Mayor Donald F. Humason Jr. and Health Director Joseph Rouse address vaccine clinics in a Feb. 18, 2021 video. (SCREENSHOT)
WESTFIELD- Mayor Donald F. Humason Jr. said that City Hall is expected to reopen at the beginning of April after a year of having been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Humason said that he is planning to have City Hall reopen in some capacity on April 1. The building was originally closed to the public on March 17, 2020, just days after Westfield’s schools closed for in-person learning.
Since then most city boards and commissions have been meeting via video conference, typically with Zoom.
On Wednesday, March 10, Health Director Joseph Rouse indicated that the Board of Health could meet in person for their meeting on April 14. It would be their first in-person meeting since March 11, 2020, the day COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
“When we reopen to the public, aren’t the boards and commissions going to want to come meet in person,” said Rouse during the Board of Health meeting, “The answer is yes, and yes we can.”
Rouse alluded to the Board of Health having a bigger space for them to meet in person. Before, most of their meetings took place in a small room with little space for social distancing measures in the back of the Health Department offices. He said he is confident that they will be able to meet in person.
“If we can’t meet in person in the second week of April, something has gone horribly wrong,” said Rouse.
