GOSHEN — The town has instituted new behavioral and reporting guidelines for those working in municipal facilities after two people who work or volunteer in town government buildings contracted COVID-19, and a complaint was lodged that a person at Town Hall had not worn a mask around others.
Under the guidelines, which were developed by the Select Board and Board of Health, masks must be worn at all times around others, and may only be removed when someone is alone in their own space. In addition, people should lock their office doors when they are working, and if a person comes to their door without a mask, they should not open the door until both parties are masked.
The guidelines also emphasize the importance of keeping at least six feet of social distance from others, and ask that any violations be reported to the Board of Health chair.
“It’s really self-protection,” Board of Health Chairman Michael Kurland said of the guidelines.
Kurland said Goshen didn’t find much to go on when it looked for protocols in other towns.
“It didn’t seem like other towns had any more definitive guidelines,” Kurland said.
Town Hall and Town Offices have been closed to the public since March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but volunteers and employees still work at the sites.
In public documents received by the Gazette, a complaint was brought to the Board of Health about a person not wearing a mask around others at Town Hall. The person in question replied in an email to the Board of Health that a medical condition made it difficult for them to wear a mask, but they do wear one around large groups.
Kurland declined to say whether the person in question was one of the two people who work or volunteer in town government buildings that were found to have COVID-19 this month.
All of the people who were quarantined after being in close contact with those two cases have now been cleared to leave quarantine.
On the subject of medical conditions, the guidelines say those with medical conditions that restrict their wearing a mask cannot enter an office space occupied by another person. It also asks that those with conditions limiting the use of a mask obtain a note from a licensed health care provider and submit it to the Board of Health chair.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.