Schools, libraries, and related activities to close through the weekend

On March 11, 2020, in Latest News, by The Somerville Times

Given the quickly evolving COVID-19 situation and the need to take every precaution possible to protect community health, the following buildings and programs will be closed Thursday through Sunday:

Somerville Public Schools and offices, including SCALE
All Somerville Public Library branches
All Department of Parks and Recreation activities
All activities held in Somerville Public School buildings
The Somerville Boxing Club

These closures will allow time for the Somerville Department of Public Works (DPW) to conduct a deep and thorough cleaning of all of these buildings. DPW will be utilizing new equipment that allows them to thoroughly clean and sanitize the buildings. Normal programming is expected to resume Monday, March 16.

Earlier today the Somerville Board of Health was informed of two presumptive positive COVID-19 cases in the city. Later this evening they were informed of a third presumptive positive case:

One involves a parent of a West Somerville Neighborhood School student and the spouse of a teacher at the school.
A second case involves the parent of an East Somerville Community School parent.
The third presumptive positive case is in a male Somerville resident.

All three cases appear to be linked to the Biogen conference held in Boston in February.

The Somerville Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) remains in regular contact with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and regional health agencies regarding COVID-19. The City’s interdepartmental Emergency Response staff are closely monitoring reports and information about the virus, continue to follow all public health recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state public health officials, and are closely following updates from the World Health Organization (WHO). Additional information about actions the City and Schools are taking, along with more information on COVID-19 and prevention measures, can be found at www.somervillema.gov/coronavirus, which is updated frequently.