A week after reinstating the mask mandate for all town facilities, a COVID-19 outbreak has caused town hall to close.
According to Highlands mayor Patrick Taylor, several employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
“The town hall is now closed to the public and staff,” Taylor said. “Specialty cleaning equipment will be coming in. Staff will be working from home.”
A remote phone system is being set up for citizens to call in for routine calls and questions that come into town hall, not for COVID issues and information. The town board meeting will also be held on ZOOM due to the outbreak.
“The town board meeting will be ZOOM only,” Taylor said. “Anyone wishing to make a public comment should call me at 8282 506-3138 or email me at mayor@highlandsnc.org. I will put them down on a list, so we don’t overlook anyone. We need their information about how they will Zoom such as Internet address or phone number. That information will help us identify those folks at the ZOOM meeting.”
At the last board meeting, town manager Josh Ward stated that 75 to 80 percent of town employees have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Even with the mask mandate for all town facilities, Taylor said it was not enough to fight the Delta Variant.
“The staff members had been wearing masks in town hall, but that was not sufficient to curtail the Delta variant,” Taylor said. “I am encouraging all employees who are not vaccinated to do so as soon as possible. We had an employee vaccination clinic last week, but more employees still need to be vaccinated. We have also discovered that even vaccinated people can become infected with the virus. The variant is spreading throughout the community. The decision to close town hall and do extensive cleaning is for the benefit of the public that might visit when town hall reopens, as well as for our employees.”
By Christopher Smith