Board of Aldermen 03-16-2020 Page 37
Director Bagley
So there are a couple of different responses to the comments that you have just shared with us or your
concerns. If we maintain social distancing and you don’t give the virus the opportunity to spread from
one person to another, you are reducing the number of cases. That is also how you are flattening that
curve as well. With regards to the surfaces there is actually some information about how long the virus
does stay on different types of materials. So it can stay, I'll just read from this article that Ren
Beaudoin who is our Environmental Health Officer, Deputy Health Officer and Lab Director shared with
us at work.
It says, “Overall stability is very similar to HCOV-19 and SARS. They found that the viable virus could
be detectable in aerosols up to three hours post air isolation and up to four hours on copper, up to 24
hours on cardboard, two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. SARS exhibited similar half lives
in aerosols and medium estimates were 2.7 hours”. So it can be on a surface for a while but what
happens is that the viability of the virus decreases and so it may not be as infectious but it still can be
infection on a surface for a longer period of time. So that’s why we want to make sure that we are
wiping down surfaces with disinfectant that can kill it.
Alderwoman Kelly
So Manchester is cancelling their meetings and they're moving to remote meetings. There was a
Memo put out by the Governor around 6:00 p.m. this evening saying that we can do electronic
meetings. | am sure Corporation Counsel and other people will weigh in on this but it says that we can
do them remotely but we still have to have some place for the public to interface with us even if that’s a
room with just a speaker phone in it.
Attorney Bolton
Let me reiterate, that’s only a meeting to deal with this emergency. It is not a meeting for ordinary
business.
Alderwoman Kelly
OK also a new one | found, that’s not how | understood it, but also a new one that | found, but | know
that Manchester is going to...
Attorney Bolton
I’ve read the Memo from the Governor and the Attorney General.
Alderwoman Kelly
All right.
President Wilshire
Does anyone else have any questions for any of the Directors? Seeing none, thank you. Alright well |
