GARDNER — During these unprecedented times of self-quarantine and social distancing, there are still a few professions that involve getting up close and personal with residents who are often in distress — namely, firefighters, EMTs and other first responders.

These men and women are working on the front lines of the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and some of them have had to make certain adjustments to protect themselves and the residents they serve.

“We’ve taken a few steps,” said Gardner Fire Chief Richard Ares. “Probably the biggest one affecting the public is that we have closed the fire station to the general public, at least until further notice. We’re trying to keep everyone has healthy as possible.”

In addition to screening all 911 calls to find out if firefighters or EMTs would be responding to an individual who was showing symptoms or who may have been exposed to someone with symptoms, Ares said his employees are using all of the necessary protective equipment and gear to decrease their own chance of exposure to the virus. And just like everyone is (or should be) doing, he said fire personnel are taking extra precautions to ensure their workspace is a virus-free area.

“We are taking steps to clean and disinfect the firehouse a few times a day, because obviously we want to make sure our staff stays are as healthy as possible so we can provide service to the public,” Ares said.

Officials are urging anyone who calls 911, or for an ambulance directly because they have a fever, dry cough or are experiencing other flu-like symptoms, to notify the dispatcher immediately.

“And even if they call for something else like a fire alarm, if there’s someone in the house that’s quarantined, let us know so that at least we can take the proper precautions,” Ares said. “We’re still going to come, we’re still going to respond to their emergency, but we can take specific precautions based on the potential health threat.”

Ares also pointed out that while all of these new precautions and guidelines might be new to the general public, they remain a normal safety routine for first responders.

“We’re used to wearing protective equipment, we do it all the time, so this is a matter of just ramping up protective equipment that’s just a little bit different, but we’re used to using respirators, putting on the rubber gloves, and that sort of thing,” Ares said. “So it’s not as much of a learning curve for us to don personal protective equipment because we do it every day anyway.”

Andrew Gibbs, the human resources manager for Wood’s Ambulance in Gardner, agreed, saying that his employees are following guidelines already in place while dealing with the current coronavirus pandemic.

“We have established protocols for tuberculosis patients or any other patients with infectious diseases, so we are already utilizing established procedures,” Gibbs explained, adding that his company is also actively reviewing its administrative policies to assist its employees when it comes to informing the public about hand hygiene and other health precautions they can take to help prevent the spread of the virus. “There’s been a lot of communication going on, which is good.”

Gibbs reiterated that anyone calling for emergency services should immediately notify the dispatcher if they or if anyone else in their household is displaying any symptoms of COVID-19.

“It’s very important that they let us know if they have a fever or a dry cough or just difficulty breathing, it’s very important they let the dispatcher know that so they can communicate it to the crew, because a lot of the times we’re not going into emergency scenes with full protective gear on, but if we know (the information) ahead of time, we can be prepared for it,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs said the biggest challenge currently facing his crews is the shortage of protective gear, in particular the N95 respirator masks.

“We’ve noticed that every single medical supplier is out because the public has purchased quite a few of them, so it’s making it hard for us to find extra supplies,” explained Gibbs, who added that most people don’t understand that training is required to use the mask properly. “The N95 mask isn’t for the person who is sick, it’s for the provider. A regular surgical mask is fine to go on the person that is sick, but the N95 mask filters out everything for the provider who is in the vicinity of the person who is sick.”

Although his department has transported some individuals who were suspected of coming into contact with the coronavirus, Ares said the number of people has been fairly low. He said he believes that Greater Gardner residents are heeding the advice of professional health officials and doing their part to self-isolate during the crisis.

“I think people may have symptoms so they call their own physician because they don’t want to overwhelm the ambulance services or the emergency rooms,” Ares said. He said some doctors have been directing certain patients to a remote testing site at Heywood Hospital.

Ares said he thinks that Gardner residents are handling the current crisis about as well as could be hoped under the circumstances.

“I think both the city government and all the city departments are all working together, and I think the citizens, from what I’ve seen, are taking this seriously — as they should — and doing the things that officials are suggesting about the social distancing and cutting back on gatherings and that sort of thing,” Ares said.

By the way, residents might want to note another casualty of the coronavirus shutdown — the Gardner Fire Department has stopped doing routing home inspections until further notice, according to Ares, who added that certain exemptions could be made in emergency situations.

“But we stopped doing the routine checks for home sales and other things, at least until we see where this is going,” Ares said.

Senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler have faced calls to resign after it was revealed that the Republican lawmakers sold off stock holdings before the COVID-19 epidemic crashed markets.

