Medford Coronavirus Update: City, Recreation Buildings Closed

MEDFORD, MA — All city buildings will be closed to the public as of Monday, March 16. The city expects the buildings to be closed through at least March 27. Essential services such as trash and recycling pickup, code enforcement response, police and fire response, DPW operations and constituent services through the mayor's office will continue as normal.

The Recreation Department, including LoConte Rink, will be closed during this time. Recreation programming has been temporarily suspended, and the department is working on potential refunds and/or credits for future programs.

The Medford Public Library will accept book orders online and via phone but will be closed for walk-in service. To reserve books, visit www.medfordlibrary.org or call 781-395-7950. Orders will be assembled and placed for pickup in the hallway outside of the Adult Services entrance of the library. The library will be operating Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. for these orders.

To limit circulation of books (and potential germs), the library is encouraging anyone who checks out books during this period to keep all books and other materials until further notice. No overdue notices or late fees will be applied. Any books that are returned will be sanitized before recirculation. Many of the library's eResources are available remotely. Residents can utilize ebooks and audiobooks as well as streaming music, films, and TV shows.

Visit www.medfordlibrary.org and click on "Read. Listen. Watch."

Medford asks residents to hold all non-urgent requests until a later date.

On Thursday, the city announced that it is closing all schools for at least two weeks. Any public event or gathering is restricted to 25 people or less, and the city asks attendees to practice social distancing measures. Social distancing includes people maintaining at least 6 feet distance from all other individuals in a group setting and avoiding physical contact such as handshakes or other physical greetings.

City Council meetings are canceled the week of March 16. The 5g meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 18 has been canceled.

The city is currently reviewing and adjusting policies and procedures for all other board and commission meetings with respect to the governor’s recent announcement on Open Meeting Law guidelines. Updates will be posted by early next week.