LYNN — City Hall was shut down on Tuesday and will remain closed on Wednesday following several positive coronavirus cases that were reported among city employees, according to Mayor Thomas M. McGee’s office.
The decision to keep the government building closed for both days was made “out of an abundance of caution for full-scale cleaning and sanitation,” according to McGee’s office.
No information was made available on the number, or identities, of the city employees who tested positive, and McGee declined comment through a spokesman on Tuesday.
The decision to temporarily shut down City Hall completely comes two weeks after McGee announced that all city buildings, including City Hall, the Department of Public Works, Lynn Public Library, and Police and Fire departments, would be open to the public by appointment-only due to the post-holiday virus surge.
On-site staffing in those buildings has been reduced to 50 percent capacity at any given time — city employees began to work on an AB schedule at City Hall on Monday, Dec. 7, which consists of working on-site for one week, followed by remote work the next week.
For Tuesday, and continuing on Wednesday, City Hall staff were directed to work remotely so that city operations could continue. All previous appointments scheduled with City Hall staff on either of those days were canceled, according to McGee’s office.
The temporary shutdown at City Hall comes a day after McGee joined Boston and several other mayors in the region in announcing the city would be rolling back its economic reopening to a modified Phase 2, Step 2, of the state’s plan.
McGee said the changes, which begin on Friday, are aimed at limiting the sizes of social gatherings and require certain businesses to close that were allowed to operate in Phase 3, such as indoor gyms, fitness centers, museums, and indoor event spaces.
Lynn reported 127 new cases and two additional deaths on Tuesday, which brings the city’s total numbers to 9,630 cases and 146 deaths.
