There are now eight active COVID-19 cases in Marion, including one positive case identified at Sippican School on November 3, the day the Marion Board of Health met for a brief meeting via Zoom.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases now total 31 in Marion, a town that had thus far been an isolated ‘gray’ spot amongst a sea of red on the state’s COVID-19 Community-Level Data Map.
“Marion has seen a spike of cases in the last few days,” said Public Health Nurse Lori Desmarais, a trend seen throughout the rest of the state. “We are on top of the cases,” she said, adding that she is the one leading the contact tracing efforts. “Obviously, as a community, we are very concerned.”
“Quite a change, unfortunately, from earlier in the summer,” commented Board of Health Chairman Dr. Edward Hoffer.
Board of Health member Dot Brown wondered aloud whether Marion might see another spike in cases over the coming days resulting from Halloween activities. She said there were a lot of people out trick-or-treating in the village area of Marion, “And most were masked, but they were all pretty close together, so I’m wondering if we might have issues from that.”
“Well, we won’t know for a while,” said Hoffer.
The superintendent of schools and Marion Town Administrator Jay McGrail sent out an announcement that day informing the public of a third confirmed COVID-19 case at Sippican School, which brings the total of confirmed cases connected to Tri-Town schools up to eight.
According to Desmarais, none of those cases, including Sippican School, resulted from direct transmission from contact inside the school. All school-related cases were traced to contact outside of school. Those who had close contact with the positive cases have been contacted and advised to self-isolate.
As for Tabor Academy, “They are doing quite well,” said Desmarais. Tabor has completed several rounds of testing, all with “good results,” she stated.
“Tabor is continuing to do all the steps they have in place, and it has been very successful,” Desmarais said. As part of its COVID-19 risk mitigation plan, Tabor students will break for Thanksgiving on November 20 but will not return back to campus until after the New Year in January to minimize the risk of transmission through traveling back and forth for the Thanksgiving holiday break and then again for winter vacation.
In his update, Health Agent David Flaherty Jr. reported that there had been no recent complaints about food establishments filed in Marion. However, he has received several complaints about people not wearing masks.
“People are concerned with teenagers and other people that feel as though they don’t need to wear masks in public,” Mr. Flaherty said. He remains in contact with the Police Department regarding the issue. He will continue to do so, especially with Governor Charlie Baker’s November 2 orders that call for all people over age 5 to wear masks in public, even when social distaining of at least 6 feet is possible – which includes outdoor public spaces, Flaherty underscored. “So, that should prove to be interesting,” he said.
Before adjourning the meeting, Desmarais reported that the drive-thru Flu clinics the Town hosted on October 8 and 23 were successful. In all, 244 people received Flu vaccinations from the comfort of their vehicles. Desmarais said she considers the experience to be a “dry run” for when COVID-19 vaccines are finally made available. “It worked well,” she said. “It seemed to go very smoothly.”
The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health is scheduled for November 17 at 4:00 pm.
Marion Board of Health
By Jean Perry