The town of Ignacio, the school district and the library announced closures and policy changes Monday in response to the spreading coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The county had no presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 as of Monday. Colorado was reporting 131 positive COVID-19 cases as of Monday and one reported death.
Here’s the latest from Ignacio:
The town of Ignacio closed Town Hall and limited some services to maintain health and safety during a constantly shifting public health pandemic.
Ignacio Community Library closed, the school district is open but implementing emergency planning and Los Pinos Fire Protection District said people with non-critical COVID-19 concerns should contact San Juan Basin Public Health.
The town of Ignacio had not declared a state of emergency as of Monday morning.
Mayor Stella Cox is conferring with each board member individually to determine whether the town will follow the county’s lead and make an emergency declaration, said Mark Garcia, interim town manager.
“If (the county) has declared, we’ll try to get that out ASAP,” Garcia said. “We’ve been maintaining a pretty steady line of communications between department heads and so on.”
Garcia said the Town Hall closure does not have a scheduled end date.
The Public Safety Department has incident command protocols in place, and the Public Works Department will maintain its on-call service, and answer essential calls only. The town board meeting, scheduled for Monday, has been canceled.
Community members can stay up-to-date through the town’s website and Facebook page.
“One thing that we’re trying to figure out is our April election,” Garcia said. “We’ve got a plan in place for drive-up voting because our election is a polling place election.”
Los Pinos Fire advised community members concerned about COVID-19, but who have no symptoms or only mild symptoms, to contact San Juan Basin Public Health for guidance – not 911.
But people in need of immediate medical care should call 911, Division Chief Greg Childress wrote in an email. If community members can’t reach SJBPH for guidance, they can call Los Pinos.
Unnecessary exposure to COVID-19 “could be crippling” to the district’s ability to respond to emergencies, Childress wrote. Also, district ambulances are not equipped or staffed to test for COVID-19.
“With only five response personnel operating each day, a quarantine of three to 14 days (based on test results) would severely inhibit our operations and put the safety of the greater community at risk,” he wrote.
Los Pinos commonly deals with infectious diseases and is being hyper-vigilant about possible exposures. The district has made minor adjustments to increase the levels of personal protective equipment and decontamination for equipment and ambulances.
The Ignacio School District will not close schools unless it is asked by the governor, state government or local health agencies, according to the district.
To maintain health and safety, the district is implementing an emergency plan in the event it has to close schools to ensure services continue to be provided for students.
“We will have our plan in place,” wrote Rocco Fuschetto, superintendent, in an email to The Durango Herald. “We will follow the advice from state and local health departments.”
All school buildings are closed to the public for practices and meetings until further notice.
For district community members, all extra-curricular activities and the activity bus service are postponed or canceled until April 6, when the district will re-evaluate its needs.
The schools were closed Monday while administrative and school staff made plans for the district. Parents and students who traveled to the state basketball tournament have an additional day of no school in order to quarantine themselves for a full 72 hours.
The district will not have an early release day Wednesday.
Fuschetto also asked community members to notify their building principals if they do not have internet access or a home computer, in case of school closures.
“Our major concern, in case of closures, is providing meals for all of our students,” Fuschetto wrote in a news release Monday. “We are applying for emergency food service with the federal government.
“We will keep monitoring the situation, and make necessary adjustments as needed,” he wrote.
Ignacio Community Library will close the library, including all programs and room reservations, as of 5 p.m. Monday, said Marcia Vining, library director.
“The Ignacio Community Library is taking precautions to help keep staff and patrons safe during this unsettling time,” wrote Vining in an email to the Herald.
They do not have a reopening date but will continue updating the community.
Library staff will answer phones from 9 to 11 a.m. each day and will package books and other library materials upon request. While people can pick up items from the library, they cannot return them until further notice, Vining said.
The library offers digital services, like Kanopy for streaming videos, which are accessible online. Community members can see the library’s website and Facebook page for updates.
smullane@durangoherald.com
