracey, and his Administrative Assistant, Stephanie Connolly, to accomplish these goals. This pandemic has significantly increased their workload and they have been holding public meetings remotely on weekly basis, rather than monthly, to keep pace with these changes. They hope to maintain a bi-weekly schedule now that summer is here.

Lauren Gulbicki, a North Reading High School graduate of the class of 2018, joined the Health Department as an intern for the summer to help the community deal with the global issue of the COVID-19 pandemic on a local level. As state policies and social distancing procedures are changing on a weekly – if not daily – basis, the Health Department and BOH have been striving to pay close attention to these updates to keep all community members informed on the correct and most up-to-date news and protocol developments.

This effort has led to the creation of three separate pages on the town website dedicated to COVID-19, with Gulbicki’s assistance, to address the nature of the virus, social distancing protocols, and the stages of Massachusetts’s reopening process.

These pages are helping community members access important details on information relating to COVID-19. The first, titled “COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Information,” includes useful links and general updates, and also tracks reported and suspected cases of the virus which have been found in North Reading. The second page, called “COVID-19 Command Center Updates,” includes more specifics on these numbers, and the third, “COVID-19 Reopening Massachusetts,” addresses additional phased steps for reopening and clarifies which local establishments may be allowed to reopen at this time.

All three of these tabs can be located to the left of the Health Department’s section on the town website, at https://www.northreadingma.gov/health-department.

Gulbicki has specifically worked over the last month to enhance these pages, collecting information from the Massachusetts database and guidance from BOH members in a collaborative effort to restore a sense of security to the town.

“Our idea with the website was to create a page that would provide an extra resource for town residents so that it’s more user-friendly and easier to navigate,” Gulbicki said, noting that information posted to the state government website can feel overwhelming to rifle through.

All of the board members praised Gulbicki’s efforts during a recent virtual meeting.

Gulbicki was happy to land this summer position with North Reading’s Board of Health, especially given the uncertainty that sprung up in the wake of COVID-19. She is currently a rising junior at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where she intends to major in Neuroscience with a minor in Public Health.

As unfortunate and devastating as the pandemic has been, Gulbicki is glad that more people are paying attention to public health and she is grateful to be learning more about her chosen career field.

“It’s been really interesting to be a student right now, as this is something we’ve never lived through, and our professors have never lived through,” she explains.

Other changes that the BOH and Health Department have undergone within the last year include the retirement of the former public health nurse, whose role was subsequently filled temporarily by Vath through the end of this month, and the employment of Connolly, who took over last November for Amy DiChiara as the board’s Administrative Assistant after DiChiara was promoted to serve as the Executive Assistant to the town’s Director of Public Works.

A Subcommittee on COVID-19 has also recently been formed by the BOH with the intention of discussing what the process of reopening will look like for local businesses, restaurants, and North Reading’s public schools.

As it is now summer and kids are out of classes, many people may be feeling the urge to host group activities and barbecues as normal, but Gulbicki hopes that town residents will continue to listen to public health experts in the weeks and months to come, following the proper social distancing protocols.

“COVID is still very real”

“This experience has shown to us that we do need insight from experts in their field. We need the knowledge from scientists and public health experts and epidemiologists. COVID is still very real – it hasn’t gone away, and it’s very much still affecting our part of the community in the country,” Gulbicki said.

Contact tracing of COVID-19

If a person in North Reading is tested and confirmed positive for the virus, both the state and local Board of Health will be notified, as part of the larger “contact tracing” effort that is being implemented to contain the virus and keep track of its spread. Individuals who test positive will then receive a phone call from the local BOH and will be asked questions about the state of their symptoms and the public spaces they have recently inhabited.

From there, additional phone calls may be made to local restaurants and businesses that the individual visited in-person so that other community members at-risk of contracting the virus may be notified. Anyone who has been exposed or may be susceptible to testing positive for the virus is strongly advised to self-isolate and remain quarantined for at least 14 days.

Face coverings required

As of May 18, North Reading’s Board of Health required all community members over the age of 2 to wear face coverings when in public settings in town. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that people wash their hands often and maintain a physical distance of six feet from others to prevent the spread of the virus.

Individuals who may be experiencing any of the symptoms related to COVID-19 – including cough, fever, shortness of breath, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, body aches and nausea – are advised to contact their doctor or local medical provider for further guidance. Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 14 days after initial exposure.