On March 24, the Sherborn Board of Health (BOH) and Sherborn Emergency Management (SEM) received a report that an employee at the Sherborn United States Postal Service (USPS) branch had potentially tested positive for COVID-19. Through further investigation, it was confirmed on March 25 that the employee had tested positive.
The BOH contacted representatives from the USPS. The BOH confirmed that the USPS took immediate actions to minimize the risk to the public as soon as there was a confirmed case in an employee at the branch. Due to the actions that were taken (including ongoing, frequent sanitizing of the Post Office and quarantining of other contacted employees), plus the fact that the employee was already self-quarantining over the prior two weeks, the risk to the public remains low. The BOH will continue to work with the USPS and monitor this case, and each potential case of COVID-19 in the Town. The goal is to limit exposure and spread of the disease in the community.
The employee is not a resident of the Town of Sherborn, so this case does not officially count as a case in the Town of Sherborn. In accordance with Department of Public Health (DPH) requirements that confidential health information is not shared, including the number of positive cases in any single town (that data is published by the DPH on a county level), so the number of confirmed cases specific to Sherborn will not be publicized. The BOH and SEM direct Sherborn residents to continue to behave under the assumption that COVID-19 is present here; it has been clearly identified in Middlesex County and all neighboring counties.
The Town of Sherborn, BOH, and SEM strongly urge all residents to comply with Governor Baker’s stay-at-home advisory, and to follow preventive actions to stop the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases. Physical/social distancing from anyone outside of one’s immediate household is key, as is proper hand washing. This is not just an issue of an individual’s concern/risk tolerance about contracting COVID-19, but also of helping to flatten the curve to ensure that, if one needs non-COVID-19 medical care, doctors and hospitals will have the capacity to help.
For up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 status and operations of the Town of Sherborn, visit www.sherbornma.org.
