Many Franklin County towns have reported no new COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks ending Oct. 28, but a few have seen upticks, including Greenfield and Buckland, and Athol in the North Quabbin area.
The town of Erving has reported people, including staff and those doing business in Town Hall, were potentially exposed to COVID-19 between Saturday, Oct. 17, and Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Administrative Coordinator Bryan Smith said that after months with five or fewer cases, Erving saw an increase, with three new cases reported last week.
“We’re not positive about how it started,” Smith said. “We became aware of the case in Town Hall and immediately shut it down. We asked all staff to quarantine and get tested, especially if they were in close contact with the person.”
The state Department of Public Health reported this week that Erving has five or fewer positive cases, but Smith said he believes that will increase a bit next week when the state reports individual city and town numbers for the past two weeks — state reporting appears to lag by a week or two.
Smith said contact tracing is being done to identify and communicate with those who might have been exposed at Town Hall and the people they have potentially exposed since. He said Erving is a member of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG), so its contact tracing team led by Regional Public Health Nurse Lisa White is doing the work.
The town has been holding early voting in Town Hall, so that had to come to a halt last Thursday, but it reopened Friday, Oct. 23. Smith said the risk for voters is considered low at this point, but it is recommended that people who did business in Town Hall between the dates given monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, consult their medical providers and stay home if they don’t feel well. Anyone who develops symptoms should seek medical attention.
A company was also hired to deep clean the entire building, Smith said. Daily sanitization of Town Hall has continued, as has been the case since March.
Early voting has resumed and alternative staff have been brought in to conduct the election. The Selectboard has decided to keep Town Hall closed to employees and all regular business, except voting, until Nov. 5.
Smith said the town had been talking about allowing people into Town Hall within a week or two to do business — currently Erving Town Hall opens a service window on Tuesdays and Thursdays so people can do business from outside — but will have to pause and consider whether that is a good idea right now.
“We had to resume voting,” Smith said. “That was very important.”
Greenfield, which is considered “moderate risk” by the Department of Public Health, reported an uptick a little over a week ago after learning that an indoor gathering in a neighboring town led to seven new cases, including a Greenfield firefighter. In addition to the seven positive cases, 38 people were quarantining because they were at the gathering.
But officials said there have been other cases, as well, that weren’t associated with that event. This week the state reported a total of 11 new cases over the past two weeks.
City officials and the Greenfield Health Department have been contact tracing to make sure everyone is contacted and are either being tested or quarantining.
Mayor Roxann Wedegartner suggests residents, visitors and others continue taking precautions that include wearing masks, social distancing, regular hand-washing and gathering in small groups outside whenever possible.
The Department of Public Health also reports that Buckland, which is considered “higher risk” at the moment, has seen an increase in new cases over the past two weeks. Six new cases were reported — five during the first week and one the second week.
A person there was diagnosed with the virus and, according to FRCOG Regional Health Agent Randy Crochier, contract tracing has been done to identify and test the people that person has been in contact with recently.
“The person who contracted COVID-19 had a lot of contacts, so nurses began contact tracing,” he said. “Those who have been found have been placed in quarantine.”
Crochier said he hopes to see change over the next two weeks.
“Hopefully, we only have a limited number or better yet, no new cases to report,” he said in a letter to Buckland residents that can be found on the town’s website.
He said he hopes Buckland goes back to “gray,” which would mean there have been no new cases for two weeks.
“If we continue to see positive cases and have three consecutive weeks of red, there will likely be community restrictions implemented by the state,” he wrote. “With three weeks as a ‘red’ community, we would revert back to a Phase 3, Step 1 community. While this has little direct implications in Buckland, we certainly prefer to not go backward in the reopening of our town after all the hard work you have done as a community to keep your neighbors safe.”
As of Thursday, Athol had reported 12 active cases of COVID-19. The town’s Board of Health was informed by Health Agent Deb Vondal on Tuesday. Nine new ones have been reported since Oct. 24.
“The transmission is all over the place,” Vondal said. “But what stands out also, and the people have to remember this, there is a lot of household transmission. I’ve said this before: if somebody tests positive for COVID — in their house, in their apartment, wherever you are — in some cases — in lots of cases, it seems — it’s hard to totally isolate from other members of your family. So, there is transmission to the other people.”
For more information, visit frcog.org or the state Department of Health at bit.ly/3jEePFf.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.