(Editor’s note: this article was updated on April 9.)
Lincoln officials plan to postpone the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) until at least May 30 as Lincoln’s Covid-19 caseload has risen to nine residents, including two at The Commons.
Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean reported on April 6 that there were eight “lab-confirmed” cases reported so far (the ninth was reported in a town communique on April 7). This does not include cases “where the doctor says ‘It sounds like Covid’” but the patient has not been tested, she said. McGean added that she would not be informed of cases among town employees who don’t live in Lincoln; however, the public health nurse in their towns of residence would do contact tracing for those patients, which would include co-workers but not customers who hadn’t been in close contact with the person.
- Click here to see previous Lincoln Squirrel articles about Covid-19 in Lincoln
Five of the eight cases reported as of April 6 have recovered; one is in the hospital and the other two are in isolation, McGean said. Lincoln emergency response personnel who were in contact with individuals who subsequently tested positive have subsequently tested negative.
McGean noted that, at the recommendation of the state Department of Public health, some towns have stopped publicly posting their case numbers because the figures underrepresent the true number of cases in the community and may lead to a false sense of security. However, Lincoln officials will continue to report the figures.
“We don’t believe there would be any complacency,” Town Administrator Tim Higgins said at the April 6 Board of Selectmen meeting.
“As much information as we can provide to the community is critical. I don’t see a downside to doing it,” said board chair Jennifer Glass.
Continuing to report cases “provides some measure of the spread rate of the virus and one additional data point for residents to consult when making personal health decisions,” McGean said in the April 7 update.
The Commons has taken extra protective measures for residents in their memory care unit as outlined in a March 31 letter to families. This builds on measures outlined in an earlier letter, when there was one case reported at the facility. These include:
- assigning dedicated staff to care for memory care residents
- utilizing a separate entrance into the community, where possible, and having them avoid visiting other communal areas
- implementing enhanced employee and resident engagement activities to maintain safety, structure, dignity, and connection for memory care residents
Town meeting
Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden this week postponed the Annual Town Meeting to May 23 with the ultimate goal (for now) of postponing to May 30. The change has to happen in two steps because state law allows postponements of no longer than 30 days at a time. Towns are required to hold their ATMs no more than 30 days after the lifting of the governor’s state of emergency, which currently extends to May 4.
“Public health and safety will be the determining factor in deciding whether we need to postpone beyond May 30. The moderator and the selectmen will not bring people together before the state has lifted the state of emergency and large gatherings are allowed,” the board said on April 9.
The Special Town Meeting for voting on restoring items to the school building project and the ATM will now be combined into a single streamlined meeting, which may include an online budget presentation that residents can watch ahead of time. The meeting will almost certainly be limited to votes on financial items, with the rest of the agenda postponed to a Special Town Meeting in the fall.
The town had originally hoped to have the school vote before June 1. If construction begins as scheduled in June and the fate of the school items is still up in the air, it might be possible to start without those items but include them later by creating a change order. It wasn’t clear on Monday what additional cost, if any, that process would incur.
The local election is now tentatively planned for June 1. State election officials have said that towns can postpone local elections to an undetermined date as long as they occur by June 30. Local voting normally must be done in person only, but early voting by mail will now be allowed.