Reading, MA- March 16, 2020 – The Town of Reading and Reading Board of Health are working closely to address COVID-19. Our response is in alignment with the Emergency Actions announced by the Baker-Polito administration on March 15, 2020, and previous Executive Orders. Click here for details.
To date, there have been no positive or presumptive positive cases reported to the Town.
The Board of Health issues the following:
- Town Hall will be closed to the public effective immediately until March 27, however, employees will continue to report to work. This closure extends to all uses, including night meetings, with limited exceptions. To access Town Hall services, please visit ReadingMA.gov or call (781) 942-9001. The Fire and Police departments remain operational.
- The Reading Food Pantry delivered individual bags to clients before temporarily closing from March 17 to March 31.
- Walk-in service to the Police department for compost stickers has been suspended until further notice.
- Burn permit requests should be placed by calling the Fire Department at (781)942-3132. Walk-in service will be suspended until further notice.
- Restaurants that remain open for take-out / delivery operations are advised to notify the Health Agent, Laura Vlasuk, if and when they close. They are advised to remove chairs or tape-off tables to prevent in-person gatherings.
- Businesses are encouraged to use financial transactions that minimize circulating cash/change through multiple persons (e.g., online apps, over-the-phone payments, credit cards, checks, exact change rather than circulating cash from one customer to another).
- Organizations such as childcare facilities, gyms, and churches are strongly urged to suspend operations. Guidance can be found on the MA Department of Public Health (DPH) and mitigation plans published by the Centers for Disease Control (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf). If childcare facilities plan to close, they are required to contact the Health Department. Please include the business address with that notification.
We ask residents to continue their efforts to minimize the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in our local community by practicing social distancing. While we expect the majority of cases to be mild, residents can help protect those at greater risk by slowing transmission as much as possible. This helps to ensure that, if and when cases occur, healthcare facilities have capacity to treat individuals.
The Board of Health continues to collaborate with the Town and Commonwealth and will update the community as necessary.
