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3/19/20 Selectboard Update on COVID-19

Posted on: March 19, 2020 - 7:26pm

Fire Chief John Bennett, our Emergency Management Director, held a briefing today for members of the Emergency Management Team. The Selectboard would like to share some key pieces of information with all residents.

The Princeton Fire and EMS departments and our medical directors have provided a primer for Dealing with COVID-19. It can be found on the Board of Health webpage and is linked to here. We encourage everyone to read it carefully.

Though several generous members of the community have offered to run errands and help others, we must ask you to stop. Unfortunately, you may be putting those you are helping more at risk. Without proper equipment and training, you may be transmitting the virus. If you are cooking for others in your home kitchen, you may additionally be putting people with food allergies at risk. We ask people who want to help others to pick up the phone and talk to your friends and neighbors. If you want to do more, consider a donation to one of our local restaurants/delis or our food pantry (through the Council on Aging).

Aimee Kindorf and Nickole Boardman at the Council on Aging will be working to set up one-on-one assistance for those who are most vulnerable. Volunteers with this program will be trained by Emergency Management personnel on protocols to follow and shown how to use personal protective equipment correctly. A volunteer will work with only one person or family to contain the spread of this virus. Senior citizens, especially with co-morbid conditions like cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, etc., are strongly urged to accept this help. We know you are independent and don’t want to be a burden. However, it doesn’t help anyone if you get sick. Please do your part by accepting assistance. More information will be forthcoming on this program.

We ask people of all ages to self-isolate and maintain safe social distancing. That means:

  • no play dates
  • no study groups
  • no sleepovers
  • only remote meetings
  • maintaining distance of 6’ apart while hiking/walking

To reduce the likelihood of accidental contamination, we are closing all playgrounds in Town.

All nurses in Town are requested to contact the Board of Health.

If you haven’t signed up for CODE RED yet, we encourage you to do so online. If you can’t do it online, please ask a friend or one of the contacts below to do it for you. If you didn’t receive several calls in the past week from John Bennett, you are not signed up for Code Red.

We also encourage you to sign up for Town-Wide news online and select Town Alerts.

If you have any questions, please contact Town Administrator Sherry Patch (townadministrator@town.princeton.ma.us, 978-464-2102) or Selectboard Chair Karen Cruise (selectmen@town.princeton.ma.us, 978-852-2709).