POSTED: Tuesday, April 7, 2020 at 8:50 p.m.
NORTH READING — As of today, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has notified the town of 35 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North Reading. Of that total, 13 cases have recovered and the Health Department continues to monitor 21 cases. One person has died.
On Monday, April 6, the Board of Health approved an order regarding essential business in North Reading, effective Wednesday, April 8, as follows:
LIMITING CUSTOMERS IN STORES AS FOLLOWS:
• Walmart and Stop & Shop – 50 customers or less
• Ocean State Job Lot – 25 customers or less
• Dollar Tree, CVS, Walgreen’s, hardware stores, liquor stores, convenience stores and other essential businesses – 10 customers or less.
Establishments subject to this order must provide one individual at the main entryway to the establishment during all hours the establishment is open to the public who shall be responsible for keeping count of patrons and preventing entry by greater than the number of customers stated.
• All essential businesses are encouraged to utilize curbside pickup.
• Restaurants offering takeout are limited to no more than 10 customers in the restaurant at a time.
• Violations of these restrictions on the number of persons allowed within the physical workplace and facility may include, but not be limited to, civil fines of up to $1,000.
• To read the full order, please click here:
MVES Meals on Wheels interruption
The town was advised that a disruption in the supply of meals provided by the Mystic Valley Elder Services (MVES) “Meals on Wheels” service occurred on Tuesday, April 7. As a result, many clients did not receive their meal today, however town officials were also informed that all clients had previously been provided five frozen meals to be utilized for such instance. MVES subsequently identified an alternate supplier for meal delivery, which will resume tomorrow (Wednesday, April 8).
Human services hotline
• Individual residents in need of assistance at home are encouraged to reach out to “In This Together 01864” at https://sites.google.com/view/inthistogether01864/home
• The town has established a human service hotline at 978-357-5300 for residents who prefer to call Town Hall. Please leave a message if your call is not answered and your call will be returned.
Walking paths open; all other facilities closed
The following facilities are the only public parks or recreational facilities open in town. Social distancing restrictions remain in effect and require individuals to be six feet or more away from each other while utilizing the parks and to not congregate in groups of more than 10 people:
• Ipswich River Park – walking paths only
• Arthur J. Kenney Field – track only
• Eisenhaure Pond Park – walking paths only
“It is the town’s desire to keep these facilities open; however, that is only possible if social distancing is being respected. Families are asked to understand that their or their child’s visit to the park is welcome and encouraged, but either planned or coincidental group visits are detrimental to the town’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19,” stated Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto.
In order to reduce the opportunity for transmission of the COVID-19 virus, all other Parks and Recreation Department and School Department parks, fields, play structures and recreational amenities are closed through Monday, May 3.
For previous COVID-19 updates from the Town of North Reading, please click here: https://www.northreadingma.gov/home/news/town-north-reading-coronavirus-covid-%E2%80%93-19-information
