WISCASSET — The Wiscasset town office closed Monday until further notice after an employee started exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
According to Dennis Simmons, Wiscasset town manager, the employee tested negative through a rapid COVID-19 test on Monday. The results of a second test hadn’t been received as of Tuesday.
“We’re waiting for their test results to come back and if they’re negative, we’ll reopen as soon as that happens,” Simmons said Tuesday.
The employee was last at work on Monday morning but didn’t interact with any residents, Simmons said.
Face masks are required in the town office, per Gov. Janet Mills’ executive order, and plexiglass was installed to separate town employees and patrons, Simmons said.
“It’s hard not to take this as seriously as possible,” Simmons said. “We’re doing this out of an abundance of caution.”
Simmons said only the town office is closed and all other municipal buildings remain open. During the closure, residents can access services at wiscasset.org.
The town has kept its COVID-19 case numbers low since the pandemic reached Maine in March 2020.
Wiscasset, with a population of 4,539, had seen 43 COVID-19 cases as of Dec. 27, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Similarly, Lincoln County has seen the second fewest COVID-19 cases in the state, with 321 cases since March as of Tuesday. Lincoln County sits above only Piscataquis County, which has seen just 129 COVID-19 cases, according to the Maine CDC.
COVID-19 cases across Maine have continued to rise since November.
State health officials reported 597 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, a sharp increase from the previous three days, which saw numbers in the 300s, the Portland Press Herald reported. Nine additional Mainers died of COVID-19.
According to the Maine CDC, the seven-day new case average was 168 on Dec. 1. By Dec. 30, the seven-day average shot to 590 new cases. On Tuesday, the seven-day average sat at 597.
Since the pandemic began, 26,565 people have tested positive in Maine for COVID-19 and 369 Mainers have died.
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