LONGMEADOW – Longmeadow Town Moderator Rebecca Townsend has announced that once again, the Special Town Meeting will be postponed.

Originally set for Oct. 27 and postponed to Nov. 17, Townsend’s concerns for postponing the first meeting remain: the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in not only Longmeadow, but the state and the country, are rising.

“Given the rise in known cases of COVID in our community, the Special Town Meeting scheduled for Nov. 17 will be postponed to Dec. 15,” Townsend said. “I anticipate additional other postponements until we can have a safe meeting outdoors.”

The Massachusetts Department of Health map is a formula based on the average daily case rate over a 14-day period to determine the number, which in turn determines the community’s color on the map. It relates to the number of cases per population per 100,000.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) COVID-19 Dashboard data released on Nov. 12, Longmeadow has had 30 active cases within the former two weeks, with a 13.9 percent average daily incidence rate per 100,000. This is a higher case count than the prior week. Within the two weeks of data referenced, 1,976 COVID-19 tests were administered to Longmeadow residents, coming out with 34 positive tests, leading to a 1.72 percent positivity rate in town for those two weeks.

Again, the data released on Nov. 12 indicates that Longmeadow is in the yellow.

The nearby town of East Longmeadow is also in the yellow, having 67 active cases in town over the 14 days prior to Nov. 12. This is a lower case count for East Longmeadow than the prior week, however the town has a higher positivity rate than Longmeadow, coming in at 3.78 percent positivity over the former 14 days.

In Townsend’s second declaration of recess and continuance for the Special Town Meeting, she declared that the meeting be postponed to Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Longmeadow High School.

With that said, as she told Reminder Publishing in a Nov. 4 article on the first continuance, Townsend is predicting that Town Meeting will not occur until spring. “I highly doubt that our community would be in a dramatically different place than we are now. Given that December is also going to be potentially a rough time. I imagine that we would meet in early spring. This is all dependent on what the case counts are like,” she said.

The town of Longmeadow recently released a press release urging residents to comply with COVID-19 guidelines. The information released reads as follows: “On Nov. 2, Gov. Charlie  Baker released new advisories aimed at keeping people safe and containing the virus. The Stay at Home Advisory and Further Revised Gatherings Order 54 began on Nov. 6, and all residents of Massachusetts are advised to stay home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

This means:

• Only leave home to go to work or school, or for essential needs such as seeking emergency medical care, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, picking up take-out food, or receiving deliveries. If you do leave home, practice social distancing by staying six feet away from others and wearing a face covering.

• Do not have gatherings in your home with anybody outside of your household.

• Comply with all governor’s orders, including orders requiring face coverings, limiting gatherings, and mandating early closure of businesses.

• Practice social distancing and avoid touching surfaces frequently touched by others if you go outside to get fresh air.

• Required social distancing of at least six feet at all events (except between members of the same household).

Gatherings at private residences:

• Indoors, no more than 10 people

• Outdoors, no more than 25 people

Gatherings at event venues or in public spaces:  

• Indoors, no more than 25  

• Outdoors, higher risk communities – no more than 50

• Outdoors, lower risk communities – not more than 100

All gatherings – no matter the size or location – must end and people must disperse by 9:30 p.m.

Face coverings are required at all public gatherings in accordance with face covering order.

Order 55:

• Face coverings are encouraged in private residences but are only required where non-household members are present and gathering exceeds 10.

• All persons over the age of 5 must wear a face covering whenever in public, indoors or outdoors. Children between the ages of 2-5 are encouraged, but not required to wear a face covering.

• Face coverings are required when carpooling with non-household members.

• The exclusion for social distance has been removed. People still must wear a mask even if beyond six feet. This is new.

• Medical and other exemptions still apply

• Employers can require employees to provide proof of exempted conditions. Schools may require that students participating in in-person learning provide proof of such a medical or disabling condition.

Enforcement by DPH, LBOH, with assistance from state and local police with fines up to $300.

Should a resident require further information, the town suggests they go to longmeadow.org/coronavirus for more.