WOOLWICH — The Woolwich town office closed Monday until further notice. The closure comes after employees were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 and a town employee tested positive on Monday.
According to Kim Dalton, Woolwich town administrator, a contractor working in the town office on Dec. 8 began showing symptoms of COVID-19 and tested positive for the virus on Dec. 12.
Dalton said one town employee started experiencing symptoms over the weekend and tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.
“Everyone in the town office has been tested and no one has received their results yet except for the one town employee who did test positive,” Dalton said. “Once we get negative tests back, we don’t need to quarantine. Hopefully, we’ll be able to reopen later this week or on Monday at the latest.”
During the closure, residents can access services at woolwich.us/.
Dalton said people are required to wear face masks while in the town office, per Gov. Janet Mills’ executive order. Town employees also are separated from the public by plexiglass and physical distancing is enforced.
“We’re taking all the precautions necessary and we hope the people who did test positive have a speedy recovery,” Dalton said.
Woolwich has seen relatively few COVID-19 cases since the pandemic reached Maine in March. The town of 3,230 residents had just nine COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Similarly, Sagadahoc County has seen 211 cases, 146 of which have recovered, and no deaths as of Tuesday. Sagadahoc County has the third fewest COVID-19 cases in the state, just above Lincoln and Piscataquis counties.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has remained manageable locally, statewide cases have continued to spike since last month. State health officials reported another 411 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and six additional deaths.
The seven-day daily average of new cases stood at 388 on Tuesday, compared to 298 a week ago, 181 a month ago and 28 cases two months ago. In six of the last nine days, cases have topped 400, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Statewide cases have risen to 16,760. Of those, 10,614 have recovered but 265 have died as of Tuesday, the Maine CDC reported.
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