Attleboro Library, Assessor's Office Close Due To Coronavirus

ATTLEBORO, MA—The Attleboro Public Library and Assessor's Office closed on Tuesday after employees in each location were reported to have been exposed to or tested positive for coronavirus.

Although the library is closed to the public, staff announced on Wednesday that it remains open for curbside pickup and book drops.

"In an abundance of caution and to keep our community and staff safe, the library building is closed to the public," says the library's website. "We will be offering curbside pickup and our book drop is open and accepting all items, even cds and dvds, through Wednesday, November 25th at 2:30pm. All due dates have been extended to December 15th."

"Library staff will be in the building from 8:30am until 4:30pm, Monday through Wednesday, and Friday and Saturday. On Thursdays, staff will be available from 12:30pm to 8:30pm. Please call with any questions or to have library staff put titles on hold for you to pick up," it continues.

According to Mayor Paul Heroux, seven city employees have tested positive and another 10 are being tested in nine city departments, including police, fire, recreation, park, forestry, public works, and personnel.

"This virus is hitting us hard in Attleboro city government," said Heroux in a Facebook post on Tuesday. "The number of people that have tested positive or are pending testing results has skyrocketed in the last week or two."

Both the library and assessor's office are currently undergoing a deep cleaning. Those who tested positive or were considered a close contact of someone who did are required to quarantine for 14 days.

The number of cases in Attleboro schools have also increased, with school officials reporting 19 new cases as of November 13. Out of the 19 new cases in the district, 14 were students and five were staff members. There were also 65 close contacts connected to those cases, with 25 in school and 40 outside of school. According to the district, all cases were contracted outside of school.

Attleboro has suffered 1,223 confirmed cases, 188 probable cases, and 67 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Statewide, there have been 186,774 confirmed cases, 6,190 probable cases, and 10,360 deaths as of Tuesday.