Both of the senators reportedly attended briefings on the novel coronavirus outbreak and publicly sought to calm nerves as they dumped chunks of their portfolios ahead of market turmoil in March.

ProPublica reported on Thursday night that North Carolina Sen. Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, sold between $628,000 and $1.7 million worth of stock on February 13.

The stock dump came days after he co-authored a Fox News op-ed claiming the United States was "better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus."

Bulletin 2020-1: Emergency Expenditures Related to COVID-19 The Division of Local Services has issued Bulletin 2020-1 regarding Emergency Expenditures Related to COVID-19 under G.L. c. 44, § 31 and Emergency Short-term Borrowing under G.L. c. 44, § 8(9).  Please click here to view this important information.

from United States Treasury Secretary:

"We are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15," Secretary Steven Mnuchin tweeted. "All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties."

He said he was acting at President Donald Trump's direction.

The White House had announced previously that it would defer tax payments for 90 days but that Americans would still need to file by April 15.

Now the deadline will be extended into the summer.

Mnuchin said Americans with refunds should still file now.

"I encourage all taxpayers who may have tax refunds to file now to get your money," he wrote.

As of 4:30 P.M. on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, Templeton Town Hall is now like many other local "public" buildings; closed to the public. Message is if you need something, try online first, email or phone. You may be able to make an appointment, for things like needed home inspections, to buy, sell a home, install a new furnace, etc. If you want to try to keep up with corona, for MA information, try MA.gov/corona. There is a 2 1 1 number, my experience so far, can take a while to get through.

The state announced it is pushing out a total of 5 million dollars, aimed to help local boards of health to do some of the many things that may come about with the corona. Cleaning supplies, visits, follow ups, etc. Any costs may not now have to come from local budgets.

With all the hype of how much TP to buy, don't forget the others.

Monday afternoon, I called Gardner animal shelter and listened to recording and I left a message.


Got a call this morning, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, from Gardner Animal control; building is closed to public for now, fuckin corona, they have a big donation box to leave stuff, I am bringing 100 lbs food and some other things. Best part is, if they get overstocked, they call other places such as veteran organization to help out with some who may need some help in feeding fido. They act like food banks, they help and share when they can to help many, so maybe skip that 300 hundredth roll of tp and drop some food off for the 4 legged boys and girls who are already in lock down. 

The donation box is not large enough to hold big stuff, but you can leave things by the front door. This is one of those things you can do if you feel like helping out the community. 

from website of Massachusetts Municipal Association

At 5:40 p.m. yesterday, Gov. Charlie Baker issued an Executive Order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency.

The order is intended to enable public bodies to carry out their responsibilities while adhering to public health recommendations regarding social distancing.

The order relieves public bodies from the requirement in the open meeting law that meetings be conducted in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public, provided that the public body makes provision to ensure public access to the deliberations of the public body through adequate, alternative means.

According to the Attorney General’s Division of Open Government, which is charged with enforcing the law, “adequate, alternative means” may include, without limitation, providing public access through telephone, internet, or satellite enabled audio or video conferencing or any other technology that enables the public to clearly follow the proceedings of the public body in real time. A municipal public body that for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts is unable to provide alternative means of public access in real time may instead post on its municipal website a full and complete transcript, recording, or other comprehensive record of the proceedings as soon as practicable afterwards.

In addition, all members of a public body may participate in a meeting remotely, the AG’s office states. The open meeting law’s requirement that a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting location is suspended.

All other provisions of the open meeting law, such as the requirements regarding posting notice of meetings and creating and maintaining accurate meeting minutes, as well as the limited, enumerated purposes for holding an executive session, remain in effect.

The governor’s executive order is responsive to many of the concerns that municipal officials have raised over the past several days as communities grapple with the public crisis.

Following the advice of public health professionals to reduce the spread of the virus, cities and towns are considering restricting access to many public buildings, seeking to hold meetings and hearings remotely, placing caps on the size of public meetings and events, and taking other actions to protect the public and those most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.

Without changes, the MMA has argued that the open meeting law and related regulations would make it virtually impossible to take all of these steps and conduct necessary governmental business.

“The governor’s Executive Order provides municipalities and state agencies with an important measure of relief from the open meeting law during the public health emergency,” said MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith. “The MMA has been in close contact with the governor’s office regarding open meeting law issues, and many others, and we appreciate that the administration is taking action to address those concerns.”

Local officials may want to consult with their municipal counsel to see how this action could provide relief or flexibility while moving forward with local actions under state law and local charter provisions to protect the public and the municipal workforce during this unprecedented emergency.