Moultonborough Selectboard: Folks relocating to M'borough should self-quarantine for 14 days

To The Daily Sun,

A message to all full- and part-time Moultonborough residents and guests:

As we continue to address the Covid-19 pandemic crisis in our community and welcome our part-time residents and guests who enjoy all the wonderful benefits of our beautiful Lakes Region we ask that you please respect our requests as we work together to defend our community from the Covid-19 virus pandemic.

We truly understand your desire to relocate to a less populated and infected area to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus. However, it’s important to know our small community has limited health care and emergency services to handle a large outbreak of corona virus patients. Our Police Department has a limited number of available officers to assist residents due to the nationwide shortage of law enforcement officers and our Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department has just three full-time staff, including the chief, and relies heavily on our volunteer/call department members. Our front-line ambulance service provides 24/7 coverage for emergency medical calls but, as a small company, has a limited number of personnel to cover multiple simultaneous calls which could impact their response time to some emergencies.

If any of our services members become infected or in contact with a person with the virus our resources will be gravely affected. Like most communities in the U.S., with the limited supply of personal protection equipment (PPE) the risk of providing unprotected emergency service is significant to our community as well. It’s also important to know that our two closest hospitals are roughly 20 miles away and have a limited number of resources to serve several lakes region communities.

Our request to all coming to Moultonborough for a weekend visit or for a long- term stay is to please comply with all the recommendations of health organizations and especially the CDC. Please limit all social contract outside of your home and if contact is necessary please observe the social distancing recommendation of at least 6-feet. We also recommend that folks relocating for a long stay self-quarantine for 14 days in the event you may have contracted the disease back home or you are a carrier.

Our town website (www.moultonboroughnh.gov) has a page dedicated to important Covid-19 information as well as links to some wonderful businesses and organizations who have stepped forward to volunteer service to those who need assistance like shopping runs and pharmacy pickups. We thank them greatly for their efforts!

Together we will get through this difficult time in our community by heeding the recommendations of the experts and doing our part to protect ourselves and others.

Be well and stay safe.

Moultonborough Selectboard