City Officials Grappling With Covid Outbreaks

At his press briefing on Tuesday, September 8, Dr. Nirav Shah of Maine CDC announced two new Covid-19 outbreaks in Sanford. One outbreak of four cases has been traced to a funeral reception held at the American Legion on Main St. The second outbreak of three cases is connected with the Lafayette Club on Winter St.

Dr. Shah said investigations into the two outbreaks were in the early stages, and it was not yet known whether they could be connected to other local outbreaks at the Calvary Baptist Church, Sanford Fire Department, and York County Jail complex. He called the discovery of the two latest outbreaks in Sanford “deeply, deeply concerning.”

When questioned by reporters, Dr. Shah stated that members of the Calvary congregation have been cooperative with investigators, but did not say the same about Pastor Todd Bell.

An outbreak is defined as three or more cases that are connected. Of the six outbreaks currently being investigated or monitored in York County, four of them are in Sanford, one is in Alfred, and one in Saco.

At the City Council meeting Tuesday evening, City Manager Steven Buck provided an update on his attempts to communicate with state officials regarding the outbreaks here. He gave an overview for Council members on the four Sanford outbreaks and noted that the Fire Department has one more seven-day period of monitoring to get through before that outbreak can be closed. The original cases in that outbreak have recovered.

Mr. Buck reviewed the Governor’s Executive Orders regarding face coverings and social distancing, highlighting areas of special concern. The Council discussed them at length, with input from Police Chief Thomas Connolly and Director of Community Development Ian Houseal.

The City Council will hold a special session on Thursday, September 10 at 6:00 p.m., to consider adoption of an emergency ordinance to improve public safety and reduce community spread in Sanford, including possible enforcement measures to encourage compliance with the Executive Orders.

Mr. Buck suggested that the issue could be approached in a proactive manner, as a public-private partnership between the City and local businesses, to “get us back to green” as a community. Mayor Tom Cote responded that he was in favor of partnerships, but “don’t want to spend my week developing ordinances that are generally meaningless to people who don’t want to wear masks and don’t want to social distance….we need to put out an ordinance that is effective.”

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Cote had further comments on the Covid-19 situation in Sanford. “It’s time to step up and do the right thing for our kids,” he said, adding “we need to focus on a common goal…to live our lives in a manner that allows our children to get back to school and stay there.” You can watch a video of the Mayor’s comments here.

The video stream of the entire City Council meeting is here.