Westfield Fire Chief Patrick Egloff speaks March 16, 2020 during a city update on COVID-19 as Police Chief Lawrence Valliere looks on. (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
City leaders offer COVID-19 updates
WESTFIELD – City leaders gathered March 16 to update the public on management of the COVID-19 virus in a video-recorded conference.
Mayor Donald F. Humason Jr., City Council President Brent B. Bean II, Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski, Police Chief Lawrence Valliere, Fire Chief Patrick Egloff, Council on Aging Director Tina Gorman, Health Director Joseph Rouse, state Rep. John C. Velis and Emergency Management Director Jim Wiggs met in City Council Chambers to offer updates from their respective departments.
Fire Chief Patrick Egloff urged residents to only use 9-1-1 in a true emergency.
“Please call your primary care physician first,” he said.
Egloff said now more than ever the city’s first responders need to stay healthy and residents should use other avenues before calling for an ambulance.
“The protection of our first responders is paramount,” he said. “They are the ones needed if things get worse.”
Egloff did say they would take extra precautions for all patients, especially anyone showing signs of the coronavirus.
“We will be putting a surgical mask on the patient and paramedics will also wear surgical masks,” Egloff said, adding that paramedics would have additional protective gear.
Egloff said they have responded to calls for residents with COVID-19 symptoms, but none have turned into a positive diagnosis as of Monday.
He said the precautions taken now “will be worth it.”
Egloff encouraged people to check-in on their elderly relatives via phone. “Don’t go over,” he said.
Valliere echoed Egloff and said the police would still respond to 9-1-1 calls. He noted that the police force was “at full strength” and said he would be “limiting access to the police department itself,” encouraging online reporting and phone calls versus in-person reports at the station.
Valliere said License to Carry renewals would be handled and anyone whose license was expiring in the next few weeks should call the station. No new applications will be handled until further notice.
Rouse said he is “constantly in contact” with the Centers for Disease Control and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. He said his main concern is to slow the spread of coronavirus so health and other resources are not overwhelmed. Rouse recommended continued and vigilant hand washing and sanitizing, use a barrier when touching things such as elevator buttons and doorknobs and avoiding groups of people.
The city’s health department is charged with monitoring any cases of COVID-19 in Westfield, which Rouse said there were not reported as of the afternoon of March 16.
“There are state guidelines for isolation and quarantine, and we have to make sure people are adhering to them,” said Rouse.
Czaporowski spoke to the three-week school closure and noted that the school department would offer lunch and breakfast to-go for city students at Abner Gibbs and Franklin Avenue elementary schools. He said the school website had links for educational enrichment and he encouraged families to “read, exercise and enjoy time together.”
Bean said the Westfield City Council meeting slated for March 19 was still intact, however, it would be closed to the public. The meeting will be livestreamed and recorded and posted on the city website. Subcommittee meetings were temporarily canceled.
“Instead, we may bring committee items right out into the floor [of the Council meeting],” said Bean.
Gorman said the Senior Center would not offer congregate meals but would offer carry-out meals.
“We will be following the lunch menu,” she said. “So the meals will be cooked but need to be heated up at home.”
Anyone wishing to receive a meal should call the Center between 8:30-10 a.m. and pickup will be from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Gorman said there would be no group meetings, but the doors to the Center would not be locked. She said deep cleaning and sanitizing was taking place and as rooms were cleaned, the doors would be closed, and no one could enter that room.
She also said that the AARP Tax Assistance program was suspended.
Velis said there was “a lot happening in Boston” and he was constantly updated. He said he wanted residents to know their concerns, particularly about jobs, pay checks and the economy, were being heard “loud and clear.”
Humason said the leaders around the table would continue to host teleconferences.